The first few days driving have been short ones. First the snow; then the wind; and then the rain. I pulled off a little early. I had driven enough hours, and I was tired of driving in the rain. I set up shop in a truck stop, and was curious what New Year's Eve in a truck stop would be. I checked out the travel center and restaurant, but saw no balloons and noise-makers, no signs about a party later. In fact people weren't even wishing each other Happy New Year. Just another day. Skittles and I retired early, but I warned her to be ready for a cacophony of truck horns (Never thought I'd use that word in a sentence) at midnight. The next morning she looked at me like, "Fool. Absolutely nothing happened." Ah well.
The next night we stayed in a truck stop also. I'm in Tennessee, but it still registers in the 30s on the thermometer. Chilly! Both Skittles and I are ready for some warm weather.
I stopped about midday for lunch. When I got back to my rig, the corner bumper was missing on the driver's side. It didn't look like anyone had hit me, and I hadn't hit anything (this time), so I assumed it was vandalism. It looked like someone had ripped it off. I went back into the restaurant to report it, and get the address, etc. The Manager recommended I make a police report, and called the police for me. The Officer who came wasn't convinced this was vandalism. He thought maybe the bumper fell off, even on the highway. We walked around the rig, and I explained every scratch and rip. I told him with what I had connected, when and where. And then we did the car too. Luckily I didn't have to mention blowing up the engine.
The Officer then wanted to check the security video at the restaurant to see if it caught me, and if he could determine whether the fender was attached when I arrived in the parking lot. So he went back to the Manager's office, but they barred me from going with him. Drat! I was looking forward to seeing me driving around and the culprit ripping off my fender. The camera only showed the front of the place. They could see me drive off the exit and turn on to the street, but that was it. So he wrote up an incident report indicating this was the first time the missing fender was noticed.
The more I think about it, the more I think the fender fell off. Why would a vandal pull off a fender, when he could whack the rig with a bat, or throw a stone? But then, why would the fender just fall off?? 'Tis a puzzlement!!
The Officer then recommended a campground, and Skittles and I have settled in for the evening, and turned on the heat.
Occasional glimpses of my experiences traveling around the country in my RV.
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