It is getting close to peak tourist insanity in Colorado, otherwise known as the Fourth of July. Say, what do you think this guy is trying to do?
That's a full size fifth-wheel trailer. In about 100 feet he is going to encounter a giant mud pit that he probably will get stuck in. Even if he makes it through, he might knock out his black water holding tank. If his luck still holds, there are no campsites where he is headed that will hold his rig. Well maybe one. But it is likely already taken.
Then again, his trailer might only be a double axle, instead of a triple axle. And he doesn't have a UTV trailer or boat trailer appending his fifth-wheel trailer. And he came in before sunset. So it's not like he is a dummy or something!
But he is going to have to back out of there...
There was a time in my career as a campground host when I would have rushed down there to help the bloody fool. No more. Is that good or bad?
There was a time when I would come rushing to the aid of a damsel in distress if her crossover-utility-vehicle was stuck in the river. Now -- who cares!
And woe unto people who arrive after dark and are lost. "I can't see the roads...I don't know where the campsites are...It's dark at night." Well, duh.
You might attribute this to the increasing hard-heartedness of an experienced host who is sick of overcrowding in Colorado campgrounds. Well OK, there is some of that. But there are other reasons.
1. No good deed goes unpunished.
2. The visitors dislike other people's ideas, which after all, weren't 'invented here.'
3. Perhaps the host is camped there for the long term, but he can't possibly know as much as some expert on the internet, especially a 30-year-old camper living in a van, who has been on the road for three weeks now.
4. People don't like to be robbed of their 'adventure.' Perhaps it shows that they have been dutiful readers of this blog, and they know that 'misadventure' is more real, tangible, and dramatic than so-called 'adventure,' since the latter is really a chimera or maybe a platitude at best.
So I will be a good sport and stop making fun of that camper in the gigantic rig who seems to be where he shouldn't be. Good luck to him. He might remember today for years. And his wife will never let him forget it. But I will mind my own business.
That's a full size fifth-wheel trailer. In about 100 feet he is going to encounter a giant mud pit that he probably will get stuck in. Even if he makes it through, he might knock out his black water holding tank. If his luck still holds, there are no campsites where he is headed that will hold his rig. Well maybe one. But it is likely already taken.
Then again, his trailer might only be a double axle, instead of a triple axle. And he doesn't have a UTV trailer or boat trailer appending his fifth-wheel trailer. And he came in before sunset. So it's not like he is a dummy or something!
But he is going to have to back out of there...
There was a time in my career as a campground host when I would have rushed down there to help the bloody fool. No more. Is that good or bad?
There was a time when I would come rushing to the aid of a damsel in distress if her crossover-utility-vehicle was stuck in the river. Now -- who cares!
And woe unto people who arrive after dark and are lost. "I can't see the roads...I don't know where the campsites are...It's dark at night." Well, duh.
You might attribute this to the increasing hard-heartedness of an experienced host who is sick of overcrowding in Colorado campgrounds. Well OK, there is some of that. But there are other reasons.
1. No good deed goes unpunished.
2. The visitors dislike other people's ideas, which after all, weren't 'invented here.'
3. Perhaps the host is camped there for the long term, but he can't possibly know as much as some expert on the internet, especially a 30-year-old camper living in a van, who has been on the road for three weeks now.
4. People don't like to be robbed of their 'adventure.' Perhaps it shows that they have been dutiful readers of this blog, and they know that 'misadventure' is more real, tangible, and dramatic than so-called 'adventure,' since the latter is really a chimera or maybe a platitude at best.
So I will be a good sport and stop making fun of that camper in the gigantic rig who seems to be where he shouldn't be. Good luck to him. He might remember today for years. And his wife will never let him forget it. But I will mind my own business.
Comments
Well said.
George