Thank You, Good Samaritan!

June 14, 2012, FLAG DAY!

A big “THANK YOU!!” goes out to the Good Samaritan on I-40.  (More on that later…)

I remember back when we first got the camper in 2001. Eric was not even two yet, and Claire only 5, so when we set up, I would take the kids to the playground or pool while Ray did all the set up after arriving at our destination.  We didn’t have all of our little shortcuts in place yet, and with only one person doing all the work, it could take well over an hour.  Poor Ray would be exhausted, we would all be hungry, and the fun wouldn’t actually start until the next day.  And if we were leaving to continue our trip the next day, the work of breaking down started bright and early, and took even longer than the set up.  After trying over-the-road-stops a few times, I declared, “No more one-night-stands!”  It was just too much work to set up and break down if we were only going to stay in a spot for one night. 

Flash forward 11 years, and we are now setting up in about 15 minutes.  Break down takes a leisurely 45 minutes or less, with breakfast and showers thrown in.  Over the years, I began to help more as the kids became more independent, then Claire started having little jobs, and finally Eric.  Now we all know exactly what to do and it’s a well oiled machine.  Ray continues to come up with better, more efficient ways of doing things.  For example, packing outdoor stuff and indoor stuff separately was instituted a while ago.  We don’t attach the bungee cords around the bed tents unless there’s rain or wind.  When breaking down to depart, we don’t bother with the lock on the camper door.  I wasn't too sure about that idea, but Ray convinced me that the top of the door is held in place by the top of the camper when it’s all folded down, so it's secure.)  We don’t use the large indoor/outdoor carpet piece in front of the door on these one-night-stands, because we’re not in sandy Florida anymore.  A cross-country trip like this wouldn’t be possible in a pop-up camper without these improvements.

Today has beautiful weather for driving.  Leaving Arkansas and entering Oklahoma on I-40.  This is the highway we’ll be on all the way to California.    Ray is driving all day again today, so far.  That’s three days in a row, and he hasn’t given up the wheel yet.  I wonder if he’ll get tired soon, but I’m not complaining.  I’m enjoying reading Vince Flynn’s “Term Limits,” doing Sudoku, and being the navigator.  I get to look up the route and find the next campsite, using a cool map book, a highway guide to exits, and the giant Woodall’s book that rates campgrounds.  Fun!  I’m even highlighting our route in the map book, so we’ll have a record of our travels.  Never had so much fun with maps!  (That’ll be funny to those of you who know about my love/hate affair with Geography…)

But back to the Good Samaritan…  While driving along this morning about 2 hours after we departed the campground, a guy in a truck pulled up beside us on our right, while pointing behind us and mouthing something indecipherable.  I rolled down my window (while Ray logically pointed out that at 70 mph, I wouldn’t be able to hear whatever he was trying to tell us).  The guy was still pointing back toward the camper, but this time I could read his lips, telling me, “Your door is open!”  I waved to thank the guy in the truck, and with Ray protesting that it wasn’t possible for the camper door to have opened, we pulled off the very next exit, which was thankfully right there.  We pulled up on a country road in front of a church, and I jumped out.  I swear the van was still rolling.  Sure enough, the camper door was wide open.  Well, so much for THAT time saving technique.  The amazing thing is that nothing flew out of the camper, and no damage was done to the door or the camper (well, there IS that little dent where the door flung open and hit the side, but to protect the innocent, we won’t mention that).  Our huge cooler full of food was right there at the door, and that thing flying out and rolling down the highway is just something I don’t even want to think about.  So, overall, a disaster averted without any damage.  Plus, we got to see some really pretty country roads on our way back to the highway.   When we did get back on, we saw that we had left Arkansas and entered the next state, Oklahoma somewhere on the back roads, so we said our usual, "Good-BYE Arkansas, Hel-LO Oklahoma!" and gratefully continued our trek. 

This is the camper parked in Oklahoma, but it's how the camper looked when we pulled off the interstate, complete with cooler and picnic bag right next to the door.  Many thanks to our highway angel.