Saturday, June 11th, 2022
I experienced the first adventure of my trip. It was not however, a wild raft ride down a raging river, or skiing through a herd of buffalo, or hiking over a mountain range. It happened on a short ride to toss my garbage bag into the campground dumpster.
After breakfast, I decided to clean the rugs and floor of my trailer. First, I cinched up the garbage bag and set it out by my truck so I could take it the short drive to the park sanitation area while the rugs dried.
I swept the floor and cleaned up the galley and it was nearly time to make lunch. But, I noticed the garbage bag sitting there. I tossed it in the driver side floorboard and headed the short distance to the dumpster. That is when the bag started to rustle. At first I thought it was garbage shifting around. But when I reached over to check, a chipmunk jumped out of the bag and over the passenger seat into the back.
I was startled of course, but my immediate thought was “with all the gear stored in the back seat, how will I ever find it and get it out”. Logic clicked in and I figured step 1 would be to dump the garbage and step 2 would be to empty out the gear and chase it away. So, I kept driving. When we are talking “critters”, logic doesn’t enter the picture. As I came around the curve to the dumpster, the little rascal jumped back over the drivers seat onto my shoulder. Then it ran down my arm, dropped to the floor and went under my seat. I nearly ran the truck off the road.
I hoped that were I to open all 4 doors while I tossed the garbage, maybe it would jump out on its own. My next thought however, was “how will I know if it left?”. If I wasn’t sure, even after cleaning out the truck, the rodents potential presence would haunt me for days.
When I tossed the bag and returned to close the passenger door, the chipmunk was sitting on the steering column. When it saw me, it jumped over the driver door hinge and out into the grass.
End of Adventure!
Starting All Over 