Oh, I do love traveling, moving from one destination to another, with curiosity as my guide.
Along the way, I have encountered all sorts and types of weather and large trucks passing in the opposite direction, hurtling rocks or pebbles, impacting my front windshield with the sounds of a gunshot.
Two months after taking possession of my Dark Grey Beast, she received her first windshield chip on the passenger side last fall in Washington State.
The tiny chip is barely visible as opposed to the second impact in Yuma, AZ, this winter.
The noise from the impact had me believing someone shot at the window as a large truck passed me in the opposite direction.
After I gathered myself from the un-nerving sound from the impact, I searched all four corners of my windshield to find a half-inch chip on the far left side of my windshield.
Of, course I thought, how fortunate I was for the windshield to take the impact instead of my face and eyes.
Several days ago, in the parking lot of a Pilot Flying J truck stop in Abilene, TX. I sat, deciding if I should continue any further after taking a break.
I could see lightning crossing the sky of what appeared to be a passing thunderstorm.
The storm did not concern me, and after I checked the weather channel application on my phone, reaffirming the small thunderstorm cell was passing along interstate 20.
The rain began like an orchestra crescendoing from light rain, heavy rain, pea-size, and golf and baseball size hail. The impacting noise shifted from the rooftop carriers, hood, and windshield of my Dark Grey Beast.
I watched the car next to me, and a tractor pull from its parking spots towards the awning over the gas pumps alerted me I should do the same.
But, driving towards the awning proved unsuccessful as every square inch was covered with faster-moving vehicles. So I circled the lot, parking next to a tree hoping the leaves would give the Beast and Maxey some shelter.
After the storm passed, I walked around the Beast and Maxey, unable to find any damage, and I was relieved before I settled in for a good night’s sleep.
I began the day driving when I noticed a small crack growing larger from my rearview mirror out towards the passenger side. As I drove, the damage grew in length, with a second crack developing and then a third spreading to the driver’s side.
At a rest-stop, I noticed the small impact in the center of the front windshield on top of the forwarding camera, and I knew I had to get a replacement.
I filed an online claim for a window replacement, and I guess hundreds if not thousands of Texan’s window repairs were in need. Because appointments to repair, my windshield were scheduling two or more weeks into the future. So, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, became my destination for an appointment to replace the window.
After the window replacement, I felt safer because the last time I encountered a hail storm. I was traveling on my 2006 Honda Gold Wing eastbound west of Denver, CO, on interstate-70 when I encountered a hail storm.
I had no damages, but I thought of how I rode along the roadway on pea-size hail until I found an exit where I sat on my motorcycle to wait for the passing rains/hail storm to finish.
But, that time my travel fortunes provided weather in ninety-degree temperatures, allowing me to dry before I passed through Denver.
Glad you’re OK.