The Dangerous Duo

One of our regular blog readers once commented, "You guys and your adventures... I love them! You engage and embrace life so much, that you're borderline dangerous!"  Remembering back to that comment make us look at this concept a little more closely. What is being dangerous anyways? Websters defines "dangerous" as engaging in an act that may invoke harm, injury, or death. Our first thought was, "Geez - we're not that bad. How dangerous is it working at a campground?"

First, we ran down the litany of things we do on a daily basis as well as since we arrived here three weeks ago. Dave started things off how he and his co-worker Stillman get into all kinds of trouble (they call it fun and being efficient) with the maintenance buggy - the Bull Dog BD-300. They never do the speed limit (their excuse is that the cart doesn't have a speedometer), never follow gravel roads (hey, it's an off-road machine), and using a farm tractor to assist them in the cutting down of old trees ("those old John Deere tractors can push anything over").

Jill chimed in with her housekeeping duties. The campground uses more cleaning chemicals than you can shake a stick at. If one isn't careful, one could easily get asphyxiated. The basics of cleaning is using soap and water. When the temperature drops, water is more difficult to work with (it freezes) and soap tends to separate from water more easily and doesn't dissolve as well (leaving a much more slippery floor). Sometimes guests use the restrooms directly after they are cleaned. One can also tell that they are still a little slick as the footprints left on the still-wet floor look like a fox-trot dance lesson.

With all due respect, and no offense, fellow RV'ers can be downright dangerous. Some are not very good at maneuvering their RV. Mostly because it's just to big (or too long) for them to handle. We've seen light poles, water hookups, and cable TV ground boxes hit and taken out on a weekly basis. All the lamp posts at this campground are painted yellow. One RV'er was surprised that he hit one... until we showed him the new yellow streak of paint that now adorned the side of his 5th wheel. That's one of the major reasons why we purchased the Nomad - it's only 25 feet long. It is a perfect first-time RV for us.

The campground itself can be a little dangerous. Old systems and outdated electrical can be entertaining... sort of. Even performing basic electrical maintenance has tripped a circuit breaker a few times or has resulted in light bulbs blowing up inside their covers. The roads here are all gravel. Loose gravel can result in a twisted ankle - just ask Jill about that one. Not once, but twice.

But then we thought of a lesser known, affect of "dangerous". How is a persons thinking and attitude towards numerous aspects in life dangerous? Life itself is still an adventure - it is what we make it and how we live it. Today is the last day of January - it has been a colder than normal winter and Georgia has not escaped Old Man Winters' icy grip. Overnight temperatures have been in the teens and even the single numbers on several occasions. The campground has had to shut the water off to prevent freezing and damaged components. As we put the finishing touches on this post, we are thawing out from the two inches of snow we received the other day. People still grouse like crazy - and it's usually the ones who stay put. Other campers have pulled up stakes and left for warmer climates like southern Florida. People have to remember - this type of weather happens. We're all living in an RV, which is short for recreational vehicle. It's not a house.

Speaking again of RV's, even proven Maine methods of snow removal can backfire and be a little dangerous. Obviously, there is no snow removal equipment this far south, so Dave & his co-worker Stillman, had to improvise. Once again, out came the John Deere tractor and it's bizarre array of attachments. Instead of plowing, they "dragged" the snow out of the parking lot, sites, and roads. They were proud of themselves that in a mere 2 1/2 hours, they had everything cleared, shoveled, and salted. However, when the remaining snow melted from numerous areas, streaks of gravel were left behind. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue, except that a sharp piece of gravel got lodged in a departing campers' tire, causing a flat. He was not a happy camper! On the flip-side, if Stillman and Dave had "left the snow to melt", as they say down in these parts, the campground would have been a skating rink (and possibly more accidents would have occurred). We had RV'ers coming in the day of as well as the day after the storm through Atlanta and were travel weary. They were grateful for clear roads and sites. Just goes to show, that you can't please everyone and dangerous can be a win or lose situation regardless of best intentions.

We met one fellow RV'er who has been living this lifestyle for 50 years. Yes, you read that correctly - 50 years. Even he still makes mistakes, (he forgot to refill his backup water for the below freezing weather), but goes with the flow. "I'm always forgetting something. But hey - I'm human", something he mused before he left this morning. Great food for thought...

In our opinion, one of the keys of life is to be happy with our circumstances, regardless what they are on a daily basis. One can be "dangerous" to oneself with negative thinking and feeling hopeless. We all have to count our blessings - the weather may be a bit colder than we like, resulting in chilled fingers and toes, but at least there is warmer weather in the forecast. We have great heat, warm clothes and blankets. Finally as Jill added - no bugs!

On that note, we can honestly say "we are happy campers"!
Until next time,
Jill & Dave