They Arrived After Dark, Unloaded Everything, and by Afternoon They Were Gone!

After all our years of RV living, we thought we'd seen just about everything. Then these neighbors pulled in! Breezie and I used to own an RV park in Quartzsite, Arizona, and believe me, we've seen some pretty interesting things over the years. We've met people from every walk of life, heard stories you wouldn't believe, and watched folks roll into campgrounds with just about every kind of rig imaginable. But what happened the other night was one of those experiences that left us scratching our heads. And before I go any further, I want to make something perfectly clear. Breezie and I have never been the kind of people to look down on somebody because of what they drive, where they live, or how much money they have. We've both experienced hard times ourselves, and we know that life doesn't always go according to plan. Some of the finest people we've ever met didn't have two nickels to rub together. This story isn't about that. It's about what happened, how these folks treated the people around them, and a few things that left us wondering what in the world was going on. It All Started Just Before Dark We were settling in for the evening when we heard a vehicle pulling into the site next to us, sandwiched between us and another camper that had pulled in earlier. Nothing unusual about that. People arrive at RV parks after dark all the time. But it wasn't long before we started hearing banging, hollering, swearing, and dogs barking. And I don't mean a little noise while somebody was getting settled. There was quite a commotion going on over there! From what we could hear, somebody was having a terrible time getting the little travel trailer level. There was plenty of frustration, and somebody was swearing about all someone else's stuff inside on their bed and not having enough room to sleep. Apparently, they were unloading belongings from the camper, and judging by all the noise, it wasn't going particularly well. This went on for a few hours. We eventually went to bed. We'd find out what it was all about when the sun came up. You Should Have Seen What Was Outside! The next morning, Breezie and I looked outside, and holy cow! There was stuff everywhere! Clothes, containers, boards, equipment, and all kinds of belongings were piled outside that little travel trailer. It looked like they'd emptied most of the camper just to make room to sleep. And the vehicle that had been pulling it? The back end was still squatting pretty badly, even with all that stuff unloaded. I couldn't help wondering how much weight they were hauling around. Was the trailer within its weight limits? Did it have working trailer brakes? I certainly couldn't tell by looking, but the whole setup raised some questions. Then I noticed something else. There were two cameras mounted on the camper, one toward the front and another toward the back. The wires ran along the outside and right into the door jamb. And that back window! It was so packed with clothes and belongings that you couldn't even see through it. There were four adults staying in that little camper, along with three dogs, that we know of. I kept wondering how they managed to fit everybody and everything inside. But the camper itself wasn't the strangest part of the morning. All I Said Was Good Morning! When I stepped outside to get ready for our day's adventure, I noticed one of the women walking two little dogs while smoking a cigarette. Farther toward the back of the campsite was a fellow holding a big pit bull on a leash. Meanwhile, the camper on the other side of them was getting ready to leave. The fellow had his belongings outside, but he was packing everything up pretty quickly and hooking up his camper. That's when the big dog started barking at him. The fellow trying to get his camper hooked up looked nervous, and he was moving pretty quickly to get everything put away. With that big dog barking at him, he said, "Beautiful dog." Well, you wouldn't believe the response! The fellow holding the dog hollered something along the lines of, "Leave him the Fu** alone or he'll bite you!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Here's a fellow trying to get his camper hooked up and get on the road, nervously offering a compliment about somebody's dog, and that's the response he gets! Then the man started walking back toward his own trailer, and that big dog turned its attention toward me. And believe me, it wasn't looking for somebody to scratch behind its ears! That dog started barking and pulling in my direction like it wanted to come after me. Thankfully, the fellow had it on a leash. Now, I'm a pretty friendly fellow. I enjoy meeting people, and I usually say hello whenever I see somebody. So I said, "Good morning!" Well, you would've thought I'd asked for the keys to their camper! The woman with the two little dogs just looked at me. Not a word. Not even a nod. Then another woman came hurrying to the camper doorway to see who was talking. I looked over and said, "Good morning!" to her, too. Nothing. She just stared at me. There I was, standing outside, looking at these two women who were looking right back at me. Nobody was saying a thing. After a few awkward moments, I figured I'd done my part to be neighborly, so I went back to what I was doing. Now, I understand that not everybody feels like talking first thing in the morning. Some folks are private, some are having a bad day, and some just want to be left alone. That's perfectly fine. But I have to admit, that was one of the coldest receptions I've ever received from simply wishing somebody a good morning. And remember, Breezie and I used to own an RV park. We've met a whole lot of campers over the years! We Went Looking for Opals, and They Disappeared! That morning, Breezie and I headed out into the desert to do some rockhounding. We were looking for opals, something we both love doing, and we had a wonderful day exploring. But when we returned that afternoon, something was missing. Our neighbors! The camper was gone. The tow vehicle was gone. The people and dogs were gone. And every last bit of that mountain of belongings had apparently been loaded back up and hauled away! I couldn't believe it. All that banging, hollering, unloading, struggling to get level, and making room to sleep, only to pack everything up again the very next day! And here's another thing. A night at that RV park was seventy dollars. That's quite a bit of money to spend for one night, especially when you have to go through all that work just to get settled. Maybe they were traveling through. Maybe they'd been camping out in the desert and needed a night in an RV park. Maybe they had somewhere important to be. We really have no idea. But it certainly made for an interesting twenty-four hours! And They Left One More Surprise Unfortunately, the story didn't quite end when they drove away. The next couple who pulled into that site were really nice people, and they had a dog of their own. But they discovered that the previous occupants hadn't cleaned up after their dogs. Rather than leave the mess there, this couple cleaned it up themselves because they were concerned about their own dog. Now, that bothered me. When Breezie and I owned our RV park, we understood that people traveled with pets. We love animals ourselves. But cleaning up after your dogs is one of those simple responsibilities that comes with sharing a campground. Nobody should have to arrive at a campsite and clean up after somebody else's animals. The new couple handled it gracefully, but they shouldn't have had to. It's Not What You Have. It's How You Treat People. You know, the more I thought about this whole experience, the more I came back to something I've believed for a long time. You can have the fanciest motorhome in the campground, with every bell and whistle imaginable, and still be a miserable person to be around. Or you can have an old camper that's seen better days, held together with determination and a little duct tape, and be one of the nicest people anybody could ever meet. I've known both kinds. Breezie and I have been through enough in our own lives to know that you can't judge a person's heart by what they're driving or how much they own. But you can learn something about people by how they treat others. A simple good morning or a nod of acknowledgement doesn't cost a penny. Neither does a little kindness or cleaning up after pets. And sometimes those little things tell you more about somebody than anything else. We never did find out where those folks came from or where they were headed. But I can tell you this. After owning an RV park and spending years traveling around this beautiful country, Breezie and I are still discovering that there's always something new to see. And sometimes the biggest surprises aren't waiting for us out in the desert or up on a mountain. Sometimes they pull into the campsite right beside us! We also captured some of this unusual experience on video, so be sure to watch it and see for yourself what greeted us that morning. Have you ever had an unusual experience with neighbors at an RV park or campground? We'd love to hear your story. After all, sharing our adventures and hearing yours is one of the things that makes this journey so much fun. Thanks for following along with Breezie and me on The Adventures of Finius the Skinniest and Diggin' Life Together!