We were so tired Saturday night that we were in bed by 9:30 p.m. and I waited until Sunday morning to post the blog. We had a rainy night, and were wide awake before 7 a.m. Sunday, and on the road before 8 a.m., which was a new record for us.
We passed through Montgomery with only a few cars and trucks to keep us company, and pulled into the Flying J truck stop a few miles south of town to take on fuel, and decided to try their breakfast buffet, which was surprisingly good.
Back on the road, we had an easy run to the Escapees Plantation RV Park in Summerdale. We checked in at the office, where we got a warm welcome, and then were assigned to a site. As we were unhooking the van, Jack Mayer came by to say hello. The battery in our van is getting weak and didn’t want to turn over, so we got out our battery charger and Jack helped us put some juice into the battery to get the van started.
By the time I had backed the motorhome into our RV site and finished hooking up our utilities, several people had come by to say hello and welcome us back, and to commiserate over our recent misfortune. We had pretty much a steady stream of visitors until we went to the Activity Center a little after 5 p.m. for their Chocolate Decadence event, in which for $3 each we had our choice of dozens of chocolate goodies, everything from brownies and cookies, to fudge, and even chocolate covered chicken wings. I passed on the wings, but sure tried to sample as much of the rest as I could.
Following that, they had the Sunday evening Ice Cream Social. And everybody managed to save enough room for ice cream too. RVers love to eat! It was nice to see so many folks we know, and to be made so welcome. And it is wonderful to be warm again! It was 72 degrees when we arrived at Summerdale!
After I reported in yesterday’s blog that we were spending the night parked behind the Moose lodge in Prattville, Alabama, I got three or four e-mails from people asking if we were not afraid of being victimized again.
We have dry camped all over this country without a problem for years, and though we will exercise more caution in the future and not allow ourselves to become complacent again, the reality is that we could spend another 20 years on the road (which we hope to do), and never have a problem again. Of course, we also realize it could happen again tonight. But, we refuse to live in fear, or to give up our freedom because of what “might” happen.
Keep in mind, too, that our crime did not happen while we were dry camping in some out of the way place. It happened at an established RV repair shop’s camping area, which had 24 hour surveillance cameras, which large signs plainly announced. Crime can and does happen at any time, anywhere. The luck of the draw was that we just happened to be the victims this time around.
Now that we are finally out of the deep freeze up north and getting the inside of our Winnebago back to normal, we are still discovering some other things missing, including the handheld Garmin GPS we use for geocaching, a digital photo frame with pictures of our granddaughters, and Leatherman pocket tool. On the flip side, we found a small digital camera we thought was gone, so that’s a good thing. Life goes on.
Thought For The Day – Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you anywhere.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
Now the real trial begins: dealing with the insurance company!
I hope you have receipts and/or photos of all the missing stuff.
When you provide us with all the details of how your claim is treated, you most likely will help quite a few full-timers re-examine their insurance and quite possibly switch companies.
Glad you made it back to warm weather safe and sound. We’ll see you in AZ next year. Hugs………….Pat
Nick…glad to hear you’re “right back at it.” I think we all learned a lesson from your experience….be AWARE of your surroundings. As a “newbie” we try to be aware of our surroundings, but with only 3 months under our belt (3 month anniversary this Friday), we sometimes leave our guard down. Need constant reminders! Enjoy the warm!
Paul Weaver
You’ll be strolling around in shorts and a tank top soon, with that warm weather. Better send out a warning.
Nick, Pamela and I smiled when we say your purchases. We bought the exact items ourselves.
Your experience with the insurance company, I am sad to say, is normal. I worked in the auto collision repair (auto body) industry almost 40 and saw many people get hammered by the insurance companies. It is worse today with the direct repair programs all of them have. Hope you do not get beat up too bad.
I am with you, a person cannot live in constant fear. The 24 hour news cycle requires the media to come up with something to fill the space. They play the what If game. What if a ______ fill in the blank….terrorist….hurricane…..earthquake. We pay attention to where we are at. If either of us feels uncomfortable about an area we move. We do not try to get the other to change their minds.