The Wednesday Debacle

Let me start out by saying that Wednesday was an absolute stunner of a summer day at the beach. From beginning to end, it was spectacular. And isn’t that fortunate, since I got to see every little bit of it!

Now let me go back to the lead-in to this story. My previous blog covered our arrival at the beach Monday afternoon and continued on through Tuesday, with the weather gaining warmth and bluer skies as the day progressed.

All was well with my world until about 10:30 pm Tuesday night (yes, when I’m camping, I pretty much consider this the middle of the night, having tucked myself and the dachshunds in at 9:00).

The rumble of an RV pulling in to the site to the right of me during the night would not be particularly remarkable in and of itself. The dogs might pop their heads up briefly (usually still covered by blankets) to listen, but most campers are considerate souls and go quickly about whatever minimal set-up can’t wait for morning and are quiet as mice.

Most campers. 😠

What actually woke me up, and totally woke the dogs up, was the generator. Keep in mind this is a State Campground. It has rules – one of those rules (and a rule at nearly every paid campground I’ve ever stayed at) involves abiding by the clearly posted “quiet hours”. At this campground, “quiet hours” was between 8:00 pm and 8:00 am.

As soon as this camper pulled in and turned off their engine, they promptly turned on their rig’s generator. It was loud and it was 15’ from my bedroom window. Ack!

I don’t know (or care) why. Maybe they needed to catch the late news, watch a movie or create a deluxe gourmet microwave dinner – whatever the reason, they left that danged generator running for nearly an hour.

At least I could close my windows and block some of the sound out by playing quiet music on my Kindle. I felt particularly badly for my “neighbor” on the far side of these inconsiderate campers. That sweet 76-year-old lady was tent camping. No way to get away – and their door was facing her direction. All the chatting and comings and goings at that time of night, along with the generator, must’ve felt like it was right in her tent with her. 😥 I hope she had ear plugs.

Ahh, well … such is life. They eventually went to sleep and quiet was temporarily achieved.

At 5:58 am (yes, I looked at the time), I was startled awake to the neighbor’s generator starting back up, followed shortly by WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! What the ….?!?

The husband was standing out by the fire ring between his RV and mine, chopping firewood at just shy of 6:00 in the morning.

Of course, Baxter & Ronni we’re fully awake at this point and wanting to go outside. I pulled sweat pants and a jacket on, leashed the dogs and out we went for our [very early] morning potty walk.

I wasn’t awake enough yet myself to have thought to grab my cell phone or I would’ve had a lovely photo of the pink-tinged sunrise still painting the clearly visible mountain tops across the inlet. As it was, I remember thinking, “Well, at least waking me up at this ungodly hour had that benefit”. I seldom actually SEE a sunrise in summer in Alaska. They just plain occur to early in the day!

I did, however, grab my phone when we returned to the RV and snapped this stealth shot through my front privacy curtains … I couldn’t believe he had actually started this fire less than two feet from his own RV bumper. I wondered how long it would take this idiot to figure it out.

It turned out to be about ten minutes. His wife came out shouting, at which point he jumped into his rig, backed it up and moved over about five feet (sadly encroaching further on my poor tent-camping neighbor).

I managed to go back to sleep after walking the dogs, somehow actually missing them unloading all three ATVs from the trailer they were pulling. I probably couldn’t hear it over the sound of the generator.

I honestly don’t intend to continue this rant much further. 😉 They truly didn’t interrupt any more of my day, since by the time I was up and drinking coffee, all four of them had taken off on their ATVs.

Cindy, the tent-camper, and I exchanged smiling “what just happened and isn’t it great they’re gone?” shrugs and went on with our day.

I saw them briefly at lunchtime and then a little later … when I noticed they were loading the ATVs back on the trailer. It went very quickly – and quietly – under the stern and observant eyes of a Park Ranger. Minutes later, they backed the RV and trailer up and off they went, followed by the Park Ranger pick-up truck.

The campground host came strolling by shortly after this, and since I was out walking the dogs, I asked if he know what happened.

It seems they were bad apples all the way around. The Ranger had caught them running their 4-wheelers back and forth across the creek (a big no-no, especially on a salmon river), added to complaints the host had received about the generator (it wasn’t me!) … and to top it off, it seems they had neglected to PAY for their camping spot.

All in all, it was no more than a blip in my otherwise lovely week at the beach (more about my actual beach trip in my next blog). But mentionable because of what I gained from it.

For my minor inconvenience, I was gifted with a truly unforgettable early morning viewing of the line-up of volcanos across the inlet; a sight I surely would have otherwise missed.

The crisp morning air, still touched with the rosy pinks and pale yellows of a clear, cloud-free August morning, gave a clarity to the mountain range many, many miles out across the inlet that is not a common sight for visitors. I was thrilled to have witnessed it, even though I missed taking pictures until later in the morning. 😉