Good Bye Middlegate

We hated to leave Middlegate Station this morning, even worse we were headed home instead of East to Alabama. But, we are home safe and already unpacking the vital stuff for morning... like coffee!!

Tuesday we will begin the repair process on the roof; quotes, pictures, negotiating with our insurance carrier, etc.

However, I'm sure the Pony Express Riders had it much harder back in the 1800's. So, can't complain.

Roof separating

Apparently this problem occurs frequently under the "perfect storm" conditions of a cross wind, head wind, and a gust from an on-coming big rig. This picture is of another rig, but exactly shows the problem.  

On one of the forums, a description of how Winnebago attaches the roof is as follows:

"The entire roof is held on to the sub-roof structure with adhesive; hence no seams or screw holes on the main roof. The 8 inches or so from where the roof begins to roll down to meet the J-channel is not, that area is filled with molded foam insulation. The end of the roof material is tucked into a slot in the J-channel which is filled with an elastomeric adhesive. Then the area is sealed with another bead of the same elastomeric adhesive.”

In our case, there was no visible caulk or adhesive along the edge where the roof tucks behind the J- channel. At this point I'm not sure insurance will cover it due to the age of our coach, now 15 years old. More to come ....

Overland Trail Marker

You know you are in the historical Wild West when you find markers like this one.

Water from Wind

This old windmill keeps this large catch basin full to provide water to local cattle ranches. Fascinating to watch this ancient technology at work, all wind powered.

Earthquake in Nevada

I suppose there must have been an event here sometime in the past, but any evidence is obscured. No cracks in the earth, or bubbling lava pit, but the views were spectacular.

The Famous Hwy 50 Shoe Tree

More from Middlegate Station

Awesome burgers, roof patch, and Loneliest road sign.

Disappointment!

Bad news ... about 13 miles from Middlegate Station, facing a 30mph crosswind and holding about 50mph headwind, that combination proved to be too much for the fiberglass roof. It was literally sucked up and off the top of the RV, peeling back about 4 feet from the front cap and banging back onto the air conditioning unit, which fortunately kept it from blowing completely off.

With not much room to pull off, but we slowed and made it to a small pull-out where I proceeded to assess the damage. It would not be repairable ... I started to duct tape it down as much as possible but the wind was so strong it became difficult to stay on the roof. So, we headed out again only to get about a 1/4 mile when everything came loose again, this time fracturing-off a 3-foot piece of roofing that went flying off into the brush.

We pulled off again and waited for Justin and our friend Larry to arrive with more duct tape and "ideas" on how to get us 13 more miles.

After much more tape and a slower speed of 40mph, we made it to Middlegate Station. We plan to stay here 2 nights and then head home. We were so looking forward to the trip ... Very disappointed, but not much else to do except head home the 200 miles and begin repairs. :-(

Middlegate Station History Lesson

More pix of Middlegate Station, along with a little history.

Middlegate Station

Yay! We are here!!

Hwy 50 East

The loneliest highway in the USA. 13 miles to Middlegate Station.

We’re Off

We are hooked up and headed out. First stop is Middlegate Station... more on that when we arrive.