The Couple Next Door

When we pulled into site # 1 we never expected this but then stuff happens. We didn’t see the neighbor next to us until our 3rd day. I was filling a little plastic pool with water so Loki could splash around and keep cool and we could dunk our feet when I noticed a lot of water coming out of the rig next door.

I took a closer look and when I saw it was coming from the floor and not a connection, I ran to the door and knocked. It took a few moments but an elderly lady answered and explained she had over-filled her kitchen sink. She also explained she didn’t know what was what and that somebody was coming to help check it out for her. I offered my help if she needs it and went back to our rig.

I could tell somebody set their rig up and it couldn’t have been her judging by what she told me. It’s a fifth wheel and well, you can tell who ever set it up knew what they were doing. Last night I saw her coming back with other people so I walked over and asked if everything was fine (not sure why mind you, it was a gut feeling) and if she needs any help let me know, she thanked me and re-explained what happened. She is such a sweet lady, my guess is she is in her mid 80’s, if not older.

This morning (9/4) she and Ronda started talking and she explains that she just got married 5 months ago and her and her new husband came to Illinois to meet his family and then are moving on to Pennsylvania to meet hers. Before getting married both her and her husband were very healthy, since getting married she has been sick twice and last week in the campground her husband had a stroke while working outside on the rig, they were getting ready to leave and had about 2 hours before hitting the road when the stroke happened. Makes your heart hurt just thinking about it.

There is a hospital less than a mile away and he was rushed there and when stabilized he was air lifted to Peoria for further treatment. His daughter, who she had just met, has been driving her to the hospital and back each day since so she is staying in the camper until something can be arranged. At the time I’m writing this he was given a new drug called TPA which helped keep the paralysis at bay and he looks to have most of his mobility but no speech yet.

Before going out for dinner at The Cellar (9/4) we left a note on her door offering to dump her tanks and handle anything else she might need help with.

This morning (9/5) there was a gentle knock on our door and she asked me if I could check her tanks and locate a leak she is dealing with. I checked under the rig and sure enough there was water dribbling out near the gray tank. I went inside and checked the tank readings and they were reading full. I showed her how to read the tank sensors and then showed her how to dump the tanks.

As soon as the water level lowered you could see that the leaking stopped, which was a good sign. We went inside and she showed me the plumbing for the shower was all wet. Thankfully the access panel was easy to remove, I checked the connections and they were both a little loose. I tightened them up and she dried up everything she could and then we check the sensors again and the black tank was still showing 2/3 full so her black tank sensors are dirty.

I explained what she could do to clean them and also to add some water to the black tank after dumping with some Dawn or Joy dishwashing liquid to help clean things out. She was using chemicals that caused odors instead of removing them so I was able to talk her out of that. Since we’re going to be here until Sunday I’m going to go by daily and see if the smell returns and also help her monitor tank levels and then I’m going to watch her dump the tanks before we leave to make sure she is comfortable with doing it.

I’m a little worried that there won’t be many people around the campground after we leave, it’s almost empty here now. I’m going to speak to the owners and ask them to help her out after we leave. Ronda and I are praying for her husbands speedy recovery so they can get back to their honeymoon travels. If you have time to say a prayer for her and her husband it would be appreciated.