So much for a closed cooler...

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BikerFlex&HappyJen

BikerFlex&HappyJen

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Mar 25, 2017
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While camping last summer in sunshiny Florida, DH, myself and our two girls made a stop at Walmart to get a few things. As we passed the bakery section, the girls wanted to get a bakers dozen of glazed doughnuts.  Of course they came back tot the campground with us. The girls were excited for their treat. That night after the girls went to bed, DH and I fired up the 'ole Bunn coffee pot. And what goes better with coffee? Doughnuts. We couldn't help ourselves and I ate 4 and DH ate 3. We did try to save some for the girls...
Now, mind you, we were camping in Florida in a PuP...in August..with no air conditioning. So glazed doughnuts don't store well outside of a cool place. Since we only had two small refrigerators, we put the long box of remaining doughnuts in the cooler we kept outside our door.
Raccoons are quite friendly in this area and don't hesitate to hang around often. The next morning we realized they are smarter little buggers than we thought. They apparently know how to open a cooler. There sat our empty box and it's safe to assume they like grape juice too...
The best part was the girls' reaction to it. After a couple of dropped jaws, their laughter and giggles seeing they lost their morning treat to the raccoons was priceless. It made a great memory for us and we still to this day get a chuckle out of it when we tell the girls...
Mom=4, Dad=3, Raccoons=6, Girls=Zero!
 
If things went perfect, it would be boring and there would be any stories like this.

Isn't amazing that we remember the things that go wrong much more then the things that go right.

Makes life interesting.  ;D

 
I was once on a three day canoe trip on a river in northern Wisconsin. We were a farily large group, and we had planned communal meals.

Setting up our. car shuttle and getting onto the river on the first day, took a lot longer than anticipated. We got on the river late, and of course, got to the island where we had anticipated camping, late. By the time we made dinner, and finished eating, it was well after dark.

Everybody was exhausted. We cleaned up, pitched our tents, and went to bed. Unfortunately, nobody put away, or even closed the bag containing our bread.

That night, the raccoons paid us a visit. Out of six loaves of white bread, there was not a single slice left. Nothing but wrappers, scattered all over. It seems that these raccoons didn't like rye bread. Unfortunately, they weren't smart enough to understand that every slice of rye bread tastes just like every other slice of rye bread. Out of six loaves, every slice had one bite taken out of it.

Joel
 
Only once, while camping, have I left a closed cooler outside..  The Racoons were not the problem,, 2 legged critters made off with the entire cooler.. and some other stuff from other campers... After that the NEW cooler went in the car at night with the doors locked.
 
We stopped at a place one time that had huge raccoons.  The second night we were there, there were left over buns from dinner.  My wife intended to feed the raccoons when they came out.  In the meantime we were sitting around the fire with the wife and her cousin sitting on the picnic table, where the plate of scraps also was. 
After a while my wife decided to throw the scraps out where she saw a racoon.  Turned to get the plate, and it was empty.  The critters had gotten to them right behind her back, and none of us ever saw them.
 
Know that song and dance real well!
We don't travel anymore. We are parked out in the woods on our own land. I have quite a few stories pertaining to those hungry raccoons. Too many to mention here.
No doubt that these guys go where their nose and stomach leads them!

Were they Krispe Kreme doughnuts? That would explain everything!!  ;) 
 
I remember lying in a tent watching the raccoons open the "raccoon proof" trash can across the road from my site. This was many years ago, and the NPS hadn't yet refined how to make their trash cans critter proof.

I also have a story about raccoons and things left out overnight. I took my Girl Scouts camping at a state park. It was late September or early October, and it got dark early. After a fun day of activities, we started cooking dinner. I had forgotten just how early dark comes at that time of year, and I had also forgotten how long it takes for just under 20 people to cook! As we cleaned up, we forgot one big trash bag (a black one of course) and went to bed about 9:00 after a nice fire. While we had forgotten about the trash bag, the raccoons had not. In fact, there was a war between different coons about who was going to get the choicest bits. What a racket! It went on for quite some time. We made sure the girls knew what was going on and not to be afraid, and we just stayed put. In the dark we weren't going to be able to find all the trash anyway. Next morning it took us an hour to pick up the little pieces of plastic and trash (very little food though LOL!). Never underestimate a raccoon when there is food around.
 
The raccoons in Florida would come out during the day and hang around in the palm trees surrounding our camper. They would only come a certain distance to us but once we were inside, they didn't think twice about coming down and seeing what goodies they could find that may have been left behind.
These stories you have all shared are memories that make camping a learning and crazy experience. Or as my father-in-law said in so many words..."It doesn't matter if you have the best or worst time of your life, you have to force memories to happen."
~Jen
 
I often work inside my motorhome, but I have lots of windows.  One day in an Oregon state park, some neighbors in a nearby 5th wheel had gone for the day but left a huge bag of dog food sitting on their mat.  I had great fun watching a chipmunk spend the entire day scurrying back and forth with his cheeks full of kibble. He was amazingly industrious, and I assume he packed away a substantial amount of his winter food that day. 

That is still a fun memory, and I assume a learning experience for the people who left the dog food outdoors in the woods.
 
denmarc said:
Know that song and dance real well!
We don't travel anymore. We are parked out in the woods on our own land. I have quite a few stories pertaining to those hungry raccoons. Too many to mention here.
No doubt that these guys go where their nose and stomach leads them!

Were they Krispe Kreme doughnuts? That would explain everything!!  ;)
Click to expand...

Left over hot dog and hamburger buns.  We never have left over doughnuts!
 
JudyJB said:
I often work inside my motorhome, but I have lots of windows.  One day in an Oregon state park, some neighbors in a nearby 5th wheel had gone for the day but left a huge bag of dog food sitting on their mat.  I had great fun watching a chipmunk spend the entire day scurrying back and forth with his cheeks full of kibble. He was amazingly industrious, and I assume he packed away a substantial amount of his winter food that day. 

That is still a fun memory, and I assume a learning experience for the people who left the dog food outdoors in the woods.
Click to expand...

Last summer at the Grand Canyon we put out a bird feeder, which quickly became a bird/squirrel feeder, which morphed into a squirrel/ground squirrel feeder.  When we found evidence of the rodents showing interest in the coach and it's contents, the feeder was emptied and stowed away.  Remember the old kid's story, "If you give a mouse a cookie..."
 
There's something to be said about the great adventures we can have just from the nature around us. ?
I know our family has had quite the memories from things that just came along our path. We went to a state park in Florida and ended up seeing a deer, an alligator, an armadillo and a crane all in the same trip! It was amazing! God has given us His beautiful creation and so many times we are in too big of a hurry to just embrace it. I think camping gives us that blessing when we least expect it. ?
~Jen
 
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