Adventure at Walmart

Sorry no pictures of this blog

Parking at Walmart is never my first choice for campsites. The Walmarts are usually open 24 hours, so you never know who will be driving by. They are reasonably safe, for the same reason, they are always open, and there are always people around. There are also usually other RVers parked with you, so it is better than parking in the wilderness, or alone in a parking lot. I would however much rather pay for a site with full service and get power, water, sewer, Internet, and cable TV, but when you have no other choice, Walmart is always there as a last resort.

That is exactly what happened last night. The severe flooding in the area, had closed two of the three campgrounds, and the third was VERY full. We were tired and no one felt like driving further with no guarantee of a campground with available sites. Our only choice was Walmart. We pulled in and found a site among the other RV. We left the truck attached, as Regis had found a nice looking restaurant in the same parking lot right across from the Trailer, and that would mean a quicker start in the morning.

Everyone was tired enough that we all went to bed as soon as it was dark, and settled in for a good night sleep.

So you get extra pictures

We all (well all except Dad who didn't hear a thing) awoke with a start at 1:30 AM, to shouting:

“GET OUT OF THE CAR AND ON THE GROUND!”

“WHERE IS THE GUN? TELL US NOW!”

“YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT A GUN AND POINTING A GUN; NOW WHERE IS IT?”

Did I leave 'Law & Order' on the TV? . . . . No, wait a minute, we have no power, we're at Walmart. Whoa, this is real!

The noise seemed right outside the trailer, so we cautiously got up and peered out through the back window, trying not to open the blinds too much.

There were five police cars and about eight police officers with guns drawn surrounding a gold car with all four doors open. They had a guy on the ground on his stomach with his arms handcuffed behind him. This was taking place no more than four yards from the back corner of our RV.

The shouting and questioning continued for about 30 minutes with the “Perp” denying any knowledge of a gun, but the police officers seemed to think he did have one. It ended with them taking him away in a police car, because his continued insistence that there was no gun got abusive, and things got quiet again. Fine for them; probably went and took a coffee break, but it is not easy to just go back to sleep after such excitement so close to 'home'.

The wind was strong in North Dakota, and it got stronger as the night went on. The trailer shook like in a hurricane and the wind was blowing things around. A metal pop can rattled around the camper for about 15 minutes, and something banged up against it at one point. It was wild enough that you couldn't get back to sleep.

Regis got to thinking about the police, and said “I heard something bump the RV before the police came. I bet it was the bad guy hiding the gun in between our trailer and the Motorhome beside us.”

I tried to convince her that this scenario was unlikely but she insisted on going outside to check, and she made me check the back of the truck in the morning. I was sort of hoping to find a discarded Glock 9 or a stolen Police issue Colt, but no such luck.

The wind seemed to get louder and wilder as the night went on, and just as that stupid pop can rattled out of hearing range, the wind shifted and it rolled back. I found it in the morning, still rolling around – one of those “Power Drinks”, the one with the wings . . . . crushed it flat – it will roll no more.

Meanwhile, Dad and the dog, slept through it all, and when we explained about our mid-night adventure dad questioned whether we were making it all up. At least one of us got a good sleep – we made him drive in the morning.