The Campground Driveby

[Ralph_Cramden]

It must be that we normally avoid the holiday weekends and typically arrive on the Monday for the week. This time we came early. Has anyone noticed the campers who evidently get great joy from riding around and around campground loop roads, over and over. I lost count with one guy at 47 passes over two days. Its not my gas or time, and I could care less what they do, but we're getting some good laughs watching these people riding around. Must be boredom or am attempt to show off the tow vehicle.

[bigred1cav]

Not nearly as annoying as motorcycles needing mufflers and people forcing their music on me.

[sgfrye]

hotbyte wrote:
We sometimes do drive arounds making notes on sites we like for later visits.

we do they same.. or walk if its not too large of a campground or state park

[All_I_could_aff]

And some campers have wierd self control

[CavemanCharlie]

I will drive through once, maybe twice, and I figure that is enough.

Maybe they were looking for friends and found they they were not back yet ?

Maybe to get to their campsite they had to go thorough your loop ?

Some campground have weird traffic control.

[All_I_could_aff]

I tend to ride my mountain bike Around the campground mostly to admire the trucks and trailers

[Range_Maggot_Bo]

We are one of those that drive the loops. But only once when we go to the particular campground that we stay in quite often. (BullShoals/White River State Park) When we're not staying there, we fish there quite often, maybe once a week. We love to drive through slowly and look at all the different rigs and setups. Not to compare or criticize at all. We just love to see everybody's campsite, what they use, smell what's cooking, etc. etc.

[Sillybugs2]

lovemountains wrote:
Maybe she is driving around to put her baby to sleep.

She is getting baby to nap. Lol.

[Grit_dog]

^Haha, Susan...You must've never had kids? That's standard issue, put the kids to sleep for a nap routine. Although some parents are not as strong willed as their kids so they continue to do it far longer than necessary.

Back to the driveby camper. Was camping last weekend and every time I drove through the campground, there was this one ole geez who looked like he was eyeballin me and keeping track of how many times I passed his campsite!

[patperry2766]

SusanDallas wrote:
We have the same problem in the subdivision where I live. It is in a very small rural area. Our houses are set on 1 - 5 acres. The whole subdivision is only 5 streets. This strange drive by behavior started almost 2 years ago by people who had just moved in recently. It first started in the spring 2 years ago. My street has only 4 houses on it & I own 2 of them.

One morning, I was eating breakfast & this silver pickup drove by going very slowly. I wouldn't have noticed but their engine was loud. This pickup drove by every 30 minutes all day long. I thought at first they were looking for a loose dog, horse or goat. After the third day, I called the county sheriff. The police parked at the end of my street and observed this person drive by several times. The only thing the sheriff could think of was maybe this lady was learning to drive since she never left the subdivision. The only thing is sometimes it was a man alone in the pickup.

After about a week of this behavior, I got in my car and followed her. I wanted her to know that I was following her because I wanted her behavior to stop. This must have upset her because she pulled into her driveway on the street next to mine and got out. She had a baby in a carrier in the pickup with her. I drove off and went home. I would never confront anyone. I am a chicken but I wanted to find out what she was doing. She drives around the whole subdivision then goes in her house. Twenty minutes later, she loads the baby back in the pickup & the whole process starts over again.

I wouldn't have been very concerned but my rental house next door to me was vacant. I was worried that they were scouting the area for something to steal. Anyway, this has gone on now for almost 2 years. They start around 7 am & it goes on until I go to bed. Most of the time it is the woman. I believe her husband must work. Mostly, on the weekends, it is her husband doing the drive by.

One day this last winter, it was sleeting and 17 degrees outside with the wind blowing. This woman still put her baby in the pickup and continued her every 30 minute drive by all around the subdivision.

This is very odd behavior and I have yet to figure out why they do this. I thought at first the woman had some obsessive compulsive behavior but her husband drives by also. If any police officer or psychiatrist has an answer to this I would love to know. After watching this for almost 2 years, I just ignore it but it is still a mystery. Strange but True.

With her having a child in tow, I promise you that the parents aren't doing it for their kicks. I'd wager that the child has some sort of developmental disorder and either the movement, vibration or some combination of the two is some form of therapy or soothing action for their kid.

I have a step-son that has Asperger's, which is a milder form of Autism, some even call it high functioning, and he has some pecuilar body movements and twitches. The uncontrolled body movements are called "stimming" and are a self-stimulatory behavior which often increase during periods of stress and anxiety as a coping mechanism.

He has become aware of some of these, and will sometimes try to modify his behavior/actions when he senses that he's doing it. Farther down on the Autism scale where the kids are worse off, they will often just rock incessantly or some other form of body movement to sooth themselves and become highly agitated when they stop.

If this has been going on 24/7 for the last 2+ years, I feel sorry for those parents, especially the mom if she's having to do it for 5 days straight with no relief, and no relief in the forseeable future. Grab a coffee and catch her on the next lap, she could probably use some adult interaction during the day as a way to maintain her sanity.

[JaxDad]

Ralph Cramden wrote:

JaxDad wrote:

Ralph Cramden wrote:

Ron3rd wrote:
Ralph, I've never seen what you describe in 14 years of doing this

Me either....or I just never really took notice. Another observation are the people who walk down to the dumpster with the little Walmart bag of trash every evening. It doesnt take much to keep me entertained lol. Buy some real garbage bags and you won't need to take the garbage down every day, or just toss the bag in the dually guys bed when he cruises through.....they would have about 60 opportunities throughout the day.

Another reason I don’t like campgrounds.......

They’re full of grumpy old men complains about the other campers.

Grumpy? Complaints? Oh contrare....


Once again some RVNet members show a distinct lack of a sense of humor, but thats about as common as trash in a Wally bag.

It’s only humour, and funny, when everyone understands that’s whats intended. Facial expressions and voice inflections make that more obvious. Without those things and in the absence of smiley faces, etc., only YOU know what you’re thinking.

[BizmarksMom]

Oh, crowding a fishing spot is seriously uncool! And it happens way too often.

For the record; yes, I know I'm female. Yes, I know my cast could use some work. Yes, I know the non-hatchery fish are catch-and-release. Yes, I have a current fishing license. Yes, you will find a hook in your ear if you don't move along and find your own spot.

[Ralph_Cramden]

JaxDad wrote:

Ralph Cramden wrote:

Ron3rd wrote:
Ralph, I've never seen what you describe in 14 years of doing this

Me either....or I just never really took notice. Another observation are the people who walk down to the dumpster with the little Walmart bag of trash every evening. It doesnt take much to keep me entertained lol. Buy some real garbage bags and you won't need to take the garbage down every day, or just toss the bag in the dually guys bed when he cruises through.....they would have about 60 opportunities throughout the day.

Another reason I don’t like campgrounds.......

They’re full of grumpy old men complains about the other campers.

Grumpy? Complaints? Oh contrare....I'd happily invite the trash toters or ole dually Dan over to enjoy the fire and suck down a few beverages. Once again some RVNet members show a distinct lack of a sense of humor, but thats about as common as trash in a Wally bag .

How about this one...
You're one of 4 total people on a 50 acre lake and you're nailing Largemouths one after the other in your yak. The other 3 people are joy paddling and where do they paddle to? Right over to within 30' of you. Now you want to talk grumpy? Ever get beaned with a 3" Jitterbug with 2 razor sharp treble hooks lol. At least I filed the barbs off so theyre easy to remove from scalp tissue.

[JaxDad]

Ralph Cramden wrote:

Ron3rd wrote:
Ralph, I've never seen what you describe in 14 years of doing this

Me either....or I just never really took notice. Another observation are the people who walk down to the dumpster with the little Walmart bag of trash every evening. It doesnt take much to keep me entertained lol. Buy some real garbage bags and you won't need to take the garbage down every day, or just toss the bag in the dually guys bed when he cruises through.....they would have about 60 opportunities throughout the day.

Another reason I don’t like campgrounds.......

They’re full of grumpy old men complains about the other campers.

[Chum_lee]

Ralph Cramden wrote:
It must be that we normally avoid the holiday weekends and typically arrive on the Monday for the week. This time we came early. Has anyone noticed the campers who evidently get great joy from riding around and around campground loop roads, over and over. I lost count with one guy at 47 passes over two days. Its not my gas or time, and I could care less what they do, but we're getting some good laughs watching these people riding around. Must be boredom or am attempt to show off the tow vehicle.

What causes neurotic behavior in campers? Hummmmmmmm

Looking for a lost love (woman, child, dog, tranquility, etc.)
Looking for a new love
Looking to sell drugs
Looking to buy drugs
Being on drugs
Having Alzhheimer's Disease, dementia, etc.
A stuck throttle, no brakes, and excess fuel

So far, that's about it.

Edit: Hummmmmm. Drive by 47 times? On further thought: google "phishing" or "stingray surveillance" or "IMSI Catcher"

I'm not accusing anyone of anything but if the shoe fits . . . .

It's quite common for law enforcement, hackers, identity thieves, and credit card scammers to collect meta data from your cell phones and laptops by simply driving by, numerous times, learning a little more about YOU each time they drive by, and, they don't even have to break in your house/vehicle anymore.

Stingray mobile devices act like a cell tower that intercepts your cell phone signal before the nearest tower, reads/records it, then forwards your signal to the most local tower without your knowledge or consent.

It's quite common for hackers to hang out at Starbucks, public libraries, airports and other high traffic areas with free/commercial wifi hotspots looking for "easy pickins." They like the idea of having a fresh crop of out of towners to prey upon.

A good idea might be to stop the driver and just ask them in a nice way, "Hey, can I help you with something?" Pay particular attention to see if they have a laptop open and unusual electronic equipment in their vehicle. Look up the stingray device and IMSI Catcher on google to see what they look like.

Chum lee