When I pulled into the Rabobank parking lot at Mission and Soquel Drives on Thursday morning (13 Jan) all the parking spots on the left except for two were taken -- and those two appeared to be tight fits for my rig. So I did as I had done several times with the pickup and quickly turned into one of the parking spots under the second floor of the building. Big Mistake!, for the clearance is only about 9 feet -- not the 11' 1" minimum needed for the camper on my truck.
While the damage is less than that which occurred on Election Day when I ran into the eaves at the Hitching Post Motel on Soquel Avenue in Santa Cruz, I need to do a simulated rain test to make sure the cabover, which is where I sleep, is weather-tight. For now, it appears no water entered during the drive from Santa Cruz to Watsonille during which there was a light rain to about the Seascape turnoff of SR1. And there was some moderate rain as I made my way from SR1 to Pinto Lake.
Had fetched an army poncho from one of my storage lockers as well as some of the old nylon cords from the bottom of my backpack. The rain at Pinto Lake was cooperative in that it held off until I got the poncho over the damage you can see in both photos.
It may be that I'll ask the RV Service Center of Santa Cruz (on Mission Street not too far from the old Wrigley Gum plant) to caulk the damage and then use a sprinkler to simulate a moderate to heavy rain -- while I watch for leaks from the inside. Yes, it will be embarrassing to keep answering the same question ("How'd it happen?") over and over, but that will serve as a reminder to be more careful.
Also, the sooner I begin traveling in unfamiliar territory the more likely I am to stop, get out, and check the clearance whenever possible. I suppose one moral to this episode might be to "Never Drive Your Rig Where A Semi Wouldn't Go." And if you do, get out and check the clearance.
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Late addition on F 14 Jan: Mike at the RV Services Center of Santa Cruz did a quick patch to the damage above. Will take a photo tomorrow and post it so that you can see the patch. I had told him that I didn't like duct tape since it deteriorated in the sunlight and looked "cheesy." This photo Mike's patch was taking from in front of the old Police Station on Locust St.
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But the best part was that he didn't charge me for the labor, silver patch material, or silicon caulk.
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