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cegardner · 09-21-2018, 02:58 PM

Beware!!! We had took our brand new AS 27 FB serenity to do our shake down cruise at WLYH. We were on a slight down hill slope. I applied the X chocs and the large blocks. I had the blocks on the down ward facing wheels and the x chochs very tight. Our large blocks were stolen and the xchochs released. We slide two feet. We are on our way to the AS dealer to check our frame. And before anyone says that the tires were cooler, that is not the case. Our blocks were gone and the x chocks were completely closed.
The front desk level of concern was that of, “Hmm, you will have to call the police.” With a shrug. This was not user error. It was vandalism.

This is 3 rd AS. Blocking our tires has always been on our checklist of unhitching and leveling.

Check your blocks every morning. Check your x chochs daily

Caffeinated · 09-21-2018, 03:37 PM

Well that sucks. Even if you slid two feet I doubt there was frame damage but its good to check. Does your tongue Jack still operate correctly? The response from the front desk is beyond disappointing. I would ask to speak to a manager. Are security cameras in use there? Was this in the rv gravel park area or at a home there?

Mike

gypsydad · 09-21-2018, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cegardner

Beware!!! We had took our brand new AS 27 FB serenity to do our shake down cruise at WLYH. We were on a slight down hill slope. I applied the X chocs and the large blocks. I had the blocks on the down ward facing wheels and the x chochs very tight. Our large blocks were stolen and the xchochs released. We slide two feet. We are on our way to the AS dealer to check our frame. And before anyone says that the tires were cooler, that is not the case. Our blocks were gone and the x chocks were completely closed.
The front desk level of concern was that of, “Hmm, you will have to call the police.” With a shrug. This was not user error. It was vandalism.

This is 3 rd AS. Blocking our tires has always been on our checklist of unhitching and leveling.

Check your blocks every morning. Check your x chochs daily

We use the X chocks, but important to really crank down when on an incline. Sometimes, we have to level one side so if we were to use standard chocks, they would not help on the lego-style blocks, which is why we went to the X chocks in the first place and reading several articles on their value. I think having both is a good idea...not sure who would steal your chocks in the first place.

OTRA15 · 09-21-2018, 03:46 PM

I assume you were not in the trailer when this happened. How long were you gone, and did your neighbors or the park suffer any other vandalism?

Thanks,

Peter

AtomicNo13 · 09-21-2018, 04:13 PM

Wait, what?

cegardner · 09-21-2018, 11:08 PM

We have had the trailer back to Adventures Northwest airstream and thoroughly checked. All 4 stabilizers were damaged and replaced. The chock removal and x chock released were done during the night. The unit took a slide in the AM. We were in the unit and when we went out the blocks were gone and x chocks were off. We all feel it was a set up to steal the AS when we left to tour today. We had failed to have have the ball lock( not just the hitch lock) on. So you all can theorize that we did not secure our unit correctly. We had. It was all gone. We are fortunate that we were still there and had not left. We will now ensure the ball lock is always on and we are looking at wheel locks. No security cameras and this park is open to anyone. We won’t be back here ever

OTRA15 · 09-22-2018, 02:55 AM

Thanks for the update. So sorry for your experience -- it must be personally unsettling! Were your windows open as you slept, or were they closed because the night was cold? Hard to imagine this being done so quietly that nobody inside heard anything.

Happy trails,

Peter

Dingo Girl · 09-22-2018, 04:29 AM

I've slept through a tornado that went by a mile from my house .
It would be easy to sleep through chock removal.

dznf0g · 09-22-2018, 05:40 AM

Padlock on the x chock will prevent tampering and theft.

twestover · 09-22-2018, 09:52 AM

I'm so sorry this happened to you. clearly you did everything correctly and thank goodness it was not stolen!

Terri Warren

pgeller · 09-22-2018, 09:54 AM

Sorry to hear about your vandalism. I can believe it in that area. Is there a reason you had to stay in a place like that? Its a glorified storage yard. There are so many beautiful, peaceful places to stay on the NW coast. That's not one of them.

pg

hoagy_007 · 09-22-2018, 09:55 AM

We had stayed at WLYH a month or so ago with about 20 other new owners for a newbie event that Northwest Adventures sponsored. The team and people that live at WLYH were awesome, very helpful. I had forgot my doggone for my 50 AMP cord to connect to the 30 AMP power they have there and one of the residence/owners gave me one they had as a spare. I'm surprised by their actions.

Did you ask if they had any security cameras around even in trailer home close by they could've picked something up.

Hoagy

gypsydad · 09-22-2018, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dznf0g

Padlock on the x chock will prevent tampering and theft.

Not saying padlock is a bad idea, but the X chocks are not that expensive...should not be anyone stealing them...18 years RV'ing, and first I've heard of someone stealing chocks of any kind...not sure if the area they camped in has history of theft? I remember few years back while in Glacier Park, the ranger telling me that a couple guys were stealing generators around 3-4am...one guy would walk thru the campgrounds with a walkie talkie looking for easy pickings, and another would hang back with a pickup. When mark was identified, the pickup would drive up with lights off, grab the generator, put in bed, and drive off...they were caught, but now I do padlock my generators when leaving out at night, or I leave in my truck bed.

dznf0g · 09-22-2018, 10:13 AM

X chocks should be locked to prevent tricksters from allowing a roll away. They aren't that cheap either.

cegardner · 09-22-2018, 10:15 AM

Lessons learned. Thank you all for you concern. We are in headed home today with our new Serenity 27 grand lounge modification

**moosetags** · 09-22-2018, 10:34 AM

Sorry to hear that. We have camped at the WLYH on several occasions over the years. We were last there for several days about six weeks ago. We did not experience any problems. We were a little disappointed to learn that WYLH was transitioning from an Airstream-Only park into a public campground. The only accommodation remaining is that WBCCI members get a discounted price.

Brian

SteveSueMac · 09-22-2018, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gypsydad

Not saying padlock is a bad idea, but the X chocks are not that expensive...should not be anyone stealing them...18 years RV'ing, and first I've heard of someone stealing chocks of any kind...not sure if the area they camped in has history of theft? I remember few years back while in Glacier Park, the ranger telling me that a couple guys were stealing generators around 3-4am...one guy would walk thru the campgrounds with a walkie talkie looking for easy pickings, and another would hang back with a pickup. When mark was identified, the pickup would drive up with lights off, grab the generator, put in bed, and drive off...they were caught, but now I do padlock my generators when leaving out at night, or I leave in my truck bed.

I don’t believe the OP thinks they were stealing the x-chocks - I think he’s suggesting they were removing the chocks to eventually steal the trailer. It’s making me look at my chocks when I get back to the trailer....

Caffeinated · 09-22-2018, 10:53 AM

This is so disappointing to hear. We stayed there in June of this year for the traditional Jazz festival. Had no problems, but there were lots of people around. I will rethink staying there.

Mike

NY24 · 09-22-2018, 05:30 PM

I understand that Seattle has a HUGE problem with homeless people. I expect the homeless find RVs to be VERY attractive targets, especially when the RV owner is likely to be away for a time. I arrived in the Seattle area ~ 10 days ago. I just returned this afternoon from a week long cruise to Alaska. I was VERY worried about the safety of my RV (everything was fine). The Boomers RV group I was with was of ZERO help in locating safe RV storage; I was totally on my own. Fortunately, a few months back, I had the opportunity to join an Elks lodge. There are over two dozen Elks Lodges in the Seattle-Tacoma area, some offering RV parking for Elks members. I was able to get into one of these lodges and, for a modest fee, had electric service so that it was not necessary to empty my fridge. I fear that safe RV parking when the owner will be away is going to become a much larger problem.