My wife and I enjoy the outdoors but her enjoyment didn’t include sleeping in it. A friend told me an RV had resolved a similar issue with his wife.
As luck would have it, an old Jayco “J” came up for sale on my street. Surely this was a good sign so I bought it. Even though the “J” opens only on one side to me it was a thing of beauty.
But at the park’s gate the Ranger told us that our campground’s comfort stations were not operating. A black cloud crossed my wife’s heretofore-sunny countenance so I quickly whisked her out of the welcome centre and continued to the lakeside, RV-only spot I’d lusted after for years. I’d arrived in every sense of the word.
Having practiced many times I set up with a speed which prompted positive comments from my wife, a good sign to be sure and we sat with tea watching the sun set over the glassy lake, listening to the haunting cry of loons, definitely a great start.
All my subsequent RV’s have had self-contained bathroom facilities but the J was lacking in this one element. So assuming there were no comfort stations what remained were the nearby outdoor toilets. I prayed this was an acceptable price to pay for what I felt was to be a near blissful experience.
When the need arose my wife declined my offer of escort her and with a small flashlight she ventured into the dark bush. It was some time before she returned but when she did she was mad as a wet hen. It seems that while the area around the trailer was reasonably light the bush was very, very dark and the small flashlight was not up to the task. She tripped over something on the pathway the flashlight went out entirely. By dead reckoning and the faint light of our trailer she finally found her way back. All goodwill developed over the day was gone as she dressed me down for sending her alone into a bush “full of wild animals” with a “stupid penlight”. It was sometime before she calmed but the cold night became even more so.
However, the next day was filled with walks through the park’s breathtaking attractions and a stronger flashlight precluded further bathroom adventures, so the rest of the weekend was indeed pleasant. However while exiting the campground we found the ranger had been wrong and that the comfort stations had in fact been open. But by then it was almost funny.
However to this day she still talks of how I tried to lose her in the “black and scary woods”.
Submitted by Michael Boothby of Ontario, Canada as a part of the RV Centennial Celebration “Share Your Favorite RV Memory” contest.
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