First, if you didn’t get to read how we got to this point, maybe go back and at least quickly read through the last post. To sum up, sometimes it is necessary for us to meet with the homeowners of a house sit the day before it actually starts because it may be impractical to meet with them on their travel day, such as when their flight leaves at three in the morning. Such was the case here at our 3-day, Golden Colorado house-sit. But, since we have to do that, we have to find a place to stay that night unless the homeowners have a place in their home forus to stay, which only happens about 25% of the time.
Maybe not-so-typical RV scene at a Walmart. Our experience was not quite as busy.
(Google Photo)
We intended to stay the night at a nearby campground and shuffle back after the orientation, sleepover at the state park, and then shuffle back to the house sit the next day. Well, the campground was full and we ended up staying overnight in a Walmart parking lot. For those of you that don’t know, most Walmart's are pretty RV friendly and allow folks to overnight in their parking lot providing you follow a few simple rules. I won’t go into all the rules because they change slightly from one Walmart to the next but let me condense it into the following; Use common sense and don’t stick out like a sore thumb. Be stealthy. Make yourself as invisible as possible. It’s free for Pete’s sake, don’t spoil the opportunity!
Great hike up to the summit of Mt. Genesee, Golden, CO.
Leading up to this point, we had met with the homeowners late in the morning. It was a quick and easy orientation. We left, did some shopping, took a quick hike up to the top of Mt. Genesee, had a nice dinner, then set off to search for a place to park and sleep. My god, I had no idea that my wife was so secretly crafty and sneaky! Yvette wanted to park in a parking lot that was relatively quiet, but there was sign everywhere that trespassers would be prosecuted. Since I didn’t want to become some bikers “girlfriend” in jail, I opted out. So, the only place we were left with was Walmart. Call it a social experiment if you will.
Backing Bandit into a driveway can sometimes be our only option. I don't mind, it's great practice.
It was just after sunset when we arrived at the Golden Walmart. We were not going to share this Walmart alone for sure. There must have been at least ten other vehicles ranging from a small SUV up to a large Class A type coach. I opted for a spot under the trees that would shade us from the large parking lot lights, which now I’ve been told was a bad idea. You don’t want to be in the shadows as it becomes a place where people can “lurk.” There was some light traffic noise outside and an 18 wheeler that was going to run his “reefer” all night, so I put the vent fan on low and it pretty much took care of the noise. Unfortunately, a “family” in a Trailblazer had pulled in right in front of me. An adult male, adult female, young female (daughter) and a dog all slept inside a small SUV. The way he parked in front of me gave me little in the way of space if I had to leave as there was also someone who parked behind me. I’m sure that if it was an emergency, 6.6 liters of some of the finest diesel technology on the planet would have made short work of the obstacle in front of me, but hey, who needs that kind of hassle?
Sometimes, it's all about the pets that make a house sit worth the effort.
The part that sort of pissed me off was at some point while I was in bed reading, someone took a huge drag on a blunt and practically blew in my side window. This happened twice and though I never caught who did it, I had my suspicions. And maybe it wasn’t even done on purpose, the bottom line is you can't take someone who owned a house in the woods for 30 years and expect them to just camp in a parking lot with a cast of characters. And that goes for all the rest of this adventure as well. It’s a huge adjustment for the two of us. I think if you took a couple from the city that did the same adventure we’re doing, they would find themselves feeling much the same way. But I digress. I ended up having a decent nights sleep primarily because of the vent fan. We left early and headed to the local grocery store to stock up before heading to the house sit.
She was always near. Sometimes it can be tough to say goodbye.
The house sit. We loved the dogs. They were absolutely the best-behaved dogs we’ve seen in a while. The house was gorgeous but I think since the couple were newlyweds or maybe because they traveled a lot, the house needed a bit of TLC in the cleaning department. And, I’m curious, perhaps some of you can help me understand. If you have a “Vegan” home, why would you have leather furniture, shoes or coats? Am I missing something? We did learn a valuable lesson though. It’s a lot of work (for us anyway) to look for a short stay house sit. All of the planning that you have to do for 3 days and 2 nights, it just doesn’t seem worth it. Again, the dogs were great and they truly made it worth it in the long run. In the end, we had made plans to head to Breckenridge to visit some new friends that we made at the Rally, Jane, and Klause. Stay tuned!