If you’ve read about our awful Day 1 experience(s), you know that within a couple of weeks of our hitting the road full time, we were badly overextended financially 💸, had murdered two tow vehicles, and were quickly running out of options to keep going.
To make things worse, it was Christmas.
Our savings had been spent on a 12 year old 28′ camper and (the first) Expedition to tow it. Within the first month of this awesome 🙄 RV lifestyle, we had already maxed out our credit.
This was our first Christmas on the road, and we didn’t even have money for Christmas gifts. With our second tow vehicle in the shop with a blown engine, we wouldn’t have been able to get to a store if we did have money.
Enter Thousand Trails…or more accurately, some incredible humans who worked for Thousand Trails. ♥
Our first Thousand Trails reservation was in Texas at Lake Conroe. We rented a truck to tow our camper to Lake Conroe while our new (and also dead) Expy was in the shop.
From there, I took the truck back to the rental place, and walked 17 miles in the direction of the campground before a nice man picked me up on the side of the road. He generously drove me the rest of the way (which was about an hour out of his way as he was headed home from work).
Back at the campground, we were stuck, and were trying to figure out what to do. Our reservation would end before our Expy was ready, and we couldn’t afford another rental at that point. On top of this, the rental place said we hadn’t ever returned the truck (we used the key drop the night before the rental was up, so didn’t talk to anyone in person), and we owed $800 in extra days instead of the $110 price we had initially expected (this was eventually resolved).
Reaching out to someone at the TT, they pulled some strings and got an extra week added to our reservation, in spite of the fact that it would be over a holiday and they had no openings.
What we didn’t know was that some campground employees had been talking among themselves about our situation, and had decided to step in and uncancel Christmas for our family. 🎅🎄🤶
A lady who worked there got her husband to bring over their golf cart so we would have transportation around the (large) campground. This obviously was a luxury, not a necessity, but it was so thoughtful and trusting of them, it melted our stressed hearts.
The same man offered me a two week job on a construction crew, which was right up my alley (I did construction for years), but I unfortunately wasn’t able to do any longer due to my hyperacusis.
But what really took the cake was that this couple piled us all in their truck, drove to the nearest Walmart, and took us Christmas shopping.
They filled two carts with Christmas presents for us to wrap and give to each other 😭, nicer things than we could ever have afforded even before everything fell apart. They paid for everything, and then bought us a meal on top of it all.
After we got back and finished wrapping everything, there was another knock at the door. Thousand Trails staff was there with all kinds of Christmas treats and snacks and (more) gifts, and now our minds were thoroughly blown. 😲❣❣❣❣
This was our first exposure to the camaraderie and support that, as a general rule, defines the RVing community. We’ve seen it many times in the 7 years since that first Christmas, but being on the receiving end of such incredible generosity was humbling in the best kind of way, and is still heartwarming and inspiring all over again every time we share the story with someone.
What’s the kindest or most generous thing you’ve seen RVers doing for others? Have you had a chance to help out someone in need since you’ve been on the road? I’d love to hear about it! 👇
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