The Unfortunate and Eventful Day

Did I mention that the roads in Greenbelt Park were narrow? Well, yes they are and upon our departure on Thursday morning, September 28 I found out how narrow first hand. As we proceeded to the dump station area, the trailer tires on the driver's side of the rig slipped off the road surface onto a muddy shoulder and caused the closed trailer slide-out trim to catch the split rail fence post. It happened so fast I had little time to react to the situation even though I was going less than 15 MPH. Upon examination of the damage I felt sick to my stomach. I was shaken up and almost immediately started slipping into nausea and a wave of depression. Just what we needed before a long 3+ hour drive to Cheatham Naval Annex outside Williamsburg, Virginia.

Karen tried to calm my spirit and prayed for me, but honestly I was an emotional mess. We drove on to the dump station, but I was seriously concerned about the trees close to the road on the way out. We made it out of the park okay but I was really nervous about proceeding. I had a pretty dramatic reminder of the damage every time I looked in the side mirror as I drove down the highway. We had to drive south around DC and the traffic was heavy. Once we got past the Pentagon building we still had a complex series of ramps and interchanges to navigate through Alexandria, VA.

Honestly, I don't remember much of the trip driving south. We stopped for lunch at a rest stop where I closed my eyes and tried to calm down during the break. I took the time at the rest stop to pry off the lower broken trim and duct tape the loose aluminum skirt. At least I got rid of the damn trim piece sticking off the side and in my side mirror view! We stopped for diesel to fill up and also get some DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid). No DEF; the DEF pump wasn't working, great. Onward to Cheatham Naval Annex campground but first we needed to stop at the Pass and ID office to get on base.

We arrived at the Pass and ID office at 3:15 PM (1515 in military time). The office closed at 1500. Really?! I felt like I was getting the "emotional shit" seriously piled on. The next best thing I could think to do, in my diminished capacity was try and find the nearest Cracker Barrel Old Country Store. They let RV's park overnight for free and I needed a place to park and crawl into bed. I just needed the day to end. My poor wife had to put up with the whole sordid mess and "Semper Gumby" just wasn't cutting it for me today. Sorry Karen for being such a jerk.

All I could think about was crawling into bed at 3 PM and attempt to sleep off the stress and depression. Tomorrow would be a new day and after shaking the depression wave with sleep I might be up to the task of dealing with the next day of this unpredictable RV life again.