Great suggestions. I will look into the awning lock, etc., once I get a new one. I will make sure to weatherproof the attachment points, also.
PS: I sure have a greater respect for truckers. That guy behind me was super nice about the whole thing.
Once, when driving my cycle down an interstate, a deer jumped in front of me just after passing a trucker. I had to do a panic stop and missed the deer by literally inches, looked in my mirror, and the trucker was braked to a crawl back a considerable distance. If he wasn't paying attention, the awning problem would have never happened.