RV Fun Trips --- On the Road --- FMCA Oct 2002

Yet Another FMCA Motorhome Convention
Motor Home on the Range
October 2002
Page 6

Getting Out — Part 1

Well, it appears as if we had good reason to be concerned. Rain had been falling for two days straight with our campsites becoming soggier with every hour. Our motorhome was actually sinking into the grass, as the soil under the tires became softer. A good-sized puddle had formed where our car had been parked the day before. Kay and I were very glad that we got our car out of the mud zone the day before.

This doesn't bode well for us — Photo by Nora

Ever though all of us were concerned about our motorhomes, we decided to go to our planned activities for the day. Some of the roads had become so bad that some trams were not running. So, I walked to the computer center to send and receive my e-mail while lugging my computer and carrying an umbrella. The computer center was about as far away from our campsite as it could be and still be on the fairgrounds. I was able to get three messages sent.

I checked my e-mail at work and found that I had so many messages that I was able to pull down only about half of them before I had to leave. I received a call from Kay that our group was going to assemble to decide what we should do about the situation with our RVs. We all began the trek through the rain to get back to the camping area.

The road behind our campsites doesn't look good

We all walked to the tram transfer location. Tom walked on ahead to talk to the Monaco people about the best way to pull a motorhome out of the mud. The rest of our group waited at the tram stop. I was tired of being in the rain and it was getting cold, so Nora, Kay and I walked back to the camping area. Kevin and Tina would wait for the tram. Shortly after arriving at our motorhomes, Tom showed up to tell us that Monaco recommended that we have our RVs pulled out backward by the trailer hitches.

A rig being towed backwards at the end of our road

Our group watches "the show" as we decide what to do

One by one we observed motorhomes, from a distance, being pulled out of the mud. While watching the "show," Tina and Kevin walked into camp. The tram never arrived, at the transfer point, due to all the mud. With Tina and Kevin back we came together to make a group decision. While talking, we all saw a motorhome in our area being pulled backwards out of the mud. It seemed to work very well.

We got to see a rig being towed out on the road behind us

One of our neighbors decided to make a run for it. He had the very nicely converted and customized city bus. He began slowly across the soggy grass, then he decided to give it the gas, bad idea. When he stepped on the accelerator, the rear wheels broke loose and began to spin on the grass, digging through to the mud. The converted city bus was in up to its axles. With this development, our group decided to have our rigs pulled out by a tractor or equivalent machine.

The bus conversion sank down on its tailpipes

The man with the bus had called the FMCA office to get on the waiting list to be pulled out. We figured we would get pulled out on our neighbor's coattails, so to speak. When the tractor of sorts finally arrived, it tried to pull the bus out backwards.

The tractor had to be extracted after becoming stuck

After dragging the bus through the mud for about to the length of the vehicle, the tractor began to dig into the mud big time. Huge ruts opened up as the tractor worked to extract itself from the mud. It finally was able to get out, but it had to leave the bus conversion RV in the mud.

I wish I had been able to get a good picture of the tractor driver. When he arrived, he reminded me of a character from the Old West. He wore a cowboy hat and a line-rider's coat. With a beard and mustache, he looked very much as if he had stepped down form the silver screen right out of a western movie.