Back when we first started the coach touring adventure, we made a shakedown run from Cape Coral, Florida to Reading, Pennsylvania and back. If you’re interested in that phase of the trip you can flip back through the archives to the beginning of the blog. Along the way we happened into a campground in Lebanon, near Hershey, PA, that had well over 400 camp sites. We were traveling solo so had no plans to meet up with anyone in particular. Outside of my family, no one knew we were traveling to the area, nor did we know anyone else had travel plans that would cross our path that day.
This conversation took place, as they say, out of the clear blue sky, while Marilyn and I were setting up camp.
“Are you from Florida?” asked the guy who had just pulled in to the site next to the one we were in at the top of the “H” loop.
“Why, yes, we are.”
Nothing magical or uncommon about the origination of the conversation. Both my coach plates and the car license clearly read “Florida” and sported the “orange” so I thought at first the question, while designed to open the conversation (you always need an opener!), might be a tad obvious and predictable.
Second question stopped me cold, “Do you have a wife named Marilyn?”
“Yes I do, and now, you have my undivided attention.”
You see, I had the instant thought that no one short of a mind reader could ever have called that shot.
“May I ask why YOU ask?
“Well, my wife is in the coach there and she wanted me to come out and ask you that…because she is thinking that your wife looks a lot like her cousin, Marilyn.”
A minute later, the guy’s wife pops out of the coach, Marilyn does the same, and there are loud shrieks, hoots, and hollers as (sure enough) the two long lost cousins embrace, jump around, laugh, giggle- the old how-can-this-be reunion celebratory dance.
Ok. Be that as it may, it’s pretty amazing that out of the thousands of campgrounds in the country and the millions of camp sites and the many more millions of campers out there, that two people who are family, neither one knowing the other is traveling, should wind up parked next to each other and recognize one another after years of not seeing each other. My odds of winning 10 million smackers in the lottery are considerably greater than the odds of that ever happening - even once.
So meet Cousin Susan!
Me? I’d never met either of them before so over the next few days we had a marvelous time getting to know each other, shared a few meals, chatted, rejoiced and pledged to meet up another time in a manner of choosing and not chance.A happenstance or a miracle directed from on high? There was talk Marilyn’s and Susan’s mothers, who had been best of friends in life, had called the shots from Heaven. Brought the girls back together to carry on the tradition of giggling in this life. Hooked them back up near the chocolate mecca of Hershey, a family focus for all generations.(see earlier blogs from Hershey) and restored old family ties.
If I once would have doubted that, I no longer do!
Fast Forward.
This time I know Bob and Susan will be meeting us in Orlando for a couple weeks of camping together. Both Marilyn and I are greatly anticipating meeting up with them. Should be fun. So when Susan asks us to call when we get in and pick a spot, I joke that we shouldn’t really need to do that as we would most likely wind up parked next to each other even if we didn‘t try to. But we agreed that whoever arrived first would select a spot and advise the other of the location so that the later arriving of the two could set up in proximity.
As we were both scheduled to arrive same day and roughly the same time of day, we tried to get an early start and beat them to the punch so to speak. However, a motorcycle accident in front of us on I-95 that littered the road with four wheelers too delayed our BTB (Beat the Batemans) push, and they arrived before us.
Now there are 734 sites in the campground. We have earmarked a site we would like to set up on but not mentioned it to anyone. Not anyone I tell you! We have circled it on the site map we picked up the last time we were in the park after scouting out where we might like to be. Still about a half hour away from arriving ourselves, Marilyn’s cell phone rings and she answers it on speaker phone- full volume. It is Cousin Susan. Over the hum of the diesel engine and the oldies on the Sirius satellite radio she informs us that they have arrived and selected a site. They are in site number I-34.
We both scream! That is the one very site out of 734 to pick from that we have circled on our map. Once again they have landed exactly where we were headed. We are in semi shock. How can this be? We pick another site because the one next to I-34 has already been taken and is “off the board” in the office. But when we drive to the spot, the site next to Susan is NOT taken as indicated (you cannot reserve a specific site in the campground- you either are on it or you are not) so with a simple call to the office we switch to the site next to them- one that should not be open in a campground that is near seasonal capacity - but is!
A day later, other friends of theirs arrive too. The site directly across from them is open that day as well.
You just can’t make this stuff up.
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