A Bump in the Kelly Dave Trail: Collision 2015

The Perfect Conversation Starter

There's no better conversation starter these days than the tailgate of our brand new 2015 Dodge Ram Truck. Since Thursday, October 15th people will stop us in parking lots, and even in the middle of the road to ask what happened. "Did someone run into you, or did you run into something?"

The answer is a bit more complicated. We were towing our POD, taking a left hand turn into an RV Park in Panguitch, UT (i.e nowhere) when someone going 65 mph hit the back passenger side of the POD.  The force of impact shredded the back corner of the POD, pushed the entire POD

Bumper POD

up into the truck tailgate, shredding the front right corner of the POD, bending not only the trailer tongue but also the half inch solid steel hitch,  thereby demolishing the truck tailgate. Or as I like to say, the POD and the tailgate  acted as giant bumpers between a 65 mph car and a stationary truck. The car and the POD both are totaled, the truck made out much better and only needs a new tailgate, some painting, and a new tool box.

The good news is all the people involved are okay, and GEIGO, our insurance company is being extremely responsive and helpful. The truck is in the queue at the auto body shop to be repaired sometime next week.

The bad news is that we now have to shop!  Overnight our day-to-day lives have become much different. I used to joke that we were homeless, now we really are!  Currently we are living in a hotel in St. George, UT (a much bigger town than Panguitch), and eating out and it's getting old real fast. While the last post was on finding the perfect camping spot, since Thursday, our days are filled with phone calls to insurance, storage, tow and repair companies. And shopping. Neither of us enjoys shopping but...we need a new home. 

Prior to the collision we had already been talking about getting a slightly bigger trailer but we hadn't started the research. Now we're deep into it.  There are an awful lot of RV makes, models and options and it's taken awhile to sort through it all. After spending two days visiting seven to eight RV dealers and browsing the internet lists we've narrowed down our choices.  Turns out the one we probably

We'll be back soon!

want isn't in stock around here. Tomorrow we're 'moving' up to Salt Lake City to visit a few other dealers including one that is an authorized carrier of our model. They don't have that particular model in stock but we can at least see the quality of the other models in the line...etc.  We'll also stop in at other RV places, just to make sure we haven't missed anything. Just too much fun.

But I really miss being under the stars at night and the quiet of the woods. It's the thought of getting back to it that keeps me shopping.