New awning sun shade

Ever since we got to Canyon Vistas I have been saying that I wanted to get an awning sun shade. Our rig on the awning side faces the west so the afternoon sun can be a little hot by mid afternoon. We have neighbors all around us that have them and, of course, love them. They provide privacy along with shading from the sun. Well, last week our neighbor just two sites away was putting up a new sun shade on his rig. He had one but it wasn't quite the right size. His old one was too short and not wide enough. I went over to take a look as he installed it and asked a few questions. He told me he ordered off Amazon and got it pretty quickly. The brand is Vista Shade and comes in two pieces a 6' body and 2' insert to allow for easy reach to zip it on and off for traveling and when the wind kicks up enough that the awing needs to be retracted. It has an open-weave fabric that cuts approximately 85% of light to keep you cool and comfortable. It's the only RV awning shade made specifically for 12V Electric RV Awnings, Fits scissor-arm truss style awnings like Carefree Eclipse and Travel'r and Grommets and ground stakes  are included. The great thing is the shade can be ordered in different lengths and widths to accommodate any size awning.

 

 

I started by measuring the length of my awning tube and then the height from the awning tube to the ground. My awning length is 17 feet and the height of the awning to the ground is 8 feet. So I ordered the 15 foot wide by 8 foot long shade. This way I have some space from the end of the awning tube on each side so when the awning is rolled up there won't be any shade material hanging out. Also with the zipper, you can unzip the lower portion and leave the upper part attached to the roller tube and with less material the awning will completely close at the top. No problem with the awning possibly opening while going down the road because it's not completely closed. I ordered the shade on Wednesday, Feb 11th with an estimated delivery date of Feb 18 - 22. However to my surprise on Friday afternoon, the 13th, the UPS truck stopped at our site and delivered a package with the shade in it. What a good surprise. We decided to wait to put it up so we could go the flea market and get some different stakes to drive into the gravel surface at our site to hold the shade in place at the bottom. We found exactly what we needed. There was an RV supply booth that had some 10 in. Steel Nail Tent Stakes. $1.00 each

 

I bought 5 stakes

 

This morning after I had my oatmeal and coffee, I went outside to begin the installation process. It just so happened while I was getting prepared, our friend Ron Chase came by to invite us over to there home in the afternoon to discuss plans for next week. Ron helped me as I inserted the top lead end of the shade into the roller tube and fed it across to the other end. Then we zipped on the bottom half and pounded the stakes into the gravel to hold the shade out some for additional clearance inside. Here is the finished product from the outside and from the inside.

 

This should provide the shade we need and the privacy with plenty of room. Even though we only have 2 more weeks here, it will get plenty of use as we start our travels to the east and north and beyond. The neighbors like it too. :-) Thank you to Al and Barb for sharing their idea and information. So glad we did this. Another project complete.