Worst Camping/RVing Experience - RV-Dreams Community Forum

PIEERE · RV-Dreams Family Member

Worst Camping/RVing Experience

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

I did a search and was surprised to find that this topic had never been explored before.... What was your worst (non-vehicle accident or serious injury) experience while RVing.

Our worst experience was on a cross country 5-week trip to visit friends and relatives. While towing the 5th wheel through Illinois, I noticed the awning over the curbside bedroom window was unfurling from time to time. It would pop out about 6 inches and then roll back in depending on the wind.

When we arrived at our stop for the night, I got the 5th wheel all plugged in and then climbed up on the roof to tackle the awning. It was about an hour before sundown, hot, humid and threatening to rain. Just as I got down on my belly to hang over the side of the RV and re-torque the awning spring, I heard a distant rumble of thunder. About that same time I felt a sharp stab on my back. Then another and another, I turned to see these big horse flies dive bombing at me. I hurried up the repair and got off of the roof. I ended up with about 10 angry looking red welts on my back. Just as I took my last step off of the ladder there was a flash of lightning and a loud crash of thunder and the heavens opened up and threw buckets of water at me.

It gets worse... I guess in my haste to get the awning repaired, I left the screen and window open in the bedroom while I went up on the roof. My DW was at the rear of the 5th wheel fixing dinner while I did the repair. When I went inside the RV to get away from the horse flies and rain, the ceiling was covered in tiny black flies. They had come in through the open screen.

I spent most of the evening trying to get rid of the black flies using our vacuum cleaner. All the while the welts were itching and I was sweating buckets from the humidity.

At that moment I knew the reason why we saw so many screened in patios on the long term RVs at the campground.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Well, I'm now going to have to search that database known as memory because I don't know if there was ever a "worst" situation. For the most part, I subscribe to that philosophy that a bad day camping would still be better than not camping.

Worst that comes to mind now is when our kids were little. We drove 4 1/2 hours from the Panhandle of Oklahoma to Purgatoire River Campground in Colorado for a week's vacation. As we were going up, our oldest didn't seem to be feeling well.

We arrived at the campsite in the evening, set up the TT and set out the lawn chairs, but before we could set up the boys' tent, the oldest got worse. So, rather than put him in a hospital far away from home, we drove back home overnight to get home. (His pains were in the vicinity of his appendix.)

Next day, the doctor couldn't find anything wrong with the son, and commented that it might have just been "nerves" from being excited. We waited out the hot day in the air-conditioned house, and left that evening to get back to Colorado.

After that, we informed the boys that if they ever got sick just before vacation, they were staying home while the rest of us went on. Never had another case of sick kid on vacation.

Terry

HomeSweetRV · RV-Dreams Family Member

Oddly enough, you'll find our story in the "Make Me Laugh" thread!

jbarrett72 · RV-Dreams Family Member

When I was 12 we were camping in a tent. That night a tornado came through. Luckily, we were just picked up and dropped and no one was injured. It only bent the tent posts and we got soaking wet!

bigredoes · RV-Dreams Family Member

jbarrett72 wrote:
When I was 12 we were camping in a tent. That night a tornado came through. Luckily, we were just picked up and dropped and no one was injured. It only bent the tent posts and we got soaking wet!

WOW.....I think you win the prize for taking what must have been a terrible situation and compacting it into 4 terse sentences !!!

jbarrett72 · RV-Dreams Family Member

bigredoes wrote:
jbarrett72 wrote:
When I was 12 we were camping in a tent. That night a tornado came through. Luckily, we were just picked up and dropped and no one was injured. It only bent the tent posts and we got soaking wet!
WOW.....I think you win the prize for taking what must have been a terrible situation and compacting it into 4 terse sentences !!!

biggrin

Roll Me Away · RV-Dreams Family Member

I guess I can tell it now that mom and pop have passed long ago. Long-time campers, they spent Thanksgiving in a nice campground. Mom cooking pumpkin in the pressure cooker on the propane stove, dad outside talking to neighbor, suddenly the steam cap, that little jiggly thing explodes off the pressure cooker and spews pumpkin everywhere. Mom screams loud enough to wake the dead and pop dashes in to see what's wrong, slides on the pumpkin spilled on tile floor, crashes backwards on the cat, cat takes immediate action tooth and claw, pop tries to jump up, hits head on table and knocks himself out. EMTs called, ambulance arrives, pop on stretcher with mom trying to explain what happened...neighbor can't help it, he laughs, causes EMTs to start laughing and they drop the stretcher and pop rolls off, breaking his wrist. Well, needless to say it was their worst but not their last. I think mom gave the pressure cooker to Salvation Army and it took quite a while for the cat to quit hiding. They continued to camp and enjoy themselves very much. Mom bought canned pumpkin from then on, though. Gee, she made great biscuits and tomato gravy in that old RV.

adeline and ed · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks for making my day, I needed a good laugh..

Trabuco · RV-Dreams Family Member

That's quite a story.....LOL I'm sure it wasn't funny at the time but isn't it great to look back on these things!

flyone · RV-Dreams Family Member

Well, my story involves neither bugs nor vegetables. I ended up in a site next to the campground host, all thru the day the male host was mildly, but rather loudly cursing at his children and his spouse. not enjoyable but hey live and let live. That evening he started his roaring campfire about 10 feet behind my camper, ok its on his site hey let it go. Next his buddy shows up with a few more kids, and a case of beer. As it gets later things start getting louder, this is the camp-host mind you--well after quite hours, when my better half and I are tyring to get to sleep, the campfire is really hopping, the kids are still playing the host is hollering and cursing at them to settle down a bit yet he and his buddy (two sheets to the wind by now are carrying on a very loud conversation with their chairs between the campfire and my trailer. So I'v finally had enough--I go stomping out there in my PJ's and proceed to tell the host that its well after quite hours his campfire is to big and to close to my trailer he is way to loud and I don't care for his language. About 10 mins later the party broke up. The next morning I got up and left but not before I caught up with the park manager and let him know exactly what went on.

Flyone

Spiderman · RV-Dreams Community Member

Roll Me Away wrote:
I guess I can tell it now that mom and pop have passed long ago. Long-time campers, they spent Thanksgiving in a nice campground. Mom cooking pumpkin in the pressure cooker on the propane stove, dad outside talking to neighbor, suddenly the steam cap, that little jiggly thing explodes off the pressure cooker and spews pumpkin everywhere. Mom screams loud enough to wake the dead and pop dashes in to see what's wrong, slides on the pumpkin spilled on tile floor, crashes backwards on the cat, cat takes immediate action tooth and claw, pop tries to jump up, hits head on table and knocks himself out. EMTs called, ambulance arrives, pop on stretcher with mom trying to explain what happened...neighbor can't help it, he laughs, causes EMTs to start laughing and they drop the stretcher and pop rolls off, breaking his wrist. Well, needless to say it was their worst but not their last. I think mom gave the pressure cooker to Salvation Army and it took quite a while for the cat to quit hiding. They continued to camp and enjoy themselves very much. Mom bought canned pumpkin from then on, though. Gee, she made great biscuits and tomato gravy in that old RV.

Now that's one of the best stories I've ever read!

HomeSweetRV · RV-Dreams Family Member

We had a similar incident Thanksgiving camping with hot gravy in a tupperware shaker - exploded! Pressure cookers have always frightened me.
Your poor pop!