The good, the bad and ugly...

[BarbaraRose]

The good... perfect weather on my camping trip! Thursday got set up and walked around the campground. Our group went out to eat dinner at a nice spot right on the lake and was a perfect evening to eat outside. Went to bed early since I was so tired from a long few weeks at work! Friday, went kayaking on the lake, did some more walking, then went into town shopping. Later, went with one of the gals from my camping group to listen to a squirrel class by one of the rangers. Later, we saw a black squirrel the ranger had told us about. Afterward, several of us went to play miniature golf. That was a lot of fun! Sat around the campfire later on, then went back to my campsite and went to bed.

The bad and ugly happened around 12:30 am. I woke up when I heard someone walking around my tent. I had put my screen room up against the front of my tent earlier (thank God!) to make a porch in front in case it rained, so I could sit out there. I saw a guy standing right outside the porch trying to figure out how to get in. At first I thought it was the guy next to me who is part of my camping group and needed something, but soon realized it wasn't him. I shouted at the man to leave but he mumbled something and didn't leave. He kept looking in the windows and trying to figure out how to get in the screen room and I started yelling at him as loud as I could to leave me alone or I would call the police or use my mace (my phone was dead and I had no mace...lessons learned). He still refused to leave. I started getting panicky and started yelling obscenities at him to try and get the neighboring campers attention. I even yelled "would someone please help me here?!". Then the guy starts to pull down his zipper on his pants! I screamed at him again. I was trying to say things like "leave me alone you pervert!" and "I don't know you!" and "this isn't your campsite", so that the other campers would know it wasn't just a domestic argument. Finally, the guy next door, Joe, came running over and went over to the guy and told him to leave and actually physically walked him down the road away from us. He didn't want to get the man riled up in case he was armed and/or dangerous, so he stayed as calm with him as possible. Then Joe came back to see if I was alright. I was shaking and very upset. He said he would hang around outside for awhile in case the guy came back.

Of course I couldn't sleep since every little noise made me jump out of my skin! By this morning, I was exhausted and decided to pack up and head home. No way was I gonna be able to sleep peacefully tonight there. By then, word had spread thru my group and they contacted the ranger and she came over and talked to me and Joe. Then the police came by and took down a report. I really couldn't give them much information since it was so dark out when it happened. I just figure that if he does that again to someone else, they will have some information to compare and can keep a closer eye out tonight. The other gals in my group were pretty freaked out too. Not sure if this guy singled me out ahead of time or if it was more of a random thing. Doesn't really matter tho.

I got home around 4pm and just crashed on my bed and slept for 4 hours. Will head back to bed soon here again. At least tomorrow I can sleep in and take my time unloading my car later in the day. Will be another long week at work...

I did get reimbursed for tonight's camping fee by the ranger. She was very nice and sympathetic. Actually, the police officer was also extremely nice and understanding. Especially since I had forgotten my driver's license at home and my car isn't registered to me yet since I just bought it. It was a very nice campground and I talked to and got to know a few of the other campers there. I felt bad that I was going to miss the kayaking trip down the river with my group this morning. Was really looking forward to that! I think they got hit with a bad storm this afternoon tho. I hope they got done before that hit.

So I think from now on, when I go camping again, I will either have someone in the tent with me, or share a site with someone else. I will also make sure my phone is fully charged and I have something to use to protect me if anything happens again. I will also be seriously looking for a hard-sided camper!

[Acadianmom]

Barbie, sorry that you had such a scare that ruined your weekend. The guy was probably drunk but that doesn't excuse him.

Martha

[RitaMc]

Barbie,
What a horrifying experience for you. Too bad you didn't have a whistle to blow or something to make lots of noise. An air horn would have been nice. I hope you are recovering from the experience. I am glad you talked to the police and the ranger. This pervert could be hanging around the camp ground. Good idea to share a campsite. One time when we were camping with a group and all of us had the pop up campers we camped at a private campground, that looked like paradise in their brochure. In reality it was a dump. the beach was filthy, the office was a falling down shack and the rest of the campers there were there to party. They set up a screen room to keep their jugs of booze and boom box dry (it drizzled all weekend). They started drinking in the morning (after being up drinking most of the night) and were drunk by mid morning. The boom box was on highest level all day. They were cutting down trees with a chain saw to keep their campfire burning. We did complain to the caretaker but she seemed very reluctant to do anything. None of the group dared say anything to the other campers, we were afraid of what they would do to the canvas on the pop ups. After that weekend at the campground from hell we went to a trailer. We feel so much safer in the hard sides unit. I'll let you know if I see anything around here that you might be interested in
Rita

[JudyJB]

Besides the charged cell phone, I like the idea of the air horn. RVSue once had a bear push on her trailer so she has installed an air horn outside. All she has to do is push a panic button inside and it goes off. That would certainly wake everyone nearby up.

[snowball]

ugh so sorry you had such a bad night and missed out on the fun and relaxation
we live and learn right? next time you will be prepared for anything and then
guess what??????? it won't happen
rest up have you checked out that apartment in the cute little town?
sheila

[BarbaraRose]

It wasn't until later that I figured out I could have hit my panic button on my Jeep to get attention. But who prepares for things like this? Campgrounds are supposed to be a safe, relaxing place to get away from crap like that!

I have an appointment tonight to look at that apartment.

I slept 9 hours last night so am feeling a little better now. Will take it easy today and just slowly unpack my Jeep and get someone to help me unload my kayak.

[retiredhappy]

You don't need mace, take Wasp spray. It shoots 20 feet and will really sting eyes.

[BarbaraRose]

Yes, I have heard that. It might be awhile before my next camping trip, at least in a tent...

[IrishIroamed]

How scary for your Barbie and I'm thankful Joe was there to help. Lessons learned for all of us I'm sure. Tent, TT, 5er or A - we all need to be aware of our surroundings and take a hint from the Boy Scouts - Be Prepared.

[cnq50b]

Sorry that you had this scary experience, Barbie.
I had heard about using the alarm on your car before but I'm not sure that I'd remember to use it in the moment.
Glad someone heard you & came to help & that you reported it.

Take care,
Catherine

[monik7]

So sorry this happened. We all learned from your experience. Hope you feel better and thanks for sharing so we can all know what to do of it happens.
Sandi

[avalen]

What a fright, the guy was probably drunk, wandered out of his own tent to take a leak and got disoriented. He was probably wondering who got in his tent and locked him out, a typical drunk, lost and confused, too bad you had to suffer through that, glad your neighbor came to your rescue. Lessons for next time are invaluable, please don't let this define your future happiness.

[elkriverrats]

I'm so sorry this happened to you! Thankful you were with a group and got some help. We once had a menacing camping neighbor and it is scary. We also left early because we just could not shake the nerves. I'm so glad hubby was on that trip, as we had no other neighbors.
Panic button is a great idea....not so sure I would have thought of it either in the heat of the moment. My truck has one but not the camper. Working on my camper projects today, I'm adding whistle to my list - I keep one in my hiking pack but it is stowed in a cabinet and now I want another to hang by the door for easy access! I never would have thought of wasp spray. Now on my shopping list. My pepper spray is expired and I always forget to replace it.
A good idea to tent with someone next time. It will make you feel more secure. Try not to let it ruin your love of camping! It doesn't diminish the scariness but he was probably drunk and out of it.
Thank you for posting.
Safe travels to all!
Kelly

[BarbaraRose]

I know he was drunk but am thinking he was more than just lost. He was intent on getting into my tent and refused to leave until my neighbor showed up. The fact that he started undoing his pants right in front of me is what makes me think he had bad intentions. Am so glad I put the screen room in front of my tent. That seemed to confuse him as to how to get in there and I had one more layer of material between us. I asked the PO if it would have done any good to have spray with me with the screen between us. He said it will go thru the screen but some of it may come back at me, but still affective. Most of the people around me were in campers so probably didn't hear me. Two of the girls in my group were on the other side of me in a tent and heard the noise but thought it was further down the road.

[havingfunnow]

I'm so sorry that happened. Scary! I second the idea of an air horn.

A friend had something similar happen decades ago, but in her house. She had three middle-school boys having a sleepover in the living room. About 2:30 am, one of them turned up in her bedroom. "There's a guy we don't know in the kitchen talking to himself." Her husband went to have a look while she phoned the police.

It turned out that the guy lived in the corresponding house two blocks over. He was blind drunk and thought he was at home! The cops took him away. I guess you can't ever tell about the stupidity of a drunk.