FYI Becoming wary of traveling outside of state

[J&JD]

we have become very wary of travel outside of Florida.

Come on Joe, it’s all good! Keep on truckin & rving. Rv’d through all 48 contiguous states for 20 years in a pusher with no threat to our wellbeing by bad guys. Plan ahead and enjoy!!

 

[AbdRahim]

Sorry to hear about Creekfire. That was on my bucket list. As far as truck stops go, I never had a problem or head of a problem when I was there. I have been sleeping in truck stops and rest areas for 50 years.

That being said. The entire world is becoming more evil. We have several generations of people who grew up with no conscience or sense of right and wrong. Seems like in Fl if you accidentally cut someone off on the road or don’t move fast enough they try to shoot you. If they can’t do that they want to run you off the road. Some people seem to get a kick out of cuting off large vehicles and hitting the brakes. Sees like the advertising of lawyers getting people hundreds of thousands of dollars, likely feuls this behavior.

I like truckstops and rest areas far away from major cities. I sometimes leave the dash cam running all night, but but mostly not.

Yes. Stuff happens, but even if one sells one’s rig and stays locked up at home, there is no guaranty of total safety. The Bible warns of these times. I may not be allowed to say that, but fact is fact. Nowit seems as a great majority of people ignored the warnings at their own risk. Unfortunately it put all of us at risk.

I do have a doorbell camera on the coach. My plan is to put another on the grill, two on the mirror arms an one on the rear. I sleep a little lighter in these places and have been known to peak ot several windows in the middle of the night if I hear something even close to suspicious.

Heck. It is dangerous to go to Walmart in the middle of the day now. A man tried to push a woman into her own trunk while she was loading groceries, in broad daylight. Luckily, a bystander saw and chased the man away.

Gangs are hiring teams of kids and shipping them various places to rob vehicles. They are trained to look for weapons. They hit a few places and then are shipped elsewhere. Our campground got hit last year.

All you can do is say your prayers, stay alert and enjoy your life.

On every trip lately I get approached at truckstoos by people with creative stories, asking me for money. On the last trip one of those people drove up in a small car, with a sad story. I was filling the coach with gas. I just pointed at it and indicated where the money is going. He got the message and drove away.

I often worry about the weather, hurricanes, tornados, etc. Can’t do much about them but try to dodge them, while praying for safety. Life is risky.


Ok, I have bored you enough.

 

[Rosy]

Be alert, not paranoid.

You’re likely safer in Pueblo than in much of Florida.

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[team bradfield]

Why on earth stay at a truck stop, rest area or walmarts, I only stay at real reviewed campgrounds. I travel with.a GSD, pepper spray and.a S&W 38, only travel in daytime. 30 years RV'ng not a single issue, GSD never used

 

[Texas Clodhopper]

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I did some checking and this incident happened in Tennessee, not Texas. There was a shooting at a neighborhood Baytown gas station a few years ago with a death. Neither of the other reported Houston problems can be verified. The Hoston papers and none of the Hoston TV stations reported any of these incidents.

 

[AbdRahim]

Why on earth stay at a truck stop, rest area or walmarts, I only stay at real reviewed campgrounds. I travel with.a GSD, pepper spray and.a S&W 38, only travel in daytime. 30 years RV'ng not a single issue, GSD never used

For in and out overnight - saves a lot of money. Coffee, breakfast, fairly clean toilet, gas, supplies,, all right there.overnight at a campground, I would not even bother to open the slide, much less connect anything other than shore power.

 

[Joe Hogan]

Check out Albuquerque - should you not go to the Balloon Fiesta? It's terrible there, but in the wrong places as with most states/cities.

Understood, my point is to be aware of where you are, at all times. I live in a reasonably safe area and if I am not paying attention might let my guard down.

When we travel not only am I aware of the environment but also aware of state laws and law enforcement or lack thereof.
There are towns in Florida that we avoid, especially crossing I10 in Duval County. Also outside of West Palm beach. Tampa is getting that way as well but we have business reasons to be there.

Ballon Festival should have all kinds of security but prime theft territory. When we went there we were very aware of the environment. But then again it was 2019, much different than today.

 

[DennisT]

Situational awareness at all times is a good thing. Don’t have to be stressed out but paying attention to surroundings and what is happening.

We have got to areas we were going to stop for the night and decided to roll on down the road. Not worth the chance if you feel it is sketchy.

Choice of personal protective equipment available is also a good thing.

 

[Neal]

In my drive home last trip I ended up in downtown east Chicago due to a re-route for some back way into a truck stop for some reason. Talk about joy. My plan for breakdown was leave the RV, get in the toad and go! Bye bye RV. So yeah, there are times we end up in not so great places, not so great campgrounds, etc. We've all been to sketchy locations, I've yet to go someplace and leave because of the sketchy'ness but never rule that option out. Lock basements, lock doors, and be aware. It's all part of the experience in seeing the country, it ain't all good out there.

 

[redbaron]

Thursday my dad was driving from NIRVC Lewisville to Alvarado in his canyon star. An unmarked sedan with a light bar that was temporarily installed attempted to pull him over. When he came along side Dad could see that it was clearly not a police vehicle (no equipment, cage, gun, etc.)

Dad ignored him thinking if it was real helicopters and marked cars would soon appear. After about 3 miles the car removed the temporary light bar and sped off.

Use common sense.