The Importance of Planning
Susan J
This month, Andi, a member of our sales team, will be sharing with you an experience she had while camping in the Pisgah Forest. The story is a little funny and a little scary and a lot entertaining. Here goes!
My husband, bless his heart, loves to go up to Pisgah Forest in North Carolina to camp. Twice a year, a group of campers, most of which have been camping together for 30+ years, go to one of the group camps there and hang out for an extended weekend of fun and fellowship. I’m all about the fun and fellowship part, but the part that doesn’t excite me at all is the fact that there is no electricity and the only source of drinking water is acquired by using a hand crank to pull the water from a well. Basically, it’s takes a lot of planning. Apparently that’s not something my husband nor I do very well.
Years ago when our 15 year old daughter was just seven months old, we decided last minute that we would go join up with the group for the weekend. It was Labor Day and all I wanted to do was stay home and enjoy one last hoorah at the pool but instead I got “guilted” into going to Pisgah. We ended up leaving late from our house and I knew it would be dark when we got there but we packed up our pop-up and took off down the road.
After driving for almost two hours with a sleepy baby, we arrived at the entry gate to the group camp. Of course it was locked and neither of us had gotten the combination to open it. At this point I was angry. Here I was…spending Labor Day at my least favorite place and we were locked out. My husband said, “We’ll have to hike in and get the code.” I replied, “I’m not hiking through those woods in the pitch blackness!” He then said, “You and the baby stay here and I’ll hike in and get the code and come back for you.” Well, I’ve seen enough horror movies to know that this was not an acceptable solution. I am a big ‘ol “scaredy cat” and would have rather went home at this point, but I choose to tough it out and hike in with him. We set off through the darkness. I have never experienced that kind of dark. The road in front of us was just barely visible and, at times, we were just guessing where we were walking. My husband had me under one arm and was holding our baby in the other. None of us made a sound. I kept hearing a low rumbling noise and half convinced myself that it was a helicopter. (I now know this was probably a bear.) It seemed that we were in the woods forever. We came to a creek and my husband took his shoes off so we could cross. I was wearing flip flops so I just waded through with them on. He didn’t even stop to put his shoes back on when we were on the other side. We walked a little more and I saw the most amazing thing…foxfire! I had never seen it before but I immediately knew what it was. It was glowing green on both sides of the path like some kind of sign that it was all going to be alright. Right past the patch of foxfire, the road opened up and the moon began to shine through the canopy of trees. We had made it! We joined the rest of the group of campers who could not believe we walked into camp. I could hardly believe it myself. My husband and his father rode back down the road to the truck and brought our camper in. Nine tenths of a mile.
It turned out to be a great trip. I was so thankful to be alive that I immediately forgave my husband for everything that went wrong. (Of course it was all his fault!)
What we learned from this experience:
- Gents, always listen to your wife.
- Make sure you have important items readily accessible (flashlight, combination lock codes, etc.)
- The low, rumbling sound you hear in the forest is never a helicopter.
Now, that I’ve hopefully entertained you and maybe got your attention, it’s time for a shameless plug. Despite this (and a few other) camping disasters, we still continue to camp. We also have learned a few more things along the way, like why it is important to take care of your equipment. We make sure to cover our camper (we’ve since upgraded to travel trailer, 5th wheel, and back to travel trailer). We keep our spare tire covered to prevent it from prematurely aging and we also have covers on our propane tanks. Should you find yourself with a need for any of these items, give us a call at RV Covers Direct. We can definitely help get you in the correct cover for your area. We have many items in stock and ready to ship!