Yes, Nick’s in Alabama. It’s cold, and last night we heard rain tapping on the roof of our motorhome a time or two. I expect the locals to show up at our door with pitchforks and torches any minute now.
Speaking of people showing up at your door, blog reader Dave Bossert sent me an e-mail yesterday, relating an uncomfortable incident he and his wife experienced. In Dave’s words: “We’re currently in Quartzsite and last night had a hippy type person come to our door at 10:30 PM. We didn’t open the door when he knocked but rather talked through the kitchen window. Long story short, he was looking for drugs and was all messed up. He finally left after I threatened to call the police. Now I know, to a smaller degree, what you went through with your intrusion. Lucky for us the bad guy was on the outside not the inside, as in your case. Could you please advise people to know how to contact the local police in their area and also know exactly where they are to guide the police? I think you need to update your cell phone for the area you are in, or else a 911 call could go to the wrong area.” Folks, the RV lifestyle is pretty safe overall. But as Terry and I learned when we came home late one evening to confront an armed burglar inside our coach, bad things can happen. Always be aware of your surroundings, and don’t get complacent.
We like the Plantation, it’s one of our favorite Escapee campgrounds. And apparently we’re not the only ones, the place is packed. We got the last available 50 amp site when we arrived, and there were only a couple of 30 amp sites available when I went up to the office to check in yesterday morning. I considered moving to one of those sites, since a tree is blocking our rooftop satellite TV dish where we are, but since we’ll only be here until Sunday morning, we’ll rough it with the crank up air antenna.
The good news is, our Verizon MiFi is getting a strong 4G signal here, and when I ran a speed test last night, I was getting download speeds of 1326 kb/s and uploads of 186 kb/s. That’s good! Of course, it still doesn’t keep the MiFi from locking up and having to reboot it a couple of times a day. 🙁
The Activity Center is the hub of the community here at the campground, and yesterday when I stopped in to drop off a bundle of sample issues of the Gypsy Journal, there was a group of people caning chairs. Old wooden chairs are collected at yard sales and flea markets, then the folks here restore them, and when they have enough ready to go, they will auction them off, with the proceeds going to the the Escapees CARE facility in Livingston, Texas.
Yesterday afternoon we went up to the Activity Center for the 4 p.m. Social Hour, and ran into a lot of people we know, including Darrell and Judy Patterson, Norm and Linda Payne, Judy Hughes, and a bunch of other folks. But unless they are wearing name tags, and unless I write their names down right that moment, I usually can’t remember who I spoke to five minutes ago. It’s not that people aren’t important to me, it’s just that I’m terrible with names. I’ve been married three times, and had a couple of other serious relationships, but I’ve never kissed a woman who wasn’t called Baby. 🙂
After Social Hour, we stopped to chat with our neighbors for a few minutes, and to compliment the husband on his mandolin playing, which we enjoyed listening to yesterday morning as he sat outside and picked. Then we drove to another of our favorite restaurants locally, Big Daddy’s Grill, on the bank of the Fish River. I had blackened shrimp, and Miss Terry had a shrimp quesadilla and a Greek salad. It was all delicious, and the Key Lime pie made an excellent dessert.
If the weather is decent today, we may go out and play tourist for a while, and if it’s ugly, we’ll stay home and work on the sequel to Big Lake. Final editing and proofing is taking longer than expected, but I want it to be as perfect as possible before I upload it to Amazon’s Kindle bookstore.
Speaking of Kindle e-books, my friend Traci Hilton’s mystery Eminent Domain is free on Amazon today. Check it out. It’s a very good read!
Thought For The Day – When does it stop being partly cloudy and start being partly sunny?
Register Now For Our Arizona Gypsy Gathering Rally
Check Out Nick’s E-books In Our E-Book Store
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
But, but … I thought you could just push a button to make your satellite work?
This is Baldwin County, Greg. the place where you were born. Obviously nothing works right here!
The Plantation is “home” to us! And so glad you are going to Big Daddy’s and get some of that blackened shrimp which is my favorite. Randy always gets the “Big Daddy Burger” and he says it’s one of the best burgers he’s had. Enjoy!
I know what you mean, Nick. I’ve just been Bob, Bob, Bob, Bobing along.
Nick thanks for the heads up on the mystery, just download it. Will read it when I finish my currant book.
Are you bring rain with you as you travel again? Oh well we could still use some more rain here.
Nick,
Well, I guess your brain doesn’t work quite right in Baldwin County either, because that’s not where I was born.
I was born about 300 miles north in Birmingham.
I grew up in Baldwin County (Gulf Shores) and it was working fine when I left.
You probably just broke it like usual.
You boys play nice now.
He started it, Tom!
Greg – my apologies, I just went back and read your blog about it. You weren’t born there, they just ripped your brains out at the little hosital in Baldwin County. Or was that tonsils? Darn, those things have long roots! 🙂
Mssg to Dave Bossert
Dave, what camping area are you in? We are in Tyson Wash, and I found my front door ajar against the dead bolt this morning. I’ll be putting both locks on tonite. Thanks for the heads up.
That being said, I hope you decide to call the police today about the “hippy type looking for drugs” with a complete description of him.
They will be on the lookout for him and hopefully no one else will get intruded upon or hurt.
at the little ‘hosital’?
Did you break your spellcheck?.
Or is your dragon just ignoring too.
” I think you need to update your cell phone for the area you are in, or else a 911 call could go to the wrong area.”
Not to worry Dave, 911 will get you to the nearest police agency to the cell tower. It will not always be the agency for your exact location, be it city, county, or state, but they can get you to the correct one quickly.
Just used my cell here in AZ to report a drunk driver and my Chicago registered phone went right to the Pima County Sheriff when I dialed 911
Chris, sorry I didn’t check the blog earlier, hope you get this. We are in LaPosa West LTVA. I reported it to the front office people where you register. Due to the dark I couldn’t see the person real well. Only could say he was young male with dark hair. Now we know to call the 911 right away. Hope you still can get this message.
Thanks Dave B.. I always say when in doubt, there is no doubt. If it occurs to one to call the police then do it, they (the police) live for this/that stuff.
Maybe we’ll catch you at the RV show tomorrow. I’ll be the guy with the good looking wife…
Hey Nick, I’d like to add another safety warning. Folks need to be careful about announcing to the world that they have painkillers in their possession. That might sound like a no-brainer but I have read at least five blogs in the past month in which the blogger mentioned an injury or illness and proceeded to talk about their prescription for oxycontin, hydrocodeine, etc. I’ve met people in campgrounds who told me, within ten minutes of meeting me, all about their ailments and the drugs they take for them, often powerful painkillers.
Many, many people are addicted to these drugs right now and addicts will do desperate things to get them. Remember, the recent story about the young woman who shot an intruder after asling the 911 operator if it was ok? The intruders knew her husband had recently died of cancer and were breaking in on the assumption that he had painkillers. So, even if you don’t specifically mention the drugs you have, telling folks about certain illnesses you have can place a target on you, too.
Painkiller addicts come in all shapes and sizes, all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. Not long ago, a sportscaster for a station in Baltimore got caught breaking into his neighbors’ houses looking for painkillers. He was middle-aged, clean cut and well off but got hooked on oxies after an injury and risked everything to get them.
Sorry for the long PSA but I’m hoping you will mention this as you reach a large audience of RVers and I have been stunned about how openly RVers will talk about having these drugs. You would be safer announcing you have bars of gold in your RV than announcing the Doctor gave you a prescription for painkillers.