By Barry Zander, Edited by Monique Zander, the Never-Bored RVers
Dear Lug_Nut,
We cringed during yesterday’s posting, wondering how we get ourselves into these no-going-back & no-going–forward situations. We had a few, but, honestly, none that I can remember as harrowing as your knuckle-whitener. Good writing, Lug!
Since “Comments” aren’t active these days, a victim of spammers (who sent me over 400 messages at one time), I’ll relate a few of our experiences in this blog. I wrote this same type column about a year ago, but Monique urged me not to run it. I must have erased it, because it has disappeared from my files.
First incident happened about the fifth day of our RVing experience, so naturally I was still nervous. We approached a long, narrow bridge pulling our 22-foot Starcraft Antigua travel trailer. As we moved on forward, I realized there was a truck with a wide load heading toward us !!! at a high rate of speed !!! and weaving a bit. I truly white-knuckled it, hanging onto the steering wheel for dear life.
We must have made it across, because we’re still RVing. I may have blacked out as we almost scraped past.
Not long afterward, we pulled into a shopping center … only it wasn’t the entrance to the center’s parking lot. It was the entrance to a small Starbuck’s – no way to back up or turn around, only the narrow drive-thru driveway. We didn’t order a Frappuccino: we were just happy with our escape.
Still new to the sport, we had driven forever along the beautiful highway bordering Capital Reef National Park in Utah, but after oohing and aahing for 8 hours, we were exhausted and edgy because the fuel gauge had been on empty for a while. At last we saw a brown sign pointing to a campground. We turned left and arrived at the proverbial fork in the road.
WARNING: This road not suitable for RV Travel
With no signs but a touch of asphalt on the left, I headed that way. It quickly turned back to dirt. Too far to back up, I finally turned into a logging road, got out and walked into the wilds, looking unsuccessfully for an opening in which to turn around. The highlight of the process, in Monique’s view, was when I found I couldn’t back up far enough because of a protruding pine tree limb. [Keep in mind that before we began RVing, I worked out and/or played racquetball four or five days a week for 30 years.] She remembers vividly that I jumped out of the truck, took giant steps to the rear, leaped up to catch the 3-inch thick branch and broke it with one rush of adrenalin. She still can hear my primordial Tarzan roar echoing in her ears.
I’ll abridge this tale by saying that the torment went on for more than an hour as the sun set over the prairie and the coyotes began to sing in the distance. I finally was able to drop my GMC diesel into 4-wheel drive low and churn our way over boulders to pull out.* Turns out the campground we were directed to was on the right of the fork, but had closed years earlier and was protected by a deep ditch.
*Having a truck with 4-wheel drive has saved us several times in our travels through North American.
And finally – the worst – we had just crossed into Arkansas from Louisiana on a very narrow raised road. All was well as we cruised along at 55 mph … until a truck with a wide box rear came around unexpectedly, just inches from our rig. As he passed and swerved sharply in front of our truck, the payload on the back clipped our extended side-view mirror, tearing it off.
Had I veered right to avoid damage, we would have gone down a 15-foot embankment and into a creek. Had I stayed on the very narrow shoulder, we would have hit a bridge abutment. I somehow managed to jump back on the road without over-correcting. We shuddered for a few minutes as we drove onward, convinced that the truck driver had evil in his soul.
Luckily, mankind is blessed with the ability to block out so many bad experiences. That’s lucky for you, also, or you would be hearing more tales from the dark side of RVing. And luckily, the wonderful, unforgettable times far outweigh the character-building experiences.
From the “Never-Bored RVers,” We’ll see you on down the road.
COMMENTS FROM PAST BLOGS:
From your visit to Russell Cave did you not stop in South Pittsburg, TN and visit the only LODGE CAST IRON Foundry in the world. This is the original LODGE Foundry and a visit to the company store is a treat. There is even a Cornbread Festival the last weekend in April. (An annual event) South Pittsburg is only 10 miles north of Russell Cave. Maybe next time you are in the area. – Gerald Scott
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