Two unusual encounters

[Rick_Y]

Just came home from a couple weeks out camping, The first weekend we spent down by Garibaldi, Oregon in a county park. Three of our adopted daughters are Vietnamese and there is an annual campout there for a large group (100 to 200) of Vietnamese people and we normally attend it with one or more of our(now adult) daughters and their families. While sitting around the campfire Saturday evening I was approached by a gentleman of about my age. After introducing ourselves we got to talking and we discovered that we had both served in the same general area of Vietnam but on opposite sides! He said that he had been "drafted" as a teenager and, having only a limited education, believed strongly in the rightness of their cause. After leaving the Army and migrating to South Vietnam he came to realize that there was more than one side to the story. Eventually he was able to come to the US where he has married and raised a family. Very happy to be American he told me. I admit that it gave me a peculiar feeling to realize that there was some (slim) possibility that we had actually faced off against one another. Got to admit that I am very happy that we both made it home.

The second unusual incident was about a week later while we were at a 1000 Trails park in Seaside, OR. My wife and I were returning to the park after taking a walk when we saw two women, with fully laden bicycles, standing outside the park entrance. We engaged them in conversation and learned that they were German citizens (one was 53 and the other a bit younger) who were traveling by bicycle from Anchorage, AK to "as far south in Argentina as we can get." Between their limited English and my 50 years forgotten high school German we learned that they had seen the sign for the park and hoped to find a place to set up a tent for the night. However, they had been turned away at the gate because they were not members and were now concerned about finding a place to camp for the night. Per 1000 Trails rules, we, who had a site, were allowed to have one additional tent on our RV space. So we told the ranger that we were going to let them camp on our site. They were thrilled to not only not have to search for a place to camp but also to have access to a hot shower and a laundry. We had a great (and sometimes confusing LOL) time having a conversation that night and next morning before, after giving my wife and I hugs, they continued their journey south. That would be an arduous trek for young people and we were amazed that in their 40's and 50's they were doing it. Good people and we were glad to have met them.

[BadgerMcAdams]

For the Earth to be as big as it is...it sure is a pretty small place.

[DustyR]

When my children were young we camped a lot an every morning I would take a cup of coffee and walk thru the campground chatting as I went. Fast forward two generations and my grand-daughter was at a motorcycle racing advent and smelled a Louisiana specialty (Boudin). She looked a her father and said "what would Pap do"? He said he would take a plate and fork and follow your nose till you find the source and see if you could have some. This young girl did exactly that and a new friendship was the result.
Thanks for sharing your adventures and your life experiences.
You meet the nicest folks camping.....

[rowekmr]

Been a member of this forum for awhile but mostly lurk in the tow vehicles section. I just checked out this section and really really enjoy the heartfelt stories of good humanity. This reminds me what I enjoy about RV'ing meeting new people and learning new things!

[Splashers3]

TimnJo - that is an awesome story! If that was a movie, I might not believe it.

Thanks everybody, for sharing some really great stories.

[TimnJo]

My dad was in the Canadian army in WWII. While liberating Holland in May of '45 he came across a young boy riding a bicycle with no tires who was almost skeletal he was so thin and starving. He was begging for food for his family, the Dutch having been starved by the Germans. My dad was with a mobile hospital and worked in the kitchen so he put together a food basket and gave it to the young boy.
In the early 1960's our family got posted to Holland by the foreign affairs department of the Canadian government, we lived there for four wonderful years. While at a dental appointment my dad noticed the name on the diploma on the wall sounded familiar, when he met the dentist and they put eyes on each other they both realised they had met almost twenty years earlier, that starving young boy had grown up to be a dentist.
Our entire family was invited to the dentist's house for dinner and in the corner of the living room, in a place of prominence, stood the basket my dad had given the young boy.
The dentist and his family kept in touch with us, Christmas cards and occasional visits back and forth until my dad passed away in 2015.

[BarabooBob]

My friends and I were travelling by motorcycle and stopped at Dinosaur National Monument to camp. We got the last site. We had passed a couple of hikers/hitchers a couple of miles back and realized that they would not have a campsite. I went back and asked if they wanted to share our site. It turns out that it was 2 twenty something women from Germany who were backpacking around the US. We had a great time talking to them and sharing with them. We had BBQ'ed ribs for supper and share our food. I swear that a mouse could not have gotten a scrap of something to eat when they got done with the bones.
The women could not believe how big our Goldwings were and wanted to get their picture taken sitting on the bikes. They totally freaked out when we offered to give them a ride. We put about 50 miles on that evening and those women could not believe how comfortable and quiet the bikes were.
In the morning, we gave them a ride out to the highway so that they could get a ride heading west.

[Scottiemom]

Great stories!

Loved to hear them.

DAle

[bucky]

azrving wrote:
After recently retiring I was sitting around one morning while at a casino lot. I was never a criminal or big time trouble maker but I was thinking about dumb stuff I had done when young.

A neighbor was messing with his generator because it was surging so I went out to chew the fat with him. He said he had recently retired and was still getting things in order.

I got the generator running and we pulled out the lawn chairs and he said he keeps thinking about dumb stuff he had done when young. Maybe it's an early retirement thing. 🙂

All of that dumb stuff was a lot of fun. 43 years today with the girl I shared most of the dumb stuff with haha. Sometimes I wonder how we lived thru some of it, and we weren't trying to make Youtube videos either.

[Trekkar]

Thanks for the stories!

[rhagfo]

Rick Y, thanks for sharing great stories. I find you meet some of the nicest people on the Coast.

[trb46]

I give tours at a Thoroughbred farm in the Lexington, KY area. Had a young man from Japan show up one day for a tour. The extent of his English was yes, no, thank you, and bathroom. I have the iTranslate app on my phone. I would type information about each horse into the app and the Japanese translation would appear right below my English version. Worked out fine and we both had a good time.

[lily123456]

Thanks for your share.It's a great store.

[azrving]

After recently retiring I was sitting around one morning while at a casino lot. I was never a criminal or big time trouble maker but I was thinking about dumb stuff I had done when young.

A neighbor was messing with his generator because it was surging so I went out to chew the fat with him. He said he had recently retired and was still getting things in order.

I got the generator running and we pulled out the lawn chairs and he said he keeps thinking about dumb stuff he had done when young. Maybe it's an early retirement thing. 🙂

[pianotuna]

There are now google apps that will translate "on the fly". I must look into them some time soon.