Why we never leave the awning out

We never leave the awning out unless we are right there because we get sudden winds that will shred a awning fast. Sometimes even sitting under it we will barely get a chance to get it in when the wind comes up but once in a while a wind comes so fast it's grab on, hang on and hope for the best.

Friday we had just finished setting up, got the awning and the chairs out and were relaxing when I heard a odd wind noise. It was calm right by us but just beyond the treeline something sounded like it was shredding the trees. I had just gotten up saying we had better put this away because the wind is coming up when a DUST DEVIL pops out of the trees.
I pointed it out to Honey and even thought of getting a pic until I realized it was heading right across the awning side of the trailer. I grabbed one side of the awning just as the other side was being lifted and thrown back as the locking bar kicked out and the awning ballooned up. I've seen dust devils but never felt one. It is a incredible strong gust with pebbles and sand basting you. Even at 230# I felt myself being lifted up but finally the lard won out and the awning just needed to be reset. After that we did not have so much as a breeze for the rest of the day.