May 11, 2015 at 10:05AM by advodna_dave

We packed up our VRBO yesterday and drove to the RV park on the north side of town where we'd stored the trailer for the week. In fact, we'd paid $25 a night to park it in a spot just outside the gate, an arrangement we hadn't really had time to improve on the day we'd arrived on the ferry. In any case, while Ann played with the kids on the playground, I went to the office to get our site number for a night inside the campground we'd reserved for getting resettled. At the desk, I asked the woman if she'd gotten my email asking about being assigned a site near #47. I explained that some friends had sent us a message suggesting we ask for #46 or #48. "What's their last name?" "Well, I don't actually know it, but I think they're in #47." "You don't know your friend's name." "Well, no. We know them through the Internet, Instagram, and only know their screen name." "They're your friends, but you don't know their name. [insert smug smirk here]. "[Me, getting a little peeved] Uh no, but we communicate regularly and know just about everything going on in each other's lives and they told us what site they were in." "Well, they're *not* in #47." "Huh, okay, I may be remembering wrong. Do you have anything available in the 40's?" "[Grunt. Sigh] You're lucky we're not full." [Me, keeping it together but barely] Well, we have a reserved site, #24, and we might not ask if you were full, but since you're not, do you have anything in the 40's?" "So you don't know what site they're in?" At this point, there's a long, tense interaction in which I ask her to give me the wifi code that she's about to give me with my park map anyway, so I can get my phone online and look at the message sent by my "friend." She's not having it. I make a comment to the effect that many younger Rvers are connecting this way and it might do her good as a park manager to be aware of that. Okay, and I might have added a little part about many folks relying on park reviews and me hoping we could work this out so she could count on a positive one from me. But I follow up with a calm "Did we somehow get off on the wrong foot here?" I add "I understand this seems strange to you, but if there's anyway you could assign us a site in the 40's, we'd really appreciate it." "[Grunt. Sigh.] I'll see... Well, I could put you in #46." "[Me, jaw open, amazed.] That would be wonderful." So we pull around to the site we'd asked for in the first place to find - of course - that @mywifesadventure is, in fact, right next to us in site #47. I let the stressful interaction wash out of me as we meet Tyler and Sarah and the kids instantly pull out Legos and Elsa dolls and start to play. Oh, and photo credit goes to @mywifesadventure for capturing me and Ann in our post-kids asleep, waiting for them to come out from putting theirs down so we can continue realizing that we have everything in the world in common.