We had a new Dodge 3/4 ton pickup with a 4 speed transmission. We were pulling a Komfort 24′ 5th wheel trailer. We had traveled all day and everyone was dead tired including me the driver. I found a rest stop with a big parking lot and decided to stop for the night. Off to bed we went and locked both the truck and trailer up tight while we hit the hay.
In the middle of the night we could feel our unit moving along with a funny bumpy feeling within the trailer. I thought someone was trying to steal our truck and trailer because it just kept moving. Seems a strong wind came up and was hitting the trailer’s rear end which acted just like a big sail.
By the time we could exit the trailer to see what was going we stopped in a big lurch. We discovered that that was what probably saved us and our unit because we had hit a curb. On the other side of the curb and parking lot was a large stream of water rushing down hill. I had left the truck in high gear and the wind and slope on the parking lot was enough to push us across the parking lot.
Luckily a tragedy was averted but the lesson learned was always park your unit in the lowest gear and set the parking brakes because you never know what will come in the night.
Submitted by Bernard Wilzbach of Cheyenne, WY as a part of the RV Centennial Celebration “Share Your Favorite RV Memory” contest.
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