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Rest stop shenanigans….
Well, it happened yesterday.
We were traveling back to Southern California from Las Vegas and stopped at a rest stop just before Palm Springs, CA. I pulled into the truck parking section (3:30 PM) and I see a few people standing around talking about 25 ft. in front of the coach (not really thinking much about it). When they saw me pull in, a fellow came up to my driver’s window, which was open, and told me about a guy who had just won $180,000 at a casino and wanted me to come over to a truck a few vehicles down.
At first, I didn’t understand what he was saying. I thought he said someone hit a motorhomes slide-out… (which didn’t make sense)…. as he was talking rather fast.
Once I realized what he was talking about, I remember reading about this ‘possible’ scam on another RV site. I’m not sure how it works but I knew I wanted nothing to do with it. When I exited the motorhome to head towards the ‘necessary’ room, he thought I was going to follow him to the truck.
I would have never exited the coach if I didn’t feel safe (my co-pilot stayed back at the coach). There were a lot of people coming and going as this is a busy rest stop. The guy had already started walking back to the semi-truck that he had pointed out and I was walking straight to the facilities.
Initially, the guy tried several times to get me to come over to the truck saying I should check out the guys winnings…. I just ignored him.
Has this happened to any of you?
In hindsight, I probably should have called the CHP to report it.
On the other site where I mentioned this story, a person had a link to ‘rest area scams’.
http://www.scambusters.org/restareascams.html
(don’t know how to make that a link).
Mark
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53 Replies
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MM,
You got 2 bathrooms in the bus and your going to piss with the commoners. Are you kidding me.
The guy probably thought there’s an RV worth 200,000 grand and he’s easy pickings.
If he knew you had a 4 slide Liberty worth a million and a half he would of kidnapped you.
Watch your ass out there people, before they get a word out of their mouth say NO in a loud voice. They will go away.
Later
bv
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Bernie,
The guys on the other site said the same thing……’you have two bathrooms’….LOL!
It gives me a chance to stretch my legs.
Mark
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What ever Bernie , Glock or Ruger comes to mind , not a loud voice!!!’
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Yea, ur a real gunslinger Peter.
Later
Bv1999 XLV X-6872, liberty #440 -
Dejavu….the EXACT same thing happened to us out west this summer…..they were quite insistent that we come to their rv….we ignored them. Geo.
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Mr. Mark … don’t you have a half bath in the back of the coach over the engine? That’s 40′ feet in either direction. That’s would be a good leg stretch for me!
At this point, my wife is against letting me carry. I’m hoping for her to eventually relent.
Any losers who try to “pull something” in the truck area of a rest area has to be pretty stupid. I would expect that most of the rest areas on the Interstate system would have cameras monitored by law enforcement. I would also expect that over half the truckers in rest area are carrying and if something wrong starts, I’d expect the losers to be staring down the barrels of half a dozen firearms. I might have the wrong expectations relying on the cameras and the truckers for some level of safety.
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About ten years ago a Prevost owner was in fact lured to the supposed card game, and when he got there there was no card game, but some guys who relieved him of his Rolex and a very subtantial amount of cash he had in his wallet. Turns out they quickly escaped in a car. He never reported it, but did tell the story at a rally he was going to. We were at the rally and heard him tell the story. I will not reveal his name.
He said he did not report it because he felt like a fool. Do not be deceived. We have had people banging on the door trying to get us out of the coach with sad tales ranging from relatives in a hospital to a son in the military needing the money. As soon as we are approached we drive away. Di can tell you her story about how close she came to danger when walking the dog in the St. Louis area at a rest stop and how the guy was arrested while we watched. We are targets, and as a result we are now armed.
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Wow,
Will watch. We do get out of the bus at rest areas. Mainly for one of us to walk the dog and one of us to do a “walk around” of the coach. -
All this reminds me of the story told by “The King of Bling,” that would be Roger Foster. As the story goes, Roger and some others overnighted at a truck stop AFTER filling up with diesel. In the morning, everyone got up and began rolling on down the road. Now on that trip Roger was pulling a Mini-Cooper. a few miles down the road near a State Rest Area, Roger runs out of diesel and drifts into the ramp of the rest area. Still having air but no engine, the story goes Roger used the Mini to push the coach into the rest area. Then called for road service no get some diesel delivered and the engine running.
Seems while Roger was sleeping peacefully, the truck stop bandits were busy siphoning the almost full tank of diesel down to an almost empty tank. I really don’t know what part of that story I believe, the part about the Mini pushing the coach or the truck stop bandits. I’m sure neither part was any fun and especially the part that lightened the weight of Roger’s wallet!
I’m thinking a new nickname or handle might be in order. Something without so much “bling” in it!
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You did the right thing by following your instincts.
I have never run into big time scanners that I know of but we get approached for handouts often on the road. I think it is the combination of our 21 year old coach looking “fancy” and “new” to folks unfamiliar with Prevost and our license plate says “CRY2GOD” and a second plate says “Boggs Family Ministries.” They usually approach me “praising the Lord” and talking churchy.
We buy gas and food for people when we think it is appropriate and we have given Bibles, singing CD’s and prayed with folks. Three rules: I do NOT go any where with any one, I do NOT let any one in the coach and I do NOT give anyone money. IF needed I can pray, run and shoot at the same time!
We had a guy knock on the door and ask for a tour while we were traveling last Saturday. I ended up going outside and talking with him and even praying with him but no tour.
Davy
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Where do you stay in Palm Springs Mark? We are at Desert Shores.
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LB,
We don’t stay in the coach in Palm Springs as we have a home. I store the coach in Indio in a enclosed storage garage facility (30 amp, gated, camera’d, manager on duty during the day).
Mark
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Have carried a pistol since 1996 when Texas Passed the Concealed Weapon Law., Everywhere and at all times. It’s bcome second nature. Now we have the open carry here (1/1/2016) and don’t do that. I don’t want the Bad Guy to Know I’ve got it until I pull it and choot him in the eye. That being said, We haul a 2 1/2 year old Black PitBull around with us and Max will take care of you first. Actually, he’s a puss but you look at his Block Head and you would think he’s a killer.A lot of the Camp/RV grounds won’t allow us in with him.
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Lock and load boys…
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Oh and with my old 1991 Prevost the Bums think I’m destitute and they try to help me out. “Buddy can you spare a dime for air leaks”??
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