Albuquerque / Danger

[lbriant]

While dropping down the steep grade on I-40 West just entering the city limits of Albuquerque NM, Some ( I would expect Drunken Kids ) drove back around my jeep Rubicon tow car swerving around , there was almost no traffic around 10:00 pm,
I stopped in Flying j for Fuel to find out they had shot up Both sides of my jeep with a fully Auto hi powered pellet gun, a hole or dent every 2" blew out all the side windows and shot through and ruined both front door panels one of the back door windows survived, Riddled the soft top, :mad:
Nothing on my Harley or Bus thank the Lord !!
The police said they Do it to snowbirds and think it is funny being the tow car we won't notice it for several hundred miles possibly??
After all that it was after 11pm and I really just wanted to shut it down but the police said If he was me he would get back in the Bus and keep driving west he said it just isn't safe there at all ,,,,

[lbriant]

I have been through there every year and never had a problem, We have never stopped for anything there and we usually hit it at night time, The large city lights are pretty coming down the mountains, But this happened while we were driving, Just a heads up !! I will drive it at night again I am sure but I will be more aware of suspicious cars and will never have any need to stop there again ,,,

[Gary Carmichael]

Larry were you in the City limits of Albuquerque when this happened? and was it the local police that told you to move on it was not safe? Were you stopped or driving when it happened sounds like you were driving, and does this happen often? If so I will not stop there any more! gary

[lbriant]

Yes we were just in the City limits coming down the Mountain from the East heading West on I-40, That City is big but easy to drive through, not like other larger cites, Just a straight shot right through, and yes we were driving, I believe they chose to do it on the real steep grade descending into the city because as a RV driver you have your hands full I was in 3rd gear I believe running my Jake Brake and just easing down without any braking keeping a good speed without getting carried away,
So the city Police responded, I don't want to get the Officer in trouble ( He was very nice ) because I am sure he is suppose to tell me to stay and spend my money ( Which he did tell me ) , but he also told me the truth or his true thoughts as a person not a policman , He won't even come over to that side of town off duty without his Firearm,,,
Anyway It won't change my travel habits any I like staying out of rush hour traffic but I will be watching my tow car closer and will not ever stop for fuel there again, Even though it happened while we were moving, I will just cruise right through on I-40,
Safe travels ,,,,,,,,,,,

[Dick in Wisconsin]

Does anyone offer remote controlled Gatling gun hurrets with camera and infrared target seeking and acquisition? Present the data in a heads up display in the lower windshield. Trigger switch on the steering wheel or foot operated button on the floor; with safeties of course.

On one of our trips to Indianapolis for the 500 with my friend Charlie from La Crosse (WI) we were headed (in his Liberty Prevost) to a hotel we hadn't been to previously and made a wrong turn off the Interstate. This necessitated a U-turn which was complicated because were were pulling a tow car. So a few blocks from the I-road we turned into a residential area with reasonably wide streets, went around the block and came back out on the road that would take us back to the expressway. It was a left-hand turn back to the I-road, so he moved across the lanes of traffic to position the bus for the turn. I was sitting in the dining area on the passenger side looking out the window and watched a car passing us on the right. I noticed the guy in the passenger seat reach out his window and lob a beer bottle over the top of their car toward the bus. The bottle hit a window on the bus breaking it. The two guys in the car then sped off ahead giving us the international, single finger salute. Charlie said the car had followed up out of the residential area. This happened in the early afternoon, bright sunny day.

I thought the beer bottle guy was pretty brazen, but the pellet gun takes it to a whole new level.

[lbriant]

Yea I told the police its probably a good thing they didn't pull to the drivers side front of the bus and try sticking that gun out the window and shoot up at me cause I had the slide window open and the screen and My Bus is well fortified !!
My Wilson Combat KZ 45 tactical was right at my side, The policeman said that is the chance those kids don't realize a gun is a gun especially at night, After 11 45,s through the roof of there car they could have put in a sun roof,
I thank the Lord that it was just my jeep and no one was injured I have had a weapons permit since 1980 and never pulled my weapon, I have hunted and killed over 40 deer and one Moose with a Handgun I am very comfortable with one especially with high speed targets, kicking them White tails out of the Iowa brush is some split second shooting, I won the Iowa White tail deer classic for handgun in 2001 Ted Nugent was speaking at the event where I claimed the trophy,,,,
Kids don't realize Motorhomes drivers are not old Push overs, allot are vets, Speaking of that Happy veterans day to all who have served out country and happy birthday yesterday to the Marine corps !!!!!

[garyde]

Incidences such as yours should be sent to FMCA so they can alert their members , Prevost Prouds , and Good Sams . These notices are sent out to all members in 50 states. Its no small thing and Albacurque will be on the recieving end of less revenue coming their way.
Ive been very fortunate in the last 12 years of Travel, 7 years in my Prevost, I have had no major incidences of vandalism or theft.
But there are many stories by fellow POG members as well as others.
I would send a letter to the Albacurque Chamber of Commerce as well indicating the words out .
If a Patrol Officer is aware of this , they should have more Patrols out there this time of year.

[lbriant]

http://www.areavibes.com/albuquerque-nm/crime/

Wow Scary !!!!! times are tough !!!
I firmly believe one needs to depend on your second amendment rights and protect yourself and your family, Especially when traveling in places you are not familiar with,
It is the best and cheapest insurance policy you can ever own if you are qualified and well trained,
I would rather be Judged by 12 than carried by 6 ??????
You need to know the Laws in the states you travel through,
there is an app called legal heat that helps know your rights,

[Gary Carmichael]

Larry those statistics are sobering to say the least, I have been to Albuquerque three times, and guess I have been lucky, I too have a CCP, and am very familiar with my carry gun, S&W 45 long colt, mountain gun. I also pray I never have to use it! I will not be stopping in that place again, Gary is right report it to FMCA, POG, PC, Good Sams!

[lbriant]

Gary,
It,s good you bought one of the cheapest and most important insurance policies made available to the to the US citizen<
Anyone who thinks the police will always be just a phone call away to save them are just one of those statistics, I just lost some windows and I wouldn't shoot anyone over stealing from me its just money but If I feel my life or the lives of my family are in danger and there is no way out, may the good Lord forgive me ,,,,,,,
Safe travels to you and yours !!!!!!!!!

[sswindle14260]

I had a similiar incident in Charlotte NC about 6-7 years ago. It was a Sunday morning about 8 oclock traveling on interstate through Charlotte. A car was on the on the acess road and it was traveling in the opposite direction. It had a high powered rifle out their car window and started shooting at us. Luckily the bus escaped with no damage but my truck and golf cart was shot up. I saw this happening and told my wife to get down, my son was in the back asleep. We pulled off at the next available place about a mile down the road and the car behind us pulled in as well as they saw it happen. We called the police but they did not even want to file a report. I spend hours on the phone trying to report this incident but they just really did not seem to care. Of course never heard another word about it.

[merle&louise]

This is just an observation: It seems that ONLY XLs or XL IIs are being targeted in this thread. Am I wrong? Has anyone with an H3 been shot at?

Could it be (and this is just a wild guess) only glitzy polished s.s. buses are being attacked?

[lbriant]

Theres no use shooting the Ugly ones !!! .>)
LOL .....

[Pete]

Sounds as though the tow car was the target, not the coach! I don't think, as bad as this incident was, is any more common than other incidents where destructive kids with nothing to do are causing. I can recall many like incidents seen on TV news that have happened in neighborhoods. Also, it happens to automobiles as well.

I also believe that many incidents of "Road Rage" are caused by drivers of RV's of all types by driving in the wrong lanes, blocking the flow of traffic, driving too slow or fast ect, give all of us a bad image.

I have seen many H3's I would give my right arm for!

[merle&louise]

Good point Pete, the tow car was the target. It's ashame that kids resort to this type of activity.

I know that I have received the single finger salute several times while driving my coach; it can be something as simple as pulling out of an RV park and making a left turn across traffic lanes. People are really impatient. A 45' motorhome + a 17' tow car is around 60' long with the tow bar. It takes time to make the turn.

I guess in this instance, the blame should be put on the kids and not the type of bus. My bad!

[lbriant]

Of coarse I was just joking about the H model, I just saw a chance to have some fun .) ( I thought I would get more Guff )
And kids will be Kids, I never did anything wrong when I was Young :)
As far as pissing anyone off people are pretty nice to me since I bought a Bus compared to our old 32 ft motorhome ?
They just always seem to give me room and let me over,
And I have my scooter and my jeep behind me thats over 70' probably, and of course on windy roads that pitch left and right with steep grades you will eventually be out of your lane a little or at least using all of it,
But I don't think Kids carry fully auto pellet guns at night looking for bad drivers and they were the ones that could not keep there car in one lane sometimes using the shoulder and the next 2 lanes so Alcohol probably played a part !!
in any case the statistics for that town are scary I just must have been the 17th Guy .)

[Gil_J]

I just drove 13,000 miles, through 26 states and 3 Canadian provinces and can say almost all drivers were courteous. This includes driving through DC, Seattle, Chicago and several other large cities. There was the ice road trucker in Canada that must have a death wish, but that was an exception. If I were to rate the city with the most discourteous drivers the award would go to Dallas/Ft Worth--hands down winner. I'm not meaning to say all in the DFW area are bad drivers, but I can say driving through here allowed me to check my air horns to see if they worked. As it turned out they worked well many times.

[lbriant]

Funny when I drove my first coach I was driving in the slow lane with the sales person about the speed limit on the interstate we had just crossed over a bridge I guess all the air horns I had ever seen was in trucks with a cord you pulled so I didn't know that the little button in the middle of the steering wheel even did anything?
So I reached down on this Liberty Lady and pressed the center of the steering wheel Wow all 4 air horns went off and a small car that had just passed me in the fast lane swerved clear over on the shoulder and back across the other lane Yikes I scared the S*#* out of them and me too, Anyway, That just reminded me of that , Too Funny

[Pete]

Gil, I will have to agree with you on the Dallas traffic. Somehow the drivers there missed the class on allowing someone to enter the freeway from the access road. Also the speed limit signs are totally disregarded. Want to be denied a lane change?....just turn on a turn indicator and watch the gap close at warp speed!
EXCEPT FOR PATRICK AND SHERRY!

[Raveson]

I've been through ABQ many times with rented RVs and with my 35' Airstream. No problems. Hope that now I own and travel in a Prevost the situation has not changed. We love the south west and can not believe that you have not just experienced a bunch of bad kids that do not represent the local population.