Fortunately, this is one of those stories where we had the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others. It happened back in June when Lisa and I had just arrived at the campground outside of Pittsburgh. Granted, it was 70 miles away, but that was as close as we could get.
I was settling in for the night and Lisa was inspecting the outside of the rig. (Subtext: I was playing Candy Crush and she was having a cigarette.) There was a loud crushing sound. Lisa ran and in and was concerned that someone had pulled in after dark and had scratched up their rig on some overhead branches. And who doesn't love a little drama, so Lisa wanted to go help.
Now, I'm not the guy to rush over and help. Probably, because of my Wyoming roots, I would prefer to be left alone and try to figure it out and resolve it on my own. That fence is there for a reason. If I need help, I will ask for it. Slowly, begrudgingly, and with resistance, but I will eventually ask for it. But only if I need it. My assumption is that everyone is the same way, so my first instinct is to to give people space.
That is not how Lisa operates. She really wants to get in there and help. So while I resisted, she really wanted me to go help. The tone in her voice led me to believe this is one of those times when it might be best to listen to my wife. So I sauntered over.
A young couple had taken a sharp right turn and the back end of their loooong motorhome had gone over a 6 foot bush and had landed the body of the rig on a large boulder. It was large enough that the rear tire was just off the ground. It was something to behold. I wish I had a picture, but I wasn't quite sure how it would go over. "Excuse me, can we pause for 30 seconds to take a picture of your pain? No? Okay, that's cool." Maybe not the conversation I wanted to have.
My first impression was that we needed a jack to lift the rig. Oh yeah, duh...the leveling jacks! It was a new rig (read: fancy and expensive) and they had only used the self-leveling jacks. They did not know how to manually engage the right rear jack and were looking to me for guidance. I had only had mine for 6 weeks. But I have been a consultant now for almost 20 years. I know how to fake that sh**.
So we went into the rig like we knew what we were doing. (You know, the confident man stroll.) Luckily for our egos, we figured it out and lifted the rig. The next issue was how to move a rock which was a tad bit heavy. A German and his son were now also on the scene. We tried to move it, but not much luck. So we are standing there trying to figure out how to proceed. (Maybe pull it out with our Jeep?) When young guy, full of adrenaline (and maybe steroids), decides to give it a try. Success! (So glad I did not take the picture earlier. Good guy to have on your side.)
A few scratches, but the rig was fine. Lots of handshakes and promises of beers were made. I never got a beer, but I did get a valuable lesson about avoiding driving at night.
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