Pete and Tracey Both Head West.

Based on a post by ron de, in 2 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Connected.

The campground where we were camped was next to a state park, and after that lunch, I really needed to either walk around or take a nap. I figured Tracey wouldn’t like me taking a nap so I asked her if she’d like to walk one of the trails in the state park. She laughed.

“My Joe would have taken a nap while I walked by myself, so this will be new to me. Let’s go.”

It was during our walk I learned who Joe was and why Tracey was tent camping. That was after I explained why I was driving around in a big RV by myself. Tracey listened to my story and then smiled.

“That’s why Joe and I bought a tent and the Jeep. He’d worked for almost fifty years before he retired at sixty-eight and was going crazy with nothing to do. He liked history, and after six months of doing nothing, decided we’d tour the country looking at historic places. He thought we’d understand the older places better if we lived in a tent like they did in the early days, so he went out and bought one. I wasn’t too sure about a tent. I mean, a tent doesn’t really have walls or anything to protect you, and if it’s cold out side it’s cold inside too. At least he bought cots so we didn’t have to sleep on the ground.

"Our daughter and her husband moved from their apartment into our house so there’d be somebody there to take care of it when we were gone. We started from Milwaukee in April of last year and drove South. We got as far as Shiloh in Tennessee. We’d walked around the battlefield most of the day. When we were walking back to our Jeep, Joe said his chest hurt. Half an hour later, he was having trouble breathing, so I drove him to the hospital in Savannah. He passed away while they were trying to get him stablized. The doctors told me he’d had a pretty bad heart attack at Shiloh and had another one while they were working on him.

"After I got Joe back to Milwaukee and had the funeral I had to decide what I was going to do. I couldn’t very well move back into the house because I remembered the years when my mother lived with us and I wouldn’t wish that on anybody else. What I decided is to do what Joe wanted to do. I’d travel around with my tent and visit the places he wanted to see. It sounds weird, I know, but I thought maybe he’d see those places through me.

"Anyway, I did spend a couple of months with my daughter until the weather got cold, and then headed back South where it was warmer. I spent the winter camping in Georgia and Florida, and then started following the warmer weather north. I was doing fine by myself until yesterday. If I’d known it was going to rain so hard, I’d have gotten a motel room.”

I said I didn’t think any woman would like living in a tent. Tracey just chuckled.

“You mean because I don’t have all the comforts of a house like a kitchen and a bathroom? Well, I like to cook, but I can cook just fine on my little stove, and all the campsites I stop at have a central bathroom with showers. I like sleeping outdoors in the fresh air and listening to the crickets instead of in my house in Milwaukee in the stale air and listening to the traffic go by. I would trade that for my tent any day, now that I’m used to it.”

We talked about a lot of things as we walked along that trail, and I was surprised at how easy it was to talk to Tracey. She seemed to like listening, but she wasn’t backward about giving me her opinions about what I said. She thought retiring early like I did was a good thing. She was five years younger than Joe and had been after him to retire for years because he’d been diagnosed as a prime candidate for a heart attack. She wanted him to relax and enjoy life and hopefully avoid the heart attack that killed him. He thought he should keep working to build up his 401K so they wouldn’t have to worry about money.

She thought it was perfectly normal for a woman to be camping by herself, but she wasn’t a big fan of the women’s liberation movement. When I asked her why, she shrugged.

“I suppose it’s fine if a woman wants a career before anything else, but they’re missing out on a lot by not having a husband and a family. I was never sorry I was a stay at home mom. I liked being there when the kids came home from school, and I liked fixing dinner for us every night. Now, mind you, I didn’t object when Joe wanted to go out for dinner on my birthday and our anniversary, but I was happy doing all the cooking the rest of the time.”

The more we talked, the more I liked Tracey. She was a very intelligent woman with her own ideas about life, but she was about as down-to-earth as a woman could get. By the time we got back to my RV, I was getting really comfortable with her.

I got a lot more comfortable when she started making dinner. I hadn’t actually smelled food cooking in a long time because I just used my microwave for everything. The aroma of spaghetti sauce filled the RV and it smelled like it was going to be fantastic.

By the time Tracey said everything was ready, I was starving. When she sat a plate of spaghetti smothered in sauce in front of me, I’d have gorged myself even if I hadn’t been hungry. Tracey’s spaghetti was better than any I’d had in a restaurant.

We talked a little after dinner, but Tracey said she wanted to get an early start the next morning, so we turned in about nine. Well, Tracey turned in. I spent the time trying to first read a book and then trying to watch a movie. I wasn’t successful at either because I kept thinking about how nice it was having Tracey there and how that would change when she left.

I thought about asking her where she was going next, and then decided she’d just think I was trying to follow her to convince her to do something she didn’t want to do. Truth be told, I would have been following her, though just for the company and not anything else. That’s what I told my self, but I knew she’d never believe me. I was still thinking about some way to end up camped in the same campground the next night when I finally fell asleep.

Tracey’s Breakfast Arts.

I woke up the next morning to the smell of bacon frying and hot coffee. Tracey smiled when I walked out of my bedroom.

“Just thought I’d send you off with a good breakfast again. You really should eat better breakfasts so you’ll have energy until lunch.”

While we ate, I wanted so bad to ask where she was headed, but I didn’t. After we ate, Tracey washed everything and then took her skillet and what was left of her bacon and eggs and bread to her Jeep. I helped her take down her tent, roll it up, and stick it in the back of the Jeep. When we were done, Tracey smiled.

“This has been a change for me. Maybe we’ll meet up again some time. Where are you headed next?”

What I’d planned was to visit Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora. When I told Tracey that, she shook her head.

“I’m going there too, but first I’m going to The Knife River Indian Village. They have a collection of Hidatsu and Mandan Indian relics that Joe wanted to see and it sounds interesting. You ought to go there too. It’s not quite as far from here as Medora, and there’s a campground for RV’s and tent campers in Stanton, and you can walk from the campground to the village.”

It was a surprise that Tracey asked me the same question I’d debated with myself about asking her. As a result, it took me a while to answer, and Tracey grinned.

“You’re not saying if you will or won’t. Does that mean you don’t like my company?”

I shook my head.

“No, I like your company. I just didn’t figure you’d want me going where you went. It does sound interesting though, so I’ll detour to Stanton and stop there too. I’m in no hurry to get to Medora. What’s the name of the campground?”

Tracey said she was going to the Downstream Campground in Hazen instead of the one in Stanton.

“It’s a Corps of Engineers campground, so it’s a little better than the one in Stanton and there are some other things to see there too. You should probably make a reservation though. This time of year, it might fill up pretty fast.”

Tracey drove off while I made a reservation with my cell phone Having her there for two days had used up a lot of my fresh water, so I stopped by the dump station, emptied my black water tanks, and then filled the fresh water tank. That done, I programmed the campground address into my GPS and started driving.

I stopped to fill up at about lunch time, and while I was eating the fast food burger, I realized how much better Tracey’s chicken salad had tasted. I also missed her sitting there and talking while we ate. It was strange in a way. For so many years I’d live by myself and didn’t think I really missed not having people around. Now, I did, or at least I missed having Tracey around.

When I got to the campground I stopped at the office, paid my site fee, and got a map to my campsite. All the sites were back-in sites, but with the rear facing cam on the Thor, that wasn’t a problem. Within fifteen minutes of shutting off the engine, I had the Thor leveled, the extensions out, and the electricity plugged in. My plan was to find out where Tracey was camped and ask her if she’d like to go into town for dinner.

I’d just locked up the Thor when Tracey came walking across the road.

“I see you found the campground.”

“Yes, but how did you find me so fast? I just got here.”

Tracy grinned.

“I cheated. I made my reservation after you did and I told them we were traveling together and asked for a space close to you. I guess I drive faster than you do because I stopped at a grocery store on the way and I’ve had my tent set up and have been watching for you for half an hour.”

I chuckled.

“I can drive as fast as you drive, but it takes me a while to get up to speed. Why did you ask for a spot close to me?”

Tracey looked at the ground.

“Well, I kinda liked when we took that walk and I thought maybe you’d want to take another one after dinner. I got the stuff for dinner when I stopped at the grocery store, that is, if you’ll let me cook for you again.”

There was no way I could refuse her, nor did I want to. It was, I hoped, an indication that Tracey liked me. I wouldn’t let myself think any further than that though. I couldn’t. Thinking there might be more and then finding out there wasn’t would have crushed me.

Dinner was pork chops, broccoli, and a pasta salad with a chocolate cake for desert. Tracey hummed to herself the whole time she was cooking. I sat on the couch and watched her.

She seemed to be having the time of her life. I know I was. She looked like she belonged in my tiny little kitchen in her shorts, tank top, and running shoes. That was a feeling I’d never had about a woman before. Oh, I’d had the same fantasties most men have about this woman and how she’d be in bed or that one and how I wished I could see her naked, but not once before Tracey did I ever imagine how any woman would look in my kitchen.

Dinner was great. Eating with Tracey was even better. She seemed to be really happy and that made me happy too. After dinner we walked along the shore of the lake and talked until the mosquitoes came out in force. Then, we went back to my RV for a movie on Netflix. That seemed really natural too, both of us sitting there on the couch and watching a movie together.

After the movie ended, Tracey yawned.

“I think it’s time I go tuck myself into bed in my tent. Are you coming with me to see the "Knife River Indian Village” tomorrow?“ If you are, I’ll come over tomorrow morning and fix breakfast.”

I couldn’t bring myself to say what I wanted to say; that she was welcome to spend the night again. She’d have thought I was asking something I wasn’t asking, and I didn’t want to risk losing her as a friend.

“Sure. I’ll be up and have the door unlocked at about seven if that’s not too early. I’ll have the coffee made too.”

As I fell asleep that night, I was wondering if there could be more with Tracey. She seemed to like me. I knew I liked her. She was just plain fun to be with, but I thought maybe she more than liked me. I hadn’t been around a woman socially in so long it was hard to tell, but she seemed to walk closer to me than on our first walk, and when she talked, she kept touching me on the arm.

The Breakfast tradition continues.

Breakfast was sausage patties and pancakes, and they were great. So was sitting there and eating with Tracey. I’d thought we’d just go to the Indian Village and then pack up and go our separate ways, but Tracey was full of things we could do. After she rattled off her list, I figured it was going to take us a couple of days.

Tracey wanted to see Fort Mandan, the site where the Lewis and Clark Expedition spent a winter. She said there was a replica of the orginal fort there. She also wanted to see the McLean County Museum, the Sioux Ferry, and the Garisson Dam Fish Hatchery. When I said she was cramming a lot into one day, Tracey frowned.

“It sounds like you want to be rid of me.”

I shook my head.

“No, I don’t want that at all. I like seeing things with you. I just didn’t think you wanted to stay more than a day.”

Tracey smiled then.

“I made my reservation for three nights. Maybe you should do the same or you might end up sharing my tent with me.”

On our way out of the campsite in Tracey’s Jeep, I did just that. When I came out of the office, Tracey grinned.

“Did you get the same spot?”

“Yes I did. I reserved three more nights, just in case.”

“Just in case of what?”

“I don’t know. Just in case it takes us longer to see everything than two more days I guess.”

Tracey put the Jeep in drive and grinned.

“So maybe you do like me a little.”

Becoming travelling Buddies.

The Indian village was interesting and so was Fort Mandan, though I thought there was more to see at Fort Mandan. As we toured the different buildings, Tracey kept pointing out things to me. Sometimes, she didn’t know what those things were and asked me if I did. It was that way at the carpenter’s shop and at the blacksmith’s shop. It was fun telling her what this tool was used for or how the carpenter or blacksmith would have used them. She was surprised that all the logs were vertical instead of horizontal and asked me why. I didn’t know, but one of the rangers explained it to us both. It was because they could build long walls that way without needing really long logs and the fort needed to be pretty big to hold all the men in the expedition.

While we were close, we also went to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive center. That was interesting too. It was almost one by the time we got through all of that, so we drove back to the campground.

Tracey fixed lunch for us both in my RV and then suggested we take another walk. We were down on the river bank when Tracey looked out over the water and then sighed.

“You know, I had a lot of reservations about camping when Joe said he wanted to start. I mean, I’d be giving up everything I’d lived with for all those years and starting out living in a way I didn’t know anything about.

"Now, when I come to a place like this and just watch the river go by or see the birds singing in the trees, I don’t know if I could ever go back to that old life again. I see something different every day and I keep learning about things I never knew before. It gets lonely sometimes, but it’s still worth it.”

I said I didn’t think she could possibly be lonely, and Tracey frowned.

“Why would you say that? Aren’t you lonely sometimes too?”

“Well, yes, but that’s different. You had your husband before while I haven’t lived with anybody in years. Besides, I would think you have a lot of men trying to meet you.”

Tracey grinned.

“You think men are just dying to make it with a woman as old as I am? Let me let you in on a little secret. If a woman hasn’t found a man by the time she turns forty, she’s probably not going to, at least not a man worth having around. Most of those are already married, and a few of the ones who aren’t usually aren’t all that interested in women, if you know what I mean. The rest are going through their mid-life crisis. I call it the ‘I’m still the man I was at twenty thing’, and they’re looking for girls, not women. They may talk to women as old as I am, but the first blonde with little boobs and a tight little butt who walks by; well, you can see them looking for a way to end the conversation.”

I didn’t think like that, and that’s what I told Tracey. She just laughed.

“You mean to tell me that those young girls we saw today didn’t do anything for you? I saw you looking at them.”

“Well, yes, I looked, but no, I didn’t want any of them. They were pretty, but they weren’t women, not yet.”

Tracey frowned.

“You mean you’d only want an older women; a woman like me.”

I nodded.

“Well, yes.”

Tracey grinned then.

“I’ve heard this line before. What you’re really saying is you’d like to spend a night with me and then you’d be gone.”

That upset me.

“No, that’s not what I’m saying. You’re putting words in my mouth, and it makes me a little mad that you think that. All I’m saying is you’re a nice looking woman and I thought men would want to meet you. I guess you don’t. I think we need to go back to the campground now.”

Silent travels.

Tracey didn’t say anything on the way back and I didn’t either because I felt bad about what I’d said to Tracey. She probably did have men telling her that. I’d jumped to conclusions and accused her of thinking that about me when I didn’t really have any reason to. What I should have done was left out the part about her putting words in my mouth, because she really wasn’t. I was acting pretty immature and I was mad at myself for being that way. I liked Tracey and didn’t want to lose her as a friend.

It wasn’t until we got to my RV that Tracey finally said something.

“Pete, I’d planned on making dinner for us. Are you mad enough that I should just go back to my tent or could you stand having me around long enough to cook some burgers? I got some potato salad and other stuff to go with the burgers and I’ll never eat it all myself.”

The look on her face told me she really wanted to do this, so there was no way I could say no.

“Tracey, I need to apologize for what I said back there. What you said just struck me wrong and