July 22, 2016 – Boondocking at Jubitz

In a short day we went from a picturesque 10+ campsite to the Jubitz Truck Stop in Portland complete with showers, movie theater and an inviting hooker. This was the end of our journey with Laine and Angel, we were handing the girls over to their Alaska hockey buddy, Daddy Caz. He found us Jubitz, not far from his house.  This was our first experience in boondocking. Boondocking is the RVer term for parking overnight without hook-ups, usually not in a campground and usually free. Popular boondocking locations are Walmarts, truck stops, rest areas and the curb in front of your relative’s house.

That's Scoop and Molly in the middle!

As Denis swiftly backed Scoop between two semis, our trucker neighbor emerged from his cab to assess our arrival. He had obviously had a few too many and looked like he did it regularly. He walked up to Angel’s window in Molly, looked in at Fu and said, “What kind of f*&$ing dog is that? That is the most beautiful f*&$ing dog I’ve ever seen.” He wasn’t done there.

He had advice and comments for all. He asked Denis, “How old do you think I am?” Denis, looking at the bedraggled aged man and guessed, “72.”

“F*&$ you,” said the trucker. “I’m only 68.  How old are you?”

Denis replies, “56.”

“You look like you’re 62,” spouts the trucker.

By this time Daddy Caz has arrived and we are all amusedly watching this exchange. The trucker then asks Denis, “Y’all wanna see my bamboo?” and points toward the back of his truck. Hum, where is this going?

Denis, always game for amusement says, “sure.” And follows the staggering man to the back of his semi. The rest of us, rather fearful for Denis’ safety timidly edge to the back of the truck as well. The trucker opens his back doors to reveal…drum roll … Bamboo. It’s really a truck full of 10’ bamboo plants in five-gallon pots.

“Ma’am would you like a sprout?” he asks me. I politely decline and he says, “Those f*&^ers in Salt Lake pay top dollar for these things. Grows like weeds here.” We escaped to dinner with Daddy Caz.

After dinner Caz and the girls drove us back to Jubitz. We pulled in quietly hoping our trucker buddy was sleeping it off. We tip-toed into Scoop and fell asleep to the purr of generators.