Campfire Talk

Merriam-Webster defines the word “impromptu” as (1) “made, done or formed on or as if on the spur of the moment;” and (2) “composed or uttered without previous preparation.”  Welcome to an impromptu edition of Campfire Talk, a post consisting of the sort of things you might talk about around a campfire with friends or fellow travelers or even around the dinner table with your family.  It was composed with no preparation so, basically, I’m just winging it and you’ll be dealing with my “spur-of-the-momentness” regarding a variety of mostly unrelated topics.  Here’s hoping Mike doesn’t see fit to correct my grammer grammar.  Interspersed throughout the post are random photos from this fall’s tour of the southwest.

Regrets?  Ten days after we arrived home from our fall tour of the southwest (and well before we had worked our way through “catch up” and all the appointments I had scheduled), we found out from our sister-in-law, Joan, that Alan’s uncle was celebrating his 100^th birthday on November 28th.  Since Alan and Uncle Adolph share a November 28th birthday, and since Alan’s uncle is the last remaining aunt/uncle on either side of his family, Alan thought it would be a good idea to make a quick trip to Florida to wish his uncle a happy birthday in person.  The timing wasn’t the best.  We had Thanksgiving just ahead and Alan was scheduled for jury duty the week of December 4th. We talked about waiting until January, but that seemed like too far away.   Alan really wanted to go in November, and I agreed that it was the right thing to do.  So, with our camping gear still not packed away for the year, our Christmas newsletter not written, and virtually no holiday shopping or cleaning done, we told the kids that we were on our way out yet again, and we set off for Florida.  Since we prefer the pace of a road trip over an airline flight, it was three driving days down, four driving days back and three days to visit in Florida.  We left the day after Thanksgiving, and arrived home the night before Alan needed to report for jury duty.  Was it even worth it?

Spruce Run Recreation Area - New Jersey

The answer to that question is an unequivocal “Yes!”  Regrets are cruel little beasts.  They tend to rattle around in your brain, never quite getting comfortably settled but, instead, distracting and disquieting you with their restlessness.  I prefer to avoid them whenever possible; they remind me of something that, in hindsight, I wish I had handled better.  Alan had an opportunity to not only see his uncle, but to celebrate his very special milestone on the birthday they both share.  Plus, we got some bonus time with Alan's brother and sister-in-law (Tom & Joan) and his childhood friend and her husband (Sidney & Jerry).  We left a mess at home, relegated Christmas planning to the very remote reaches of our minds and spent some bucks on a ten day road trip for an hour or two of time shared with Uncle Adolph and his son and daughter-in-law.  We have no regrets.  The trip was worth every penny and every minute.  We’d do it again in a heartbeat because, well, family.

The marina at Dam West Corps of Engineers Campground - Illinois

Back in May 2021, I read an AARP bulletin entitled, “Live Longer, Stronger and Better.”  One piece of advice from that bulletin has stuck with me ever since: “Keep a ‘no regrets checklist.’  Write down a list of all the things you’ve had to put off over the years because of work or raising a family.  Then make a timeline for how you’ll revisit these goals.   Regret is largely avoidable with a little reflection and mindful focus.”  Having made my position on regrets quite clear, I will now step down off my soapbox and move on to the next topic.

Palo Duro Canyon State Park - Texas

Customer Service – Okay, I’m back up on my soapbox.  Alan and I truly appreciate excellent customer service.  We tip accordingly and don’t hesitate to pass along accolades regarding a particular staff member to the manager on duty.  Traveling throughout the southwest this fall, we were impressed by the friendly and efficient service we received in a number of restaurants.  We were also impressed by the kindness and efficiency of the Rio Grande Village Campground Manager in Big Bend.  (Note that I’m referring to the National Park Service campground, not the Rio Grande Village RV Park which is run by Aramark, a concessionaire.)  I left a message with the campground office staff advising them that Alan and I would be arriving a day later than planned and assuring them that we were definitely not a no-show.  The next day, Mike Preston called to let us know that he had received our message, adjusted our reservation and refunded us a night’s camping fee.  (Truthfully, I was surprised that our message had been passed on at all.  Kudos to the office staff!)  The refunded fee was a negligible $8.00 since we had used Alan’s Senior Lifetime National Parks Pass to obtain a 50% discount.  Mike’s thoughtfulness, however, was impressive; his kindness will not be forgotten.  When we arrived at Big Bend, we found that our reservation dates on our campsite post hadn’t been updated correctly, and we checked in with Todd, our Campground Host.  Like Mike, he couldn’t have been more friendly or helpful.  He actually tracked us down at the camp store to assure us that the error had been corrected and we were all set for the rest of our stay.  The staff at Big Bend’s Rio Grande Village Campground definitely deserves high marks and a big round of applause.

Our campsite at Rio Grande Village in Big Bend National Park

On our way home from Florida, I ran into a McDonald’s somewhere on the Delmarva Peninsula to pick up a couple of coffees.  The young man who took my order was unfailingly polite.  I was “Yes, ma’amed” and “No, ma’amed” more times during my brief encounter with him than I had been the entire preceding month.  (How about that for grammatically incorrect?!)  With his smile, direct eye contact and cheerful send off, this teenager was a wonderful ambassador for his employer.  Likewise, our server, Troy, who ensured our meal at a Texas Roadhouse in Lexington, Kentucky, was a fun-filled and memorable event.  His good humor was apparent from the get-go.  When I asked him for another napkin because I had dropped my original one, he said, “That will be $1.50.”  His straight face lasted a couple of seconds before his grin followed, and he had me laughing out loud at his insolence.  Our service was quick and efficient laced with kindness, consideration and good humor, making it one of our most enjoyable meals on our two month trip.  You can bet that his tip was commensurate with our appreciation.

Kentucky Horse Park State Park - Kentucky

On whose shoulders does the responsibility for poor customer service lay?  Is it the fault of the staff member who can’t be bothered or that of the manager who doesn’t insist that excellent customer service is a priority?  Is it the fault of the company’s upper management that focuses only on the bottom line or that of consumers who don’t challenge a corporate climate that views customers as nothing more than a necessary annoyance?  A former pastor at our church would sometimes close a service with, “Have a good day – and make it a better one for someone else.”  A little kindness, a little empathy and a sincere desire to make it a better day for someone else would sure go a long way in today’s society, don’t you think?  Okay, now I really will get down off my soapbox.

Catalina State Park - Arizona

We ordered a new truck.  Our 2017 GMC Sierra 2500 has 130,000 miles on it.  This truck is a workhorse, and it’s hardly ever used for anything other than towing – towing the travel trailer, the boat, the utility trailer or the dump trailer.  We’ve had good luck with the truck, and it’s certainly nowhere near the end of its useful life, but I’m a scaredy cat.  We’re considering RVing to Alaska next year, and towing our 7,000 lb. home on wheels that far with a truck that already has 130,000 miles on it concerns me – especially because the extended warranty expired in September.  Alan agreed that it was probably time to consider a new truck, so he searched dealer inventory in our neck of the woods for another 2500 with an extended cab.  Apparently, extended cabs aren’t as popular as crew cabs right now, and he couldn’t find any that fit our needs.  Normally, we would have ordered a truck through our small, local GMC dealership right off the bat but, with wait times from two to seven months for a new vehicle, we were hoping to buy one off a lot so that we could finalize our plans for Alaska.  Alas, that was not to be.  The new truck is on order with our local dealership, and we have absolutely no idea when it will arrive.  Much to my chagrin, this necessitated creating two travel plans for 2024.  Y’all know I love to plan, but even I don’t love it that much!  If the new truck arrives early enough to allow us the time we need to complete the break in period required before trailering, then the Alaska trip will remain on our 2024 calendar.  If not, then it’s on to Plan B – moving the Route 66 trip we had planned for 2025 to 2024, pushing the Alaska trip out to 2025 and filling in the remaining 2024 gaps with more local camping here in the northeast.  It made sense to transition to the Route 66 trip since that one will be via car and using hotels instead of campgrounds.  At this point in time, it’s a whole lot easier to reserve a hotel room than it is to reserve a campsite.  (It took us about a month, with four of us trying regularly, to land a waterfront site at our favorite State Park lake for next summer.  Just sayin’.)  Because I don’t really have a feel for how quickly we’d be moving along on our Route 66 trip, I won’t be booking hotels way ahead like I do our campsites.  That, alone, made the Route 66 trip a good choice for Plan B.  So, now, it’s wait and see.  Will we go to Alaska or not?  Plan A or Plan B?  Only time will tell.  

Riverwalk - San Antonio, Texas

Back on the Customer Service Soapbox (for just a minute and for a good reason) – We’ve done business with our local GMC dealership since 2010 when we bought our first pickup truck through them.  When we ordered the new truck a few weeks ago, it was a handshake deal – no down payment, no paperwork involved.  Admittedly, we’ve purchased five vehicles from this dealership in the past 13 years.  Still, I don’t think there are many other businesses that know their customers well enough to be comfortable with a verbal commitment.  This is the same dealership from which we bought our current truck, sight unseen and over the phone, when our prior truck  broke down in Pennsylvania on our West Coast National Parks trip five years ago.  The sales team had arranged financing, finalized the sale, registered the truck with the state and prepped it to go in just 22 hours - only nine of which were business hours for them.  That, my friends, is excellent customer service, and it reflects the loyalty between a small town business and its customers.

Sunrise on the Gulf of Mexico at Dellanera RV Park - Galveston, Texas

My award for Exceptional Marketing goes to . . . Buc-ee’s!  For those of you unfamiliar with Buc-ee’s, it’s a chain of convenience stores/gas stations headquartered in Texas with locations in seven states – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and, of course, Texas.  Buc-ee’s, apparently, has a huge fan base, as evidenced by the many photos and YouTube videos customers have posted online.  Seriously.  The chain claims to have the cleanest restrooms in America (also seriously), and it sells a little bit of everything.  Actually, it sells a lot of everything, if customers pushing shopping carts through the Buc-ee’s in New Braunfels, Texas, was any indication.  New Braunfels was our first and only experience with a Buc-ee’s which, to me, is like a Pilot/Flying J Travel Plaza on steroids.  We stopped in to use the restrooms, then wandered around the huge retail space amazed at the variety and quantity of snacks and hot food, apparel, and decorating products we saw.  I’m sure there were many more items than just those, but it’s kind of hard to catch everything when you’re avoiding eight million people with shopping carts.  Yikes!  These people were in a frenzy!  Most evident among all the products was everything Buc-ee – products designed with the chain’s buck-toothed beaver mascot in mind.  You could buy almost anything with a likeness of Buc-ee on it.  Someone’s clever idea proved to be this company’s marketing jackpot.  For so many people to be buying so many products with a cute little beaver on them, somebody has to be doing something right.  Folks, this is a travel plaza ­– gas, restrooms, snacks, charging stations – but you’d think it was the Mall of America on the weekend before Christmas.  Buc-ee’s is not publicly traded but, if I ever see an IPO for it, I might have to break my self-imposed rule about buying individual stocks.  (No, that’s not professional advice, so don’t run out and buy Buc-ee’s stock on my say-so.)  Seriously, somebody is doing something right, so good for them.  As for me, the Buc-ee’s experience is way too “peoplely” (as our friend, Peg, would say), so I think I’ll just stick to Flying J’s.  If you’re interested in a quick and intriguing read about Buc-ee’s history, check out Southern Living’s article entitled, “How Buc-ee’s Became the Most Popular Convenience Store in Texas” (link HERE).  Next topic . . . 

Joshua Tree National Park - California

The National Park Service says, "Look Before You Click!"  Leave it to scammers to invade every aspect of our lives, including our love for our National Parks.  The NPS is currently investigating a scam involving the sale of fraudulent parking tags for Great Smoky Mountains National  Park.  On the NPS website, officials are reporting that, "Someone posing as the National Park Service is directing individuals and organizations to a website titled 'Smokies Park Pass.'  This website looks like it belongs to our park partner, Great Smoky Mountains Association (GSMA), but it is not a GSMA or NPS website.  Please don't visit or buy parking tags from this website.  Official Great Smoky Mountains National Park parking tags are available for sale online ONLY through smokiesinformation.org or Recreation.gov."  Read and heed, folks.  Spread the word, too, please.  Last, but not least . . .                            

Big Bend National Park - Texas

National Parks 2024 Entrance Fee-Free Days - On the following six days in 2024, all National Park Service sites that charge an entrance fee will offer free admission to everyone:

January 15^th – Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday

April 20^th – First day of National Park Week

June 19^th – Juneteenth National Independence Day

August 4^th – Anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act

September 28^th – National Public Lands Day

November 11^th – Veterans Day                                                                   

Our National Parks are often referred to as national treasures.  If you’ve visited even one National Park Service site, you know just how true that is.  Take advantage of the entrance fee-free days to discover a new-to-you National Park or visit an old favorite.  Enjoy them, respect them, support them and, indeed, treasure them.

 “Better to see something once than hear about it a thousand times.” (Asian Proverb)