The Mud-hap

One of the time consuming parts of preparing for our great journey has been an intrusive law in Sioux Falls that prohibits one from parking their own RV (or camper, trailer, boat, or even car) in one spot for more than 48 hours. Yes, technically if you don't move your car, even if it's completely in your own driveway, before 48 hours you can be ticketed. Herbie down the street sat there for years until recently. Apparently our local "watch dog" of neighborhood vanity laws was unaware of the car part. He or she was clearly aware of the RV law. (Thank you, the nice letter from the City when we went over by a couple days was so friendly a greeting!)

As a result we have been moving "The Phoenix" (our RV) to an outdoor storage facility on a regular basis. The upside is that I've gotten a lot more practice driving the rig again. It's nice to be comfortable operating 30 feet of indignant motorhome whilst traveling 1,500 miles behind it's wheel at Interstate Highway speeds. The downside is that we need to keep working on it and it's not always here.

While these trips south of town are typically uneventful, a recent trip gave me an "opportunity" for a little muddin'! Now, muddin' is something usually best attempted in a Jeep or lifted pickup. You know, go out in your 4X4, find a mud hole, dive in at full speed, splash around a lot, and make the local car wash see dollar signs as you approach.

After much melting I discovered the gravel lot where The Phoenix nests had become a little, let's say... soggy. Thinking that the size of my tires would largely ignore such a minor wet spot, I positioned our bird for a landing in her roost. I lined up, started to back in, and quickly learned that the muddy looking area had delusions of grandeur thinking itself more as the Okefenokee Swamp than a parking lot puddle. The rig planted herself firmly in what would turn out to be some form of north-land quicksand. She fought valiantly in our attempt to dislodge the rear tires from the sticky clutches of this hungry puddle, but to no avail. After a bit of rocking back and forth, I soon decided that all motion was simply digging us in deeper.

I surrendered.

Fortunately, the owners of the facility had equipment capable of pulling her out the next day and we were able to return and drive her safely home again. So, our first little mishap... er... mudhap of the trip. Hopefully the last.