Two unrelated lessons

Two things I have learned on our winter getaway:

• Take a towel to the wash house;
• Don’t count on catching many fish in cold weather.

First, about towels.

I think most of us take towels for granted. At least I do. I wash, dry, fold, and replace them at least weekly in my bathroom. I automatically reach for my bath towel when I get out of the shower, and I am never disappointed.

Our RUV (recreational utility vehicle) that we have dubbed Thor has small holding tanks, so when we camp at state parks (which usually do not have sewer hookups), we use the wash house facilities. That means we have to take our shower “tools” with us—soap, wash cloth, shampoo, and a towel.

A couple camping trips ago, Jim left Thor without his towel. I laughed. It was funny to watch him return dripping. On our last camping trip, however, I walked to the wash house without my towel. What made my drip-drying even worse was that I had taken a wrong turn out of the wash house and started to walk in the wrong direction—in the dark of night. (After about 50 yards, I realized my mistake and turned around.) When I got back to Thor, Jim laughed. I didn’t think it was so funny.

Last night, I gathered my soap, shampoo, and wash cloth. As soon as I got to the wash house, I realized I had (again) forgotten my towel. It was very chilly outside, with temperatures hovering around 50 (or lower) by the time I had gone to shower. Should I return and get my towel? Or should I drip dry? I decided to drip dry. It actually was not too uncomfortable walking back to the RV wet.

Jim had a laugh.

Now about catching fish during cold weather…

Our only catch (aside from a crab that grabbed my bait and became bait itself) was this 13" flounder.  It's a good thing fishing is more about just getting away and having a good time rather than bringing home supper.

Not so much. Wednesday I caught a crab on my fishing line; the crab was trying to get a free dinner and latched onto the bait. We used it for bait. Yesterday it was so cold we didn’t even go out. Today, it was warmer (around 60) and sunny, so we ventured out. After an hour or so, I finally caught a flounder—my first ever. Although I had a few other bites, I had no catches. Neither did Jim.

Jim assures me that fish are there, even in cold weather. We just can’t find them, fishing from shore. So, fishing in cold weather is a test of patience—and endurance of the chilly temperatures.

Tomorrow we head home. Despite the lack of catchin’ we had a good time.

Until next time,

Your Reluctant RoVer,

Linda