Mango Bob (9 page)

“Sounds good to me. I've got some errands to run today and don't know when I'll be getting back to the campground. I'll call you when you can bring him over. Sometime this evening before dark.”

“That'll work. Just don't forget. Please don't leave without Bob.”

I promised I wouldn't.

20

It was settled. I'd volunteered to drive the Love Bus 1,200 miles to Florida to deliver a cat to Molly's sister. And I planned to leave within 24 hours.

That meant I needed to get ready for the trip.

After saying my goodbyes to Molly, I went to the bank to deposit my pay and withdraw some spending money for the trip. The three checks brought my account balance up to a little over sixty thousand dollars.

I withdrew fifteen hundred in cash, all twenties. I figured twenties would be easier to spend and less suspicious than carrying around a wad of hundred dollar bills.

My plan was to use my credit card to pay for gas and have the cash for food and 'just in case' expenses.

After leaving the bank, I drove to the Walmart Super Center. They sold gas, so I topped off the tanks. Took thirty gallons.

After filling up I went inside, and headed to the electronics section where I picked up a large screen Tom Tom GPS. Then over to the book section to get a printed US atlas – both would be handy in mapping out my route.

Remembering what I had learned from Jack the night before, I picked up a small bottle of bleach, a spray bottle and sani-wipes. Then over to the food section where I stocked up on frozen dinners, peanut butter and jelly, bread, cereal and juice.

From Walmart I headed back to the campground, where I was hoping to see Jack and Jean again. They'd been so gracious the night before, showing me how to operate all the systems in the Love Bus.

They'd offered to share advice on the best route to Florida, which I now needed. And maybe they could offer some suggestions on places to camp along the way.

When I reached the park, I was greeted by James, the ranger who I had met two weeks earlier. “Walker, see you're back with us tonight, Where's your truck?”

“Sold it. Got this instead. Beats camping in a tent.”

“I bet it does. Unfortunately, the daily camping fee for motorhomes is $18.00.”

“No problem. Still a bargain.”

“So how many nights you staying?”

“Just tonight. I'm leaving for Florida in the morning.”

“Hate to see you go. But the weather in Florida is sure going to be better than what we'll see in the next couple of months.

“Since you're only staying one night, I'm not going to put you in a river-front site. Those are for our long term guests.”

Checking his available site list, James found a vacancy and put me in section D, site 11. This was one of the wooded sites. No river views. A bit more private.

He drew a map to the site, told me to be safe, and said come back to the office if there were any problems.

Then he said, “We had some excitement last night. Someone tried to break into one of the motorhomes in the campground.

“It's the first time that's happened. Never had anything like that before.

“The police are still here at the campground, so don't be surprised if they ask you questions about anything suspicious you might have seen.”

I'd been here two weeks, and the only thing suspicious I'd seen were the raccoons who tried to steal food scraps at night.

I headed to my campsite, being careful to stay below the posted speed limit of nine miles per hour.

As I drove, I kept a lookout for a Winnebago Aspect motorhome identical to mine. That's what Jack and Jean were in. I wanted to talk with them again before taking off to Florida.

I arrived at my site without seeing Jack's motorhome. I'd have to go looking for them later.

Remembering what I had learned, I carefully backed onto the paved pad at my campsite, close enough to the utility pole so I could hook up to shore power.

After parking, I connected the 30 amp electrical cable and water hose from the motorhome to the utility pole on the camp site. Just as Jack had shown me.

Before I got back in, I checked to make sure there was plenty of space for the slide to go out. No trees or tables in the way.

Inside, I set the parking brake and pressed the 'extend' button to get the slide to go out.

So far, so good. The instructions Jack had given me paid off. I was quickly becoming an old hand at setting up camp.

I put away the food and other supplies I'd gotten from Walmart. I kept the GPS and Atlas out to help route my trip to Florida.

Before routing the trip, I wanted to see if I could find Jack and Jean to see what advice they could offer.

21

The Toad Suck Ferry campground has fifty three campsites spread out over four loops. Three of the loops are on the river, the fourth is in the woods.

I had already checked all the sites in the wooded loop when I drove in, so I decided to check the river loop to see if Jack and Jean were camped over there.

Walking around the loops, I saw several different kinds of motorhomes. Some were the larger Class A bus sized, but most were the smaller Class B and Class C's like mine.

I noticed almost all of the Class A's were pulling a tow vehicle, usually a small car or jeep, while most of the smaller motorhomes had no tow vehicle, but often had bicycles strapped to the back.

This made sense. The big motorhomes wouldn't be easy to maneuver in crowded cities, so having a tow vehicle would provide a way to get around.

On the smaller Class B's and C's, you really didn't need a tow vehicle since you could drive them just about anywhere.

But having a bike meant you could easily get around the campground. Even pedal to nearby stores without needing to unhook and drive the motorhome.

I'd need to add a bike to my list of things to buy if I were going to stick with the 'house on wheels' lifestyle.

Having no luck on river loop A, I walked thru loop B, and eventually found a Winnebago Aspect that looked a lot like my Love Bus.

There was no question it was the one I was looking for. Jack was outside checking the air pressure in his tires.

“Jack, checking your tires?”

He looked up, “Glad to see you're still here. We were afraid we'd missed you.”

“Still here. But I'm leaving in the morning. Wanted to get your advice on a good route to Florida. Maybe some suggestions on where to stay on the way down.”

“Happy to help. But did you hear about the break-in attempt last night?”

“Yeah, the Ranger told me when I came in.”

Jack pointed toward his coach, “But did he tell you it was our coach they tried to get into?”

“No, he didn't mention that. What happened?”

“It was around one in the morning. We were sleeping. I got up to pee. Heard a noise below the bathroom window.

“I thought it was a raccoon. I peeked out and saw a man bent over trying to get something out of our utility compartment.

“I yelled at him. Ran to the door to see if I could catch him. But he took off. Gone before I could get out the door.”

I was stunned. The only people I knew in the campground and they were the ones who had been broken into.

“Amazing! Someone tried to get into your motorhome while you were sleeping. Did they get anything? Any idea what they wanted?”

Jack wiped his hands on a towel, “I've been thinking about it all day.

“The low-life was scrounging around in our utility compartment. There's nothing in there to steal except a 30 amp power cord and a used sewer hose.

“I can't think of any reason he'd risk getting caught for that.

“And there's another thing. Anyone who knows anything about motorhomes wouldn't look in the utility compartment for something to steal.

“They'd look in the other compartments. Or try to get inside. What bothers me most is no other motorhomes were targeted. Just ours.

“He didn't try to get into any of the unlocked cars at the other sites or inside the flimsy tents or the more expensive motorhomes.

“He chose ours. Like he had a special reason to target ours.

“I guess it could have been a prank – but why bother? Why go to the trouble of trying to break into the sewer compartment in a motorhome with people sleeping inside?

“It just doesn't make sense.

“When I looked out the window, the guy was rummaging around like he was looking for something.

“He even peeled back one of the metal panels on the inside of the compartment. No telling what he'd have done if I hadn't seen him.

“Jean is pretty upset about this. Not scared, just upset that someone would damage her home for reasons we can't figure out.

“In any case, we're leaving tomorrow morning. Not because of this. We'd already planned to leave for Florida tomorrow.

“The only change is tonight we're camping at Walmart instead of staying in the campground here.

“That'll make it easier for us to get an early start in the morning, and Jean won't worry so much about the thief coming back here tonight.

“Right now I'm checking all our systems. Making sure our visitor last night didn't mess with anything else.

“After I get everything checked out, we'll head over to the Walmart parking lot. Spend the night there with the other boondockers.

“Tomorrow we'll get up at daybreak and head toward Florida.”

Wow. Jack and Jean were broken into. And they weren't going to be here in the park tonight.

“You're spending the night at Walmart? How does that work?”

“It's called boon-docking. Camping without any hookups.

“A lot of Walmart stores allow motorhomes to park overnight in their parking lots. Mostly the Super Centers close to the interstates.

“A few cities don't allow it, so you have to check to be sure it's okay.

“If it's allowed, you can stay overnight as long as you don't block the delivery trucks or cause problems for other customers.

“They're smart to allow this. It gives RV'ers a place to rest for the night, and most will go into the store and stock up on food and other things.

“We usually stay in campgrounds, but when we're trying to cover a lot of miles in a short period of time, we'll often drive until dark. Then find a Walmart to park in.

“That's what we'll be doing tonight. Then we'll get up at daybreak. Do as many miles as we can tomorrow. Get us closer to Florida.”

I nodded, “So, that's why I see motorhomes parked at Walmart?”

“That's one reason. Another is Walmart parking lots are easy to get into. Even if you're not spending the night, it's a convenient place to stop and shop.”

I nodded, “So you're heading to Florida tomorrow morning and camping in the Walmart parking lot tonight?”

“That's our plan. If you like, you're welcome to join us. You can park near us. And I can show you a few more things about your motorhome.”

“Sounds good to me. When are you planning on going over there?”

“Right before dark. I'm not much on driving after the sun goes down, so it'll be around 5:30 this evening.

“Before then I'm going to do my normal pre-flight check on the motorhome. Tire pressure, oil level, things like that. If you want, I'll be happy to help you check yours after I get done here.

“Or better yet, you can help me check mine. That way you'll see what I do before each trip.”

That sounded good to me. I told Jack anything he could show me would be much appreciated.

In the back of my mind I was still thinking about why of all the motorhomes and campers in the campground the thief had singled out Jack's coach.

What could they possibly be looking for?

Later on, I'd find out. And it would involve me.

22

After Jack told me about the attempted break-in, I decided I needed to make sure I had locked my own motorhome.

I mentioned this and he said “Go check it right now. Then come back and I'll show you how I prepare for a long trip.”

I walked back to the Love Bus and checked. The doors were locked. But I had left one of the exterior compartments unlocked. Probably when I moved things from the storage building into the coach this morning.

Fortunately, nothing was missing. I locked the compartments, double checked the doors, headed back to Jack's campsite.

Jack was still outside, bent over the rear tires. “Everything OK? Any problems?”

“I'm glad I checked. One of the compartments was unlocked. But nothing missing. And it's locked now.”

“Good. let me show you what I do when I prepare for a trip.

“First, I check the pressure in all the tires. Got to get them right or this thing can be hard to drive – especially in the wind.

“If you don't have an air gauge, you'll want to get one. Buy a good one at a truck stop so you'll get accurate readings. Those cheap two dollar gauges from China are worthless.