Friendships on the Slow Road

 Posted by Rick:

Oregon – This is our third full month on the road. Our pace is slow and laidback. The best thing about that is that we can make friends and connections in campgrounds that we would miss if we only stayed for a night or two. Of course we always have those waves and smiles by so many as we go on walks with Lizzie. She is a people magnet most of the time but of course there are those that grab their children or puppies as they think she will potentially harm them. But we know that she is a lover and not a fighter.

We spent nearly 4 weeks at Netarts Bay and met so many wonderful people while staying there. It is always easy to strike up a conversation with a neighbor when we’re both outside and fiddling around with our rigs. Or someone that has a like coach as ours in brand, model, or size. We all want to glean a little of knowledge from one another. Of course our pets always make conversations start up easily.

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The fire pit became a place that we got to share with friends. We could sit and talk for 2-3 hours in the evening around the mesmerizing fire and share stories while enjoying a beer, a bottle of wine or just laughs and smiles. It is always enjoyable to hear of others travels of near and far away places. We had three separate couples that we got to have that experience with. First our friends that traveled down to spend a weekend with us from Washington. Also a couple from Tennessee that we got to know that had been in the service and been all over the United States and other locations around the world. We got to talking over the dogs as they have three Wire-haired Dachshunds Lucy, Max and Mini.

The third couple was a mother and daughter that are full timers that travel with their little pup named Rylee. She always loved to jump all over Lizzie and play with her even though she was just a fraction of Lizzies size. They to were a service family also and shared stories of their time in Newfoundland, Germany, and England.

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All of the stories shared either took me to different times or wonderful far off places as they spoke.

We got invited over to a group of campers dinner one evening as they were frying up some fresh rockfish that they had caught earlier. They also had some fresh oysters, crab mac and cheese, and some prime rib from the evening before. It was all so delicious and they even sent Jenn home with a plate full of food that she could eat for the next couple of meals. A big thank you for that.

This isn’t to mention all of the folks that either we stopped by their rig or they stopped by ours to talk. Over all we were never at a loss of someone to talk with. It has been very special to us to meet such a wonderful group of people that live all over the country. We always try to get them involved with RVillage which is similar to Facebook but it caters to RVers. It allows us all to keep track of each other and know if we are in the same area to be able to meetup or just keep in touch.

So by taking the slow road for us, and staying in a campground longer, we have got to make some wonderful friendships. I know each place won’t be the same but our stay at Netarts Bay has been extra special for us.