11/8/2011 I Have Been Living a LIE!

Yes, you read that right. I have been living a lie for the last six months or so. Let me explain.

For longtime readers the name LaVon is not a new one to you. Bob and I met the Bakers, Don and LaVon, back in ‘08 when we spent our first year in Quail Run. They were our next door neighbors and LaVon and I became fast friends. GOOD friends. And the friendship continued after we went our separate ways that spring. We’ve met up on the road a couple of times since then and spent several lunchtimes together in Arizona the year before last.

Last spring, soon after we arrived in South Dakota, Bob found us a workamping job in the Rio Grande Valley, just a mere 7 miles from where Don and LaVon were to spend their winter. The ol’ wheels started turnin’ and I formed a plan on how to surprise LaVon when we were both in the Valley together. Little did I know how involved and hard this was going to be.

The plot thickened quickly when Cynthia from the office of the park we were going to friended me on Facebook. It didn’t take long at all before LaVon saw that I was ALSO friends with Cynthia and she wanted to know how I met her. Oh. Em. Gee. Lavon knows Cynthia!!! I thought quickly and told LaVon that we had met on an RV forum and struck up a conversation, yada, yada, yada. Whew, she bought it. Then a quick note to Cynthia to let her know in case LaVon says anything to her. Other mutual friends knew we were going to the Valley and I had to swear them to secrecy too. AND keep track of who knew what!

Oh wait, it gets better yet! If you followed us through South Dakota then you know Joy and DeWayne were working with us the last month and they are also here in the Valley in the same park we are. Dann and Pat, also from South Dakota, are also here. Hail, hail, the gang’s all here,,,,well, almost, Val and Jerry are missing.

LaVon reads on the blog that we’re in San Antonio where we all met up last month. She emails me, “Snookie, where are you going from there? We’ll be down in the Valley soon and would love to see you.” “Yeah, well, uh, gee, so would I Lavon but you see we’re traveling with this group and we all agreed to stay together, yada, yada, yada…. but I’ll see what I can do because Bob and I would surely like to catch up with you and Don too.”

So we get down here, she knows we’re here, and I have to tell her that we are leaving the DAY BEFORE they are to arrive. In return I got, “Snookie! NOOOOOOO! you can’t leave yet!” Let me tell ya, I felt lower than a snake belly in a wagon rut.

Do you have any idea how hard this has been? I had to be very careful about what I put on Facebook. I had a heck of time blogging because she reads here. I had to monitor what Cynthia put on her Facebook and once even had to message her, “Take that down, LaVon will see that!” I even had to go as far as saying the word “Goodbye” to Cynthia because if LaVon asked her I wanted her to be able to say truthfully, “Well, she did say goodbye to me………

So I get an email from LaVon and she asked where we are and the first thing I could think of to say was, “A little north of Corpus Christi, I don’t know the name of the place and Bob isn’t here. More later, gotta run.” and I send it off.

My plan was for us to go to Don’s Sunday service in their park and just show up. Good plan but our work schedule didn’t work for us to do that.

Finally, I just couldn’t play at this deception anymore and I called LaVon and said, “I want to send something in the mail to you, what’s your address.” She gave it. “Ok, gotta go get this to the mail before the mailman comes, I’ll call you later, you going to be home?” She assured me she would be home all afternoon. Ok, let’s plug this into the GPS and go see them!

Seven miles later we’re at their place, ask the gate the guy the way to their lot number and he tells us there is no such lot number. Of course not! That was their mailbox number! We went by names and he told us how to find them. If I had been driving I would have parked a few sites away, a street away, on the other side of the park! Not my Bob. he pulls up 5 feet from their front door. its not like we have a common looking truck! So yes, she (they) were surprised but I didn’t get to see the look on her face. They saw the truck and knew right away it was us.

She was surprised to find out that we are here all winter,,,,and very happy to hear we are here all winter.

We had a great laugh about all I had been going through and how many people knew this was going down and how big this whole thing turned into.

So, we are together again!

We are looking forward to lunches, and days at the beach on South Padre Island and phone calls that say, “I’m going to hop in my truck and drive those 7 miles to come see ya, gonna be home?”

We’re gonna go picture takin’ too!

It’s going to be a fun winter my friend!