The Dump Station

An RVer's Blog

If you own a travel trailer or other type of RV, you will meet fellow RVers who may share amusing experiences, especially at the Dump Station, before they get back on the road. A little conversation while dumping sewer tanks is a fine way to pass the time.

A Gust of Wind

We left Goose Island Friday around mid-morning and were headed home, north again, on HWY 35 through a million miles of cotton fields toward Tivoli. The winds were calm and humid; cumulus clouds filled the partly cloudy sky. Suddenly, a blast of wind broadsided our travel trailer and caused a momentary loss of control. There was no time to think. The driving instincts I developed from years of pulling trailers took control. After a few seconds of blinding turbulence, our rig landed on all its feet again as I struggled to stabilize our trajectory. "What the hell was that!" I hollered, grappling to regain my internal bearings while I checked the rearview mirrors for trailer damage. I looked up into the sky through the driver's side window and saw that a line of dark cumulonimbus clouds had developed overhead. I couldn't help but wonder if a small funnel hadn't dropped from that line of clouds to shake us up and let us know who was boss. We would never know the real cause of that terrifying gust of wind, but that day, we gained a new respect for the forces of nature. (June 2024)

Barking Dog

"Did you hear that spooky-sounding dog last night? The one that started out sounding like a screaming vampire that later morphed into a dog bark?" I said to a skinny, long-haired fellow parked next to me at the dump station. "Yes, I heard it," replied the skinny guy. "Did it keep you awake?" "No, but I bet it kept half the campground bug-eyed wondering what the hell was making that terrible ghostly sound," I said. "I wonder who owns that sick-sounding beast?" "Well, that would be my wife's dog," he said, pointing to a miniature mut sitting on a woman's lap in the front seat of his tow vehicle. Oh crap, I thought. "Well, he sure is a cute little feller," I said, wondering how to get my sized 13 boot out of my mouth. (May 2024)