Yesterday we had a few more rain showers in the morning. Donna drove to her exercise class in Shauna’s car. When Donna returned, I drove to the salvage yard (Copart) in Otay Mesa. Copart is located on Airway Road, about half a mile from the Mexican border.

In the Copart office, I presented my driver’s license and trailer registration. I told them my insurance adjuster told me to inspect the trailer, document damage and retrieve any contents that may be in the trailer. They looked up my information, then issued me an orange safety vest and told me to wait for an  escort.

About 10 minutes later, a woman walked me out of the office into the yard. It was a large facility with hundreds of motorcycles and cars – mostly wrecks that had been declared total losses. A few of the vehicles impounded were recovered thefts, like my trailer. Insurance companies contract with Copart to store and eventually dispose of the vehicles. Many of the totaled cars and motorcycles go to Mexico.

While I was there, I saw a few people come to retrieve personal belongings from vehicles. They didn’t allow the people to walk through the storage yard to the car. What they did was interesting. The person wanting something from their totaled car would wait outside behind the office. A huge forklift would go to the vehicle, pick it up and drop it behind the office. Once the items were taken from the car, the forklift would take the vehicle back to the yard. They didn’t do this with me – I was escorted through the yard to my trailer.

As we walked through the large yard, I saw a commercial jet landing to the south. I asked the girl if that was the Tijuana Airport. She said it was. On the mesa south of the airport, I could see the Tijuana neighborhoods, Insurgentes and Lomas Taurinas. The Tijuana-Tecate Highway runs along the Mexican side of the border beside the airport. It’s a different world just half a mile from where I was standing.

We found my trailer. I started with a walkaround inspection. I found several signs of abuse. Both  tires had sidewall scrapes indicating that they had rubbed against curbs. The jack near the coupler was bent from scraping the pavement. The bottom of the right rear corner of the trailer had also scraped against the pavement. My guess is the thieves hooked up the trailer and made a hasty exit. In their haste, they didn’t raise the jack all the way. They probably went through a dip or down a driveway too fast and scraped both the jack and the rear of the trailer. I took photos of the damage.

I unlocked the side door and entered the trailer. When the trailer was parked, I didn’t have everything in it tied down. I was using the trailer as a garage. As I accessed tools and whatnot, I wasn’t worried about securing the load. Before we hit the road, I would organize and tie down or strap everything. When the thieves pulled out with the trailer, loose items inside bashed around. There was damage to the interior walls. A few items were left behind by the thieves, but nothing of great value – a few books and papers, rags, a couple of tie down straps. The best thing left behind was the wheel chock for the scooter.

The people at Copart told me I couldn’t take the wheel chock because it was bolted to the floor. I argued that it wasn’t part of the trailer, it was an accessory that I added. We went back to the office and they called the insurance adjuster. She told them I could take the wheel chock since I hadn’t claimed it as contents and it didn’t come with the trailer.

Removing the wheel chock was a real chore. I didn’t have the proper tools (I’m missing my tool cabinet already). I made do with a screwdriver and pliers. It wasn’t easy, but I managed to remove it.

I took photos of all of the damage. I will e-mail them to the insurance adjuster, then we’ll discuss next steps.

After I returned, Donna took the car to go shopping at Trader Joe’s and Buffalo Exchange, a consignment shop that she wrote about in her book, How to De-clutter and Make Money Now, but had never visited in person. I showered and got ready for the evening’s festivities. I had reserved a table for 10 people at the Offshore Tavern and Grill. Jim Birditt was in town and hadn’t seen many of our old friends for years. We got together and had drinks, appetizers and lots of laughs. Gary Stemple, his sister Holly Strand, Mark and Judy Fredin, Carole Bringas and of course, Donna and I showed up. It was great fun. We missed a couple of people who we hoped to see there, but were unable to attend. Donna was our designated driver.

Carole, Donna, Mark, Gary, Jim, Holly and Judy at Offshore Tavern and Grill

Mark, me, Gary and Jim

Carole, me and Jim

Today the weather looks better – partly cloudy and the temperature should reach the mid to upper 60s. I’ll return Shauna’s car. Other than that, I have nothing planned.