Welcome to Texas!
On the way to Dallas from Jackson to Dallas we spent one night at the Tyler State Park in East Texas. We arrived after dark, which is usually a huge no-no, and we thought we would be ok to find our site without disconnecting the van from behind the coach; another no-no. But the map showed that we had a large pull through site and since we were leaving the following morning, it seemed like a good decision at the time.
RV lesson: when you are towing a vehicle behind your coach the tow system connecting the RV to the car makes it all but impossible to back up. With a pull-through site there is no need to back up so leaving the car attached is ok. That is IF the site is long and wide enough to accommodate the length of the two vehicles.
Upon arriving at the park we realized that the map exaggerate the size of pretty much everything. Welcome to Texas. The entrances to the different loops of RV sites were not well lighted or well marked and were very narrow. It was the week between Christmas and New Year so every site was filled with kids and dogs and bikes and trucks spilling out of the small parking pads onto the narrow loop of pavement. The road to our site was barely passable, but we made it through very slowly. I spotted an empty pull through site and directed Tim to pull in. The site was VERY short, barely enough room for the coach and also had huge boulders and trees on each side encroaching on the space we needed to maneuver, open the slides or plug in the electricity and water.
We had to disconnect the car after all to get it out of the road. But the battery on the car was dead. Being the brilliant pessimist the he is, Tim was prepared with a portable battery charger to jump start the van. YEA! While Tim fought with the available room to plug in and to get the water hose connected, I was inside trying to get the slides out just enough to get to the bathroom without hitting a tree or rock.
By now were both tired, frustrated and grumpy, but so close to being set up and settled in. So close indeed. Then Tim stuck his head in the door and said, “Pack it back up, we’re in the wrong site” and slammed the door.
Our actual site was up two more spaces and was larger and easier to get into than the first one. Little consolation by now.
Another life lesson for the road: You may not know where you have been or where you are going, but you damn sure better be sure of where you are.
Tim Here
Ok, Jill may have earned one demerit for directing us to the wrong site initially, but never fear– I can top that.
After setting everything up at the first site, tearing it all down and packing away then setting it all up at the correct site I f was ready for a break. It was only that next morning that I realized that I had left the rear tailgate open. Not good since it was like placing a big flashing neon sign on the interior reading: “TAKE SOMETHING”.
After a quick inspection of theft worthy items inside the van I was relieved to see that nothing was missing. Fortunately our fellow campers, if they even noticed, were honorable folks. Decidedly less honorable was the clear evidence that freekin’ racoons (a known species) did indeed spot the open door had made a visit sometime during the night. A small garbage bag destined for the dumpster come daylight was torn apart and a cardboard box with some supplies was ripped open. Oh well, not the end of the world I guess. I’ll just pick this up and… but wait–what’s this?! OMG. The racoons(s) were not content just to poke around but they also decided that our van would be great spot to… well, do what racoons do after eating I suppose. Yep, racoon shit everywhere. For all I know there were a whole herd(?) of racoons and they spent the night partying in the van. Could not dismiss that possibility by looking at the evidence left behind.
We reported this offense to the local authorities along with some evidence of the intrusion but have little faith that much can be done beyond just another “lesson learned”.
That is priceless, hope your having fun
Are you certain no raccoon hitched a ride to Dallas? 😁
Just two pounds of poop!
Never mind the raccoons, you two are a hoot!! LOVE your writings ✍ More, please.