Checklist needed. Love La Paz

On the morning of January 4th I packed up my camp in Loreto after about five weeks in this nice town of about fifteen thousand. I had many fun days here hanging around with Grant and Brad. Also met a few other friends. Augies's Bar and Bait Shop was our go to for happy hour where the appies were free and the Margaritas were 60 pesos (about 3 bucks Cdn) I had felt a bit of a soar throat and a bit congested during the night. As I packed up I was feeling worse as time went on. Finally at about eleven o'clock I was ready to pull out. I got onto the highway and headed down the coast then threw a mountain pass then out onto the desert heading to Ciudad Insurgentes some one hundred twenty kilometers from Loreto. Driving along the desert there are many dips in the highway. When I was about twenty kilometers away from Ciudad Insurgentes I felt the trailer swaying a bit. I thought it was high winds but I didn't see the corn fields swaying in the wind. When I arrived in town I pulled over and parked accross the street from a restaurant. As I walked in the gal who is a bartender at Augies was walking out with her American husband. We exchanged pleasantries and I told them I hooked up my trailer and was heading for LA Paz. I glanced back at my truck and trailer accross the street and Holy....The rear slide was out and not on it's tracks. I had forgotten to lock it into place before heading out. I had pushed it in, taken the slide guides off and stowed them away but I hadn't secured the slide out with the bars that keep it from moving when you are towing. The slide out was on quite an angle just hanging out the back of the trailer with no guides hold it level. I was shocked and the bartender and her husband asked if I needed a hand getting it back in place. We walked accross the street and the three of us tried to lift it level so we could push it in. Two men and a woman weren't enough to lift that heavy slide out. Just then a car came along and I waved it over for more help. This big Mexican guy (had to be six foot three and at least two hundred fifty pounds hops out the car and says in English 'do you need a strong guy to help you' Couldn't have been a more suitable guy to help. The three men now gave it a try and with the big guy we were able to lift it and slide it back into place. I put the lock bars on each side into the locking position and thanked everyone. They all said no problem safe travels my friend. I went back accross the street and had lunch. I didn't want to go into the trailer and check for damage at that point. After lunch I hopped in the trailer and low and behold....no damage. These trailers are well built because I know that slide had come out at least twenty kilometers from town when I was going over all the dips on the highway. That's why I could feel the trailer swaying. I felt very blessed that nothing was damaged and resumed my trip toward LA Paz. It is a six hour drive and by the time I arrive in LA Paz at about five thirty I was feeling terrible. The coughing was non-stop and I was very stuffed up. I had to ask the woman at the RV park if she minded if I paid for my month long stay after I had rested a bit. Thank heaven I had made a reservation and they had all my info. She told me my camp number and said she would be in the office till nine pm. After parking and setting up the trailer I needed to lay down a couple hours. I got up, put a mask on and went to the office to pay for my month long stay. Laying in bed later that night I couldn't help but be grateful that I didn't damage my trailer. It could of been a disaster had the slide come off and fallen on the highway. It would quite possibly of been the end of my Baja travels. I'm making a check list and sticking to going through it before each departure from now on. I had someone suggest I do this a couple years ago. Should of listened. I kinda wish I would of taken a picture for the blog when it was out like that but at the time the blog was the last thing on my mind. Been in LA Paz for several days now and I'm finally over the cold and feeling so good. I'll start exploring the beautiful beaches here and doing some snorkeling, kayaking and fishing over the next few days. Finally I'll get to attach my GoPro camera to my snorkeling mask and get some sea life video. Swimming with the whale sharks is also on my to do list.