Meandering Moments by Elsi

I sold (and signed) books at the Mitchell (SD) KOA last night, from 4-9 p.m. This made me privy to all sorts of conversational interchanges.

A couple from Germany, and their RV had German plates: It seems there’s a container-type ship that does nothing but transport RVs from Europe to Baltimore and back. Expensive? You bet! But cheaper than renting, if you’re going to be here for several months. I enjoyed Jim (campground owner/manager/host) trying to find out from the German-speaking man whether he needed a 30 or 50 amp connection. The solution? Hold up plugs till he reacted positively.

A gentleman with several small children, wanting to know what the procedure would be if there were a hurricane warning.

Lots of people telling cat stories, and enjoying the picture of Dolphin on the dashboard.

A man and his wife registered. Any children? None. Jim commented, “There seem to be quite a few kids in and around your vehicle!” The man looked—the RV behind him in line was his sister’s family. Neither had known the other would be there!

I tend to function as “staff” during book signings, and found myself answering, “Where’s the bathroom?!” “Where’s the mini-golf clubs?” and “Does the store carry catfood?” with aplomb.

Jim just got a shipment of a new bug deterrent. Doesn’t work on mosquitoes, which are thick, due to the heavy rains and flooding. But drives away the nasty bull gnats, which have powerful jaws. What is it? Victoria’s secret vanilla body wash! Jim said the woman he ordered it from was not amused when he said it was for bugs!

A few trip statistics:

• I’ve been in 10 states and 5 provinces.

•I’ve found all but 10 state license plates {postscript: just got South Carolina, so all but 9!}, have 6 of the provinces, and spotted two foreign countries (in addition to Canada, I mean): Germany and Switzerland.

•total length of trip: 34 days (I’ll be home Monday)