At 10:02 AM 5/18/2001, Chris Smith wrote:
>camping goes, I have parked in *many* strange places over the
>years.  Truck stops, Wal-Marts, back streets, rest stops, and industrial
>parks have all been called home for the night.  I have never had a major
>safety concern, but I have been given the "bum's rush" a few times.

Right.  That old flashlight on the window, and there are the city's finest,
Wanting To Know.  Usually around 0300.

>As far as safety goes, I lock doors at night, sleep light, and be ready to
>move if I get spooked (it's happened *very* few times).

I've gotten rousted, but never spooked.  I did get scared by a hitchhiker
once 25 years ago.  Nothing happened and no threat offered, he just seemed
scary somehow.  I also stop a good deal to help people beside the road,
never had a bad experience.  But a couple fellow sailors in Pensacola back
in '70 did that and got mugged, and if my foggy memory is correct, the
muggers went off with their car, leaving them with the broken one.  Of
course that may have been a sea story to escape the consequences of being
late for duty; I knew the people but not the circumstances.

david

David Beierl - Providence, RI
  http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/
'84 Westy "Dutiful Passage"
'85 GL "Poor Relation"