Barking Embarkers

I decided to introduce Chloe to my camper slowly, though this was hardly necessary. Chloe seemed to feel that my camper was my human-crate, and loved to immediately jump on my bed, lay in her crate, or play with Remmy (my parent’s dog) in the main room. She never had an accident in my camper, even to this day! I believe she has much respect for this human crate of mine.

I spent a few days one on one with Chloe before starting my next job in Southern Minnesota for the summer. Chloe had a rough go during her first long drive, as I learned she had an issue with motion sickness in the truck. Thankfully I had laid out blankets, but we made stops every hour to clean up her vomit. Let me tell you, puppy vomit is truly not the best way to start life with a dog, and I felt awful  for the poor tyke. We had made it through a vomity, smelly, 5 hour drive, but Chloe perked right up when we got to walk outside to help her with that motion sickness issue.

Therefore, I pulled into the campground in the dark to find four very large men ready to help me unhook and back up the camper. As I am strangely talented at backing up this trailer, they were all impressed and began to place wood under the levels and unhook, faster than anything I had ever seen. I have to admit, I was intimated, as I am just one small girl with a 3 month old puppy; but the men loved Chloe and I couldn’t deny the good service.

The next morning, I began my walk with Chloe and noticed a bright yellow flag with snakes on it, waving over the campground. Unsure of its meaning I began to google it, while walking with Chloe. She is a grass-sniffer and bird chaser, so before long I had to look up; when I finally noticed it. A massive archway over the drive into the campground. “We don’t dial 911 here!”

My heart stopped. What in the name of Davies Jones Locker does that even mean?! I was completely convinced I parked among serial killers, or perhaps a murderous cult where everyone needed to call 911, but were encouraged not to. Completely confused by the flag and the sign, I called my mom. This, my friends, is when I learned about militia groups. You know, the people who don’t trust the government to defend them when its needed, so they are armed to the teeth, just in case of a zombie apocalypse. That’s why they don’t call 911 everybody!

I am not for or against militia groups by any means, but I must admit, I met the nicest people at this campground. Chloe met her first person using a cane, a man recovering from a hip replacement. She also got to interact with another man who had terribly high blood pressure and needed to see a doctor, as well as a couple truckers- It was a great 4 day stay. I was probably the most well protected I’ve ever been in my life too. I was too far from work to stay there permanently, and moved the Wednesday after I began my contract.

I think the moral is, never jump to conclusions, my friends. Amidst a panic filled moment, I misjudged an entire group of extremely nice people, who were not serial killers or murderers. An open mind during traveling adventures results in interacting and gaining knowledge about some fascinating cultures lurking around this beautiful country. I leave you with this story, and wonder what are some of the most fascinating cultures you’ve met while traveling? Has anyone else pulled into a campground to find themselves in a surprise situation? Happy Trails and Happy Tails!