Scenarios...

 

This is what happens when you can't get out as much as you'd like (due to Mother Nature): you look out the windows and ponder.  Or, maybe observe.  And through those observations, you create scenarios.

Wednesday, Joan said to me, "Have you noticed that the RV across the street from us is never occupied overnight?  Everyday, around 4:00, the guy shows up, makes a call, and then about 15 minutes later, a woman shows up.  They are there for about an hour to an hour and a half, then they both leave in their separate cars."

My interest was piqued.  Sure enough, the guy showed up around 4:00 yesterday, and the scenario played out just like she said.  A clandestine extra-marital affair in the RV park?  Now, I want to know more.  It will be raining this afternoon (if you can believe the forecast), so I'll watch again to see if it truly plays out like that each day...

No patio mat, no chairs, just the unoccupied RV.
 

Another scenario comes from the 5th wheel that took the place of the motorhome that the quiet older couple was in next to us.  This 5th wheel pulled in a couple days ago, completely filling the site.  Instead of backing into this back-in site, they drove through the neighbor's yard, making it a pull-thru.  That's not how it is supposed to work.  It is tight - I have no idea how they're going to get out of there.  The couple in the 5th wheel have 2 small children, both with a pony tail - Joan thinks one is a boy, the other a girl.  That's not the unusual part that makes you create a scenario in your head... every window in the 5th wheel is covered with silver insulation... it has to be like a cave in there.  Joan thinks one of them may have a disorder that they can't be exposed to sunlight.  I can't say - they were all outside for the time it took them to get set up.  With all the rain, the kids haven't been outside to play.  But, we do hear a regular "thump, thump, thump, thump..." coming from the 5th wheel.  We heard that sound a year and a half ago when we were in Buckeye and a couple with a 5th wheel and a hyper-active child pulled in next door... and the parents would holler to the kid, "Stop stomping!"  It didn't help.  Kids have to get some activity, and if stomping the length of the 5th wheel is all they have... well, I'm happy to be outside, maybe 20 feet away, 'cause it certainly has to be louder in there.

The windows...

Maybe they're cooking meth in there?  Raising mushrooms?  Make up your own scenario.

No doubt, the neighbors are making up their own scenarios about us: "Did you see that guy walking a cat?"  I've heard that a time or 12 since we've been here... honestly, with all the rain, Murphy hasn't gotten out as much as he'd like.  We have chairs, a griddle table, and a catio that are set up outside, but rarely put to use thanks to the weather.  Because of the way we sit on this site, people walking by can (and do) look in our screen door, if the door is open... "There's those weird cat people who leave their door open with the air conditioner running all the time."  It's true - we do that.  We pay our own electricity here, so it isn't like we're wasting the park's power.  Joan thinks it keeps the humidity down in the coach if we run the a/c... and then the humidity comes back in through the open door... and I sit inside wearing shorts and a long sleeve flannel shirt because of the cold a/c.  "Those people are weird."

Make up your own scenario.  ;-)

--------

Before we went to bed last night, the weather here was predicted to be clear in the morning, until around noon.  I suggested to Joan that maybe we should take the scoots for a breakfast outing.  When we got up... yeah, it was raining.  I was up early, thanks to the raindrops on the roof.

My butt was dragging, so around 10:00 (still a mist in the air) I went to the bedroom to lay down.  When I got up (an hour or so later) Joan said to me, "The weather radar is now showing it should be clear here until around 2:00 - do you want to go for a ride?"

"Have you ever known me to say 'no' to a ride?"

She said, "It looks better west of us, so how 'bout we do a loop that direction?"

"I'm in!"

Murphy got an early lunch (he had an early breakfast, following me out to the dinette shortly after 5:00 am).  I got the bikes out, we geared up, and headed out.  Joan said, "Maybe we could get a calzone to bring home?"  She gets me.

The loop we planned was about 80 or so miles.  Both of us were feeling "anything to get out and about."  Less than 20 miles into it, the rain started.  Joan said, "I'm tired of trying to outguess the rain - let's just ride and enjoy the time out."  Really, she gets me.

We took the Parkway to Cherokee, then Hwy 19 to Bryson City.  In the rain.  It wasn't pounding.  We had talked about completing a "circle tour" from Bryson City.  I was focused on a calzone (priorities).  We checked weather - it had moved on from where we were, to where we were planning to go.  We decided to turn back east and maybe avoid the worst of it.  We agreed: we're going to enjoy the ride, damn the weather.  Maybe Mother Nature would quit messing with us if she could see we were getting out, regardless?

We had a great ride.  It mostly stopped raining by the time we got back to the Parkway.  Joan suggested we stop for a photo-op (I didn't bring any video gear along today)...

Yes, that is actual sunshine where we stopped.  We agreed on stopping for a late lunch (yes, a calzone).  I asked, "Do you want to get it to go?"

Joan said, "Let's just enjoy the meal at the restaurant... and if it is raining when we're done, it's only 7 miles back to the coach."  Good attitude.

The meal was great!  Yes, I had a calzone, Joan ordered pasta, and we did some swapping.  And still have enough left over for another full meal.  And it wasn't raining when we came out of the restaurant.  :-)

In fact, while I am writing this, Joan and Murphy are outside enjoying the afternoon.

The bikes are grubby from riding in the rain - I won't be in a big hurry to get them cleaned up, since the weasels are predicting more rain for the next 3 days.