I have a new neighbor, a solo woman who is tent camping and arrived yesterday morning. She quickly set up her camp and drove away for the day. When Katie and I passed her on our walk in the evening, I said "hi" and kept walking. I got my Kindle and sat down outside for some reading, and a little while later she came over with a beer in her hand, for a visit. This is Ginny:
Ginny from Reno
Our Kindle reading set-up - that chair is so comfortable!
Ginny is an artist, on vacation from Reno, NV and we had a nice chat. The moon was coming up when she went back to her camp - it will be full soon.
Almost a full moon
This morning, Katie wanted down earlier than usual, so I got her down and we went out for a short walk. I saw Ginny, so we walked over to her, and she was really upset. Two things were going on.
The first is that she went to the restrooms at 6:30 that morning, and was flashed by a young man. She insulted him and walked away, but kept her eye on him. Afterward, he came toward her campsite and sat under a tree watching her. While we were talking, around 9:30, the guy was coming out of the men's room again, and walking away from us, sat down at a table in an empty site, and just sat there. I went and got my camera and phone for Ginny to call 911. The man walked past us on his way to the men's room again, and I got some good photos in case he was gone when the sheriff got there.
The alleged flasher
I know what you are thinking, I shouldn't have done this, it might have set him off. We weren't this close, I had my camera at the highest magnification. But... I also had Katie and the dog deterrent spray with me, and would have used it if needed. Ginny was there, it was daylight, and other people were there in the park close by. It felt completely safe. We didn't know that a Park Ranger was also watching.
The Park Ranger came over to us. He said he figured we were calling the police when he saw us with the phone watching the man. He had been watching him for a couple of days, and had some previous reports. But this is the first time he has flashed someone, at least that he knew. Since Ginny reported what he did, that was a reason to get him out of the park.
Beyond Ginny's tent are the restrooms with the Sheriff and flasher
A Sheriff's car came, and he drove around and then came back and parked by the restrooms. Then another Sheriff's car came into the campground and parked. They both went over to the restrooms and talked to the man for a long time, then brought him to their cars and put him in one of them.
The Sheriff came over where we were waiting and took a report from Ginny. She was kind of nervous, wanting to make sure he wouldn't come back and be there tonight. What the Sheriff said was interesting. The man is appare
ntly schizophrenic and seemed drunk. He had an ID, but only a couple of dollars on him. He is homeless with no transportation. There is nothing they can do except drive him somewhere else and drop him off on a street corner.
The fact that he exposed himself to someone is not enough to hold him. He had to have said something to her, or made a gesture, something other than just standing there with his pants down. He admitted to the Sheriffs that his pants came down. They are held up with twine, and he said they just fell down. So there is nothing that can be done. The Sheriffs
did tell him not to come back here, or he will be arrested for trespassing.
Hopefully they will drop him off far away, and he won't make his way back to this park. Ginny is leaving tomorrow morning. She's going to Florence today, and I told her to stop and get a whistle to keep with her. She doesn't have a phone or anything to use in case of an emergency, I told her to think about getting a deterrent spray of some kind and a whistle that will wake some people in the campground and hopefully scare away anyone near her tent.
The second issue Ginny had this morning after coming out of her tent before 6:30 am involved the old white bus that I pictured in a previous post. They've been back for a couple of days in the same spot one site away from mine. Ginny said they were up, too, getting ready to leave. The dad brought out their porta potty and proceeded to dump it on the ground (I showed her the sewer and she said that's probably where he dumped it). Then he proceeded to rinse it out with the hose and dump the rest on the grass. She said she could smell it. They are gone now, with rice and apple slices and other pieces of food on the grass around the sewer hole.
She mentioned that , also, to the Park Ranger who came to talk to Ginny about the flasher. Ginny told him the kids were filthy and someone should call Social Services. He said this family comes and goes and has for a while, and Social Services has been out three times. I guess they aren't doing anything actionable, although I don't think dumping their waste from a porta potty into an unsealed waste receptacle and then pouring out the rest on the grass is legal. Before Ginny left for Florence, she went over to the office and told the Camp Host about what she saw.
The old white bus is back
I, for one, would be happy if they don't come back to this State Park. I feel very sorry for the two young girls, but looking at the big picture, they are getting food, dry shelter, and two parents living under one roof along with their dog (who just had puppies - I wonder what will happen to the puppies), so maybe they are more fortunate than many little kids in our country.
Quite an interesting morning. Katie and I are staying in camp today, doing our usual thing. I may take off again, though, and find a supermarket where I can get little things like milk, coffee creamer, and cereal - not a Costco, I need regular sizes. I'll need to dump later today, probably, my tanks are getting full, and once I hook up the sewer hose, I'll probably keep it hooked up until we leave next week and dump both the tanks again. So I'd better shop today.
I love their water here. When I tested it with my little Water Purity Tester, it registered at the lowest end of the scale - so few impurities, it was in the range of "water filtered using reverse osmosis, deionization, microfiltration, distillation." Pretty clean water!
I'm looking forward to a nice, easy day, and also to hearing about Florence from Ginny when she returns. That's a place I plan to visit, myself. I've heard good things about Florence, OR.
From Me and My Dog, have a great Wednesday, everyone! : )
