Our first round of camping for the season most definitely had it's highs and lows. We had SO much fun at Reed Bingham State Park in Adel Georgia, and we followed that up with more fun at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park in Micanopy Florida. Then disaster struck. Our next stop was at Tomoka State Park in Ormond Beach Florida. As I told you in my last post, Tomoka is a BAD place to camp. I described the issues with the park already, so I won't go into that again. It rained for two of our four days at the park. Gary is normally attending the Turkey Rod Run car show at the Daytona International Speedway during the days it was raining, but obviously, that didn't happen this year. He went antique shopping, and hung out with me watching movies. He even drove all the way home to St. Augustine and back (about 60 miles each way) to check on the house, do laundry, and unload his many purchases to have more room inside of Dodge. The sun finally came out on Saturday, and Gary was excited to finally be going to the car show. He turned on the iPod for me, so I could listen to tunes while he was gone, and left early to head to the speedway so he could get a good parking spot. While Dodge and Gary sat at a traffic light at the corner of Nova Road and International Speedway Boulevard, a distracted kid in a black 2016 Dodge Charger slammed into the left rear corner of poor old Dodge. The speed limit on Nova Road is 45mph. The police estimated the Charger's speed at 45 to 50mph. He never hit the brakes, so Dodge (and Gary) took the full force of the impact. I know I'm EXTREMELY lucky for not being there with my buddies, or I would likely be dead right now. I'm not nearly as well built or tough as Dodge is. I guess Gary is pretty tough too. That must have been a BIG hit for him as well, and a day and a half after the accident (as I write this), he is still feeling okay, at least so far. Somehow, Dodge survived. Unlike the car that hit him, Dodge was able to drive away from the accident. He even towed me home today. Other than looking bad, he's acting like he's not even hurt. Gary and I are VERY worried about our favorite camping buddy. At this point, we don't know what will happen with the insurance claim. We are fearing the worst with Dodge being 25 years old. There is no replacing him. It just wouldn't be the same with me being towed by anyone but Dodge. We have ALWAYS been together, from the day he towed me home for the first time, and through ever single camping trip since. We'll know more soon about Dodge's fate, and it remains to be seen if Gary will start feeling the effects of the crash. I'm depressed and worried sick for both of my camping pals. I hate uncertainty, and this is the most uncertainty that I have EVER felt in my 45 years of travel trailer life. I'll let you know as soon as I find out more. If you'd keep my buddies in your thoughts and prayers, I would certainly appreciate it. THANK YOU!!!
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