Rigged For Failure

Our campground is on the newer side of things, but it’s still a standard campground with electric pedestals on all the sites and a dump station where guests can fill their campers with water and empty grey and black water tanks. The dump station is just down the hill from the site that loops right by the entrance to the campground itself; you can’t miss it.

We have a boat landing, but we don’t allow guests to store watercrafts down there without being attached to vehicles because it’s a public landing on a very big busy lake. The only site that has full hookups (water, sewer, electric) is the host site.

I’m doing my cleaning rounds, and I have to stop because there is a new arrival trying to back up his rig. He’s currently blocking the road so I can’t get through with our maintenance truck. Our campground host is assisting the camper with backing up his extremely large, brand-new toy hauler and truck.

A toy hauler is a type of camper that can be a fifth wheel or bumper pull that has a “garage” in the back of it to store toys like ATVs or jet skis.

This guy cannot for the life of him get this rig backed in. Our host ends up having to stand on the running board of the truck and assist the guy through the window. He finally gets it backed in and I get out of my truck to talk to the host and the guy.

Me: “[Campground Host], you’re definitely having a busy day.”

Campground Host: “Yeah, just glad we got it in there.”

Camper: “Thanks for the help. Where are the water and sewer hookups?”

Me: “We don’t have water and sewer hookups in the sites, we do have a dump station down the hill by where you entered the campground. You can fill your water tank there and empty your grey and black tanks there, as well.”

Camper: “I was told that we would have full hookups. Also, where do I store my boat and jet ski? Can I just keep them at the landing?”

I quickly glance over at the campground host, and we share this look that says, “Here we go.”

Me: “I’m sorry for any confusion. We just have electric hookups available at the site with access to a dump station. I understand it can be confusing when you make the reservation online. As for the watercrafts, you can either keep them on your site or leave them down at the landing with a vehicle attached, but I’ll warn you now that it’s a bit of a haul down to the landing without a vehicle. Most people just keep them in their site so it’s close by.”

Camper: “Well, now I have to leave the site to go to the dump station and unload my watercrafts.”

Me: “Again, so sorry. If you make any reservations with us in the future, I recommend our pull-through sites. That way you don’t have to back in and you have better access to the garage on your trailer.”

Camper: “This was the only site available, and I’m from Missouri; it’s not like I’ll be camping here again any time soon.”

And with that, he jumped back in his truck to go take care of getting water and his boats. I went to ask the campground host how long he had been helping the guy. Before I got stopped, the host said he had been helping him for fifteen minutes and would probably have to help the guy again when he came back to his site.

A while later, we also witnessed the same camper almost put his brand-new rig in the ditch and take out one of our signs because he cut the corner. I swear, some people should not be given keys to a rig that size without providing they can safely tow it and back it up.

And, of course, we had a jet ski and boat parked in the weeds down at the boat landing without a vehicle attached to them. We had to talk to him about that, too. The two weeks he camped with us were the longest two weeks of that summer.

It’s been a couple of years since and we haven’t seen him back. We now refer to him as our Missouri friend.