Chapter 5

Wednesday Aug 7

Hank came over and hooked up the trailer this morning. He seems nice. He's older than Dad, in his sixties I guess. He was dressed kind of like a mechanic, dark blue pants, and a jacket over a light blue shirt. His gray hair was covered by a ball cap with the Golden Shores RV Park on it. Both his face and his hands were very tanned.

Of course since I'm not a morning person he woke me up. His knocking on the door woke me up. I was still half asleep so I didn't realize it was him. I was wondering what Charlene or Dad was banging around. I pulled my blankets up over my head to try to drone out the noise and because it was cold. A few minutes later, Charlene was gently shaking me awake saying, "Come on sleepy head. Hank's here to get things hooked up. You need to get up and get dressed."

I grumbled and pulled the covers tighter around me.

Charlene chuckled and said. "Uh-uh. No going back to sleep Samantha. You need to get up."

I grumbled about the time. She replied, "It's after eight. Come on out of bed. I've turned the heat up."

"Okay." I sat up and was momentarily confused until I remembered that I was in the trailer. Shivering, I quickly dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and sweater. Then I went and washed my face, brushed my teeth, and tied my hair back. I could hear Dad, Charlene, and someone else talking outside and I didn't want to keep them waiting anymore then I already had. I pulled my shoes on and went outside. It was cold and a little foggy outside and the sky was overcast. According the weather person last night, the fog and clouds would be gone by this after noon. It was only eight thirty.

Looking around I saw one of those little CUSHMAN electric trucks parked next to Henry. There was a cover over the bed with a door on the right side that lifted up. It was currently up. I didn't see anyone though so I went around the back of the trailer to the left side where all the hook ups were. That's when I met Hank. Charlene was watching him hook things up. Hank apologized for waking me. I told him that it was OK and that I was sorry for keeping him waiting. He said it was no problem. He already had the electricity and the water hooked up and was working on hooking up the sewer line. We didn't shake hands but he didn't seem to mind. Not that he offered his hand anyway.

Once that was done he had me go inside and he fed the phone, internet, and TV cables in through the left side dining room window. When you're on the inside it's on the right next to the kitchen. I pulled them through and along the window sills to the other side and under the table to hook them to my computer. He told me to check it out.

I'd turned the computer on and brought up the TV program and flipped a few channels. Then I looked up a couple favorite web pages. They all worked fine.

While I was doing that, he'd gotten up and walked around to the other side. When he knocked on the door, I opened it and he handed me a phone. "Here you go Miss. I just need to hook this up and you'll be all set."

Hank plugged it in and dialed a number. He spoke a moment and hung up. Phone works how about the rest?"

I told him everything worked fine.

He nodded. "That's good. The internet won't be as fast as you're used to and if a big storm comes you'll probably lose it and the phone for a day or two. If that happens though, we try to get everything up and running as fast as we can. Don't worry about the power though. We've got a generator in case of emergencies."

"Uh, OK. That's good to know. Thank you."

"No problem. If you need anything else, just let me or Mavis know."

"Thanks, I will."

He nodded and then looked around. "Nice layout. There's some I've been in that just make you wonder what they were thinking? This is nice though. Old but nice."

"Yeah, it is." I said not knowing what else to say. I do agree with him though. Our trailer is nice.

I followed him out. As he left, he gave the door frame a friendly pat and walked to his cart. I followed.

While he was hooking things up, Dad was unhooking Henry. He'd untied the side boards and had pulled Henry forward enough so Henry was out from under the trailer. Dad was closing Henry's tailgate when Hank came by. Dad went over and thanked him and shook his hand. Charlene finished stuffing the cable back in the trailer part of the hitch and also thanked him. I thanked him too.

He told us "No problem. You're all hooked up. If there are any problems, or you need anything else let me or Mavis know. Nice meeting you folks. Have a good stay." Then he shut the door on his cart and climbed in behind the wheel. He tipped his hat. He backed out and then called out. "Trash pick up is on Tuesday. Make sure to lock your can or the critters will get into it." Then he drove off.

"He seems nice." I said. Then I asked if he'd hooked up their motor home too.

Dad laughed. "Yeah, he did that while we were waiting for you to get out of bed."

I blushed.

"Come on you can help me rearrange things in Henry."

Dad set the trailer lock up and then pulled out the ladder. After refolding it a different way Dad slid it under the trailer so it would be hard to see for anyone just passing by. I took out the lawn chairs and set them out by the picnic table. When I came back Dad was putting up the side boards. He got the left one in place and told me, "There's a trash bag and some bungees in the cargo box. Put it over the hitch so we won't get grease on everything."

I said, "OK" and climbed into the back of Henry. When I finished covering the hitch Dad handed me the board for the front. I slid it into place and hooked it while Dad started untying my luggage. We moved it out of the luggage rack and down into Henry by the tailgate and piled it up. I'm glad Dad had me cover the hitch since some of my bags ended up on it.

Dad then covered my bags with one of the canvas tarps before putting the back board on. Gathering up the rope he said, "That should do it until you find some other place to put it."

I'm not sure where I'll put it. I suppose I could probably cram it all inside Henry if I had to. While he gathered up the rope, Charlene came out of the trailer and helped me fold the plastic tarp. When it was folded, I went to put it and the rope under the seat and I was surprised to find a fishing pole and a couple tackle boxes under Henry's front seat. I didn't remember seeing them yesterday. I just shook my head. I'm not a big fish eating person. Other than fish sticks I don't care for fish. I suppose trying to drown plastic worms will give me something to do, although I doubt I'll get bored enough to try.

I looked at the ice chest. I'd have to do something about it. I opened it up. The ice had melted, but the water was cool. I guess I'll have to replace the ice. I closed Henry's door and went inside the trailer. Charlene was making us breakfast.

"I hope you don't mind," she said when I came in.

I shook my head. I didn't mind at all.

Dad followed me in saying, "smells good."

It did. A couple minutes later, Charlene handed us each a plate with an omelet and a couple strips of bacon. Forks followed. Breakfast was as good as it smelled. We stood and leaned around eating. None of us wanted to sit, as there wasn't enough room for us all to sit.

After breakfast I helped Charlene with the dishes. She washed and I dried. Dad would have helped but there wasn't room. While we did the dishes we talked about what we planned to do today. I said I planned to replace the ice in the ice chest and then take a walk around the RV Park. After that I thought about going to the beach. Dad asked if I minded if they walked around the park with me. I didn't.

Dad helped me get the ice chest out of Henry and emptied the water. Dad dragged the ice chest to the kitchen building. Charlene and I walked with him.

The kitchen building was surrounded by trees on three sides. The front side, facing the park, had a covered walkway. The walkway was made of boards. It reminded me of a building you'd see in a western. We stepped up on the walkway and went to the ice makers. There were two right in the middle. We opened the lid on one and filled up the ice chest.

Since we were there we went in and looked at the kitchen area. There were doors on each side of the ice makers. We tried the left one. When it opened we went in a saw that the kitchen area looked to be two small kitchens stuck together. The far wall was laid out kind of like the trailer kitchen except for the larger scale and the addition of double ovens and dishwashers. There was another kitchen area, in a different arrangement, in the far corner. Coming out from the middle were columns of refrigerators and freezers, capped with a chest style freezer. On the opposite side of the wall from those was a bunch of small dorm style refrigerators stacked on three shelves. There was a walkway between the column of refrigerators and the shelf of smaller refrigerators. The other half of the building was a mirror image of the other side. Some of the appliances were different, but the layout was the same. All of the refrigerators and freezers had padlocks on them. Everything looked old, and all the appliances seemed to be different ages, but everything looked well cared for. It was really kind of nice.

Dad whistled and said, "Must use up a lot of electricity. I'd hate to pay their bills."

"Maybe they have solar panels." Charlene suggested.

"Take a lot of panels to power all this." Dad said.

"Maybe they have a windmill."

"Maybe."

I had no idea what they had. I doubted solar panels though, as the sun would be blocked by trees.

After we looked around, we took the ice chest back, put it in Henry, and rolled his window down a little so he wouldn't get too hot. Then we took a walk around the park. It was even easier to tell who lived here and who was just visiting than it had been last night. The lived in spaces had gardens of some type and were tailored to suit the people who lived there. Some of the spaces even had sheds and their trailers had skirting added around the bottom of them. A couple trailers I saw even had peaked or slanted roofs. When Dad saw them he went "Hmm" and started thinking. I imagine he was thinking about how our trailer would look with a peaked roof. It'd be different.

That's another thing, everything was different. No two RVs or spaces were the same. Not even the visitors'. There were trailers and motor homes in all shapes, sizes, and ages. The newer ones had pop outs. Some of the older ones had tent rooms. A couple even had rooms built onto them. Some of the spaces had more than one small RV in them. A couple had a trailer and a semi in them. There was one space that had two truck campers parked at the end of the space, followed by a small travel trailer. That space got dad thinking again. I worry when he thinks. I think Charlene was worried too, as she was looking heavenward.

There were other interesting spaces too. One had a forty foot single wide mobile home in it. A couple of motor homes were converted from buses. I think they looked nice. The school bus was kind of weird looking though. They'd somehow added the roof of another smaller school bus to the top of it. I don't know if it has different levels or just a high ceiling but it's different.

I think the oddest one was the boat. There was this old wooden hulled boat up on a trailer. There were steps leading up to the side and it had a roof added over the back deck. It was nice but it looked so out of place.

After we walked around the heel of Italy, we went in to look at the Rec hall. It was an old two story house with a wrap around porch. Two of the sides were screened in. The side facing the inside of the drive contained some old arcade games. In the screen room, on the other side of the house, were some tables and chairs. In the back were stairs down to a small basement which had gym equipment in it. We took a quick look and went around to the front of the house.

The front third of the ground floor was a media/game room. On one side was a TV and some old audio and video players cabled to the wall unit. The shelves were full of videos as well as boxes of puzzles and games. There were a couple couches around the TV. The other half had several tables and chairs around the room. A wood stove was against the wall in the middle of the room. A hallway went past it on the right. A bathroom was on the right side of the hall way opposite of the stairway. The first aid room was on the right past the bathroom. To the left was the kitchen. A woman was making something in the kitchen and there were some kids in the dining room, which was on the other side of the stairs. We said hello and went upstairs.

Upstairs was the library, a small bathroom, and another room set up as a reading room. Over all I thought the whole place looked nice. Finished looking around, we went back down and headed for the main building.

We walked through the playground, which was a big, kind of multi-level fort that looked like it had been constantly added to over the years. There were several clusters, all interconnected. Each cluster was built out of different material, metal, wood, and fiberglass. Sticking out of it were various slides, swings, and monkey bars. It looked kind of fun. I'm sure the kids love it. Past the playground was just grass until you got to the kitchen.

As we walked around we got waves and good mornings from some of the residents and visitors. We waved and said "Good morning" back. Walking up the lane we saw a small driveway going around the back of the main building. There was also a big propane tank set back from the drive with big cement filled poles surrounding it.

Like the kitchen building, the office/store building also had a covered wooden walkway that went from the office all the way to the men's room. When we got to the main building, we walked down the walkway to look at the store.

The inside of the store was small but it seemed to have a nice supply of things. It had two doors, entrance and exit. Once inside, you had to go all the way around to get to the exit. When you walked in, there was an aisle right in front of you leading to the left. It made a 90 degree turn to the left and, after a few feet, another 90 degree left turn. The aisle stopped shortly after at a small intersection. A door led to the store room. You could continue straight ahead through the meat and veggie aisle or turn again and walk along the inside of the aisle you just came from. At the end of the of the meat and veggie aisle there were refrigerators with milk, juice, and sodas, inside. It made another 90 degree turn here and met up with the other aisle at the checkout counter. They had everything a grocery store would have and more, just in a smaller building. It really was a tiny general store. It was really kind of neat.

When we got to the counter, a bored looking girl looked up at us and said, "New here?"

We said we were. She nodded and said, "Hope you enjoy your stay."

We thanked her and left. Charlene and I then went to check out the showers. Since they were women's showers, Dad was on his own. "Drat! Not even a peak?" he joked when we told him he couldn't come in. Charlene rolled her eyes. I shook my head and said, "Not even."

Charlene and I opened the door and went in. We entered into a small hallway with doors at each end. The door immediately to our left had a female stick figure on it. A few steps to the steps to the right, at the other end of the hall, was another door with a picture of a washing machine on it. I suppose it could be convenient to go from the showers to the laundry room without going outside, especially on cold days.

We pushed the left door open and went into the women's room. Six sinks and mirrors lined the left wall. The right wall continued several feet before it ended at a walkway. A half wall continued from there to the end of the room. Looking down the walkway, there were five small toilet stalls and one larger one for wheel chair access. Opposite the stalls on the right was a small locker room area.

Past them was an open shower area on the left. To the left I was surprised to see a large low tub, big enough to fit at least six people. There was a sign on the far wall that said "Shower Before Using Bath". It looked like something out of an anime.

Charlene and I looked at each other and said, "Wow." Then we looked back at the tub.

From the way Charlene was looking at the tub I was sure she was going to be soaking in it tonight. I wondered when I could soak in it. The tub in the trailer was nice but it wasn't that big. I suppose I could use it anytime but I probably wouldn't try it until really late at night. I'm not all that comfortable being naked in front of others. Sure, when I was little my parents and Charlene would sometimes bathe with me. Shelly too, but that was mostly when we were little. Occasionally, when we were older, we'd share the shower but that was mostly when we were in a hurry. Sometimes we would shower after gym in college though but we didn't really take too long. If another woman came in I'd shower even faster. Shelly didn't mind though. She wasn't shy and she was a lot more open and experienced than I was. She even modeled for an art class once on a bet. I was so surprised when she came into class and modeled for us that I fell off my stool and knocked over my easel. It was so embarrassing!

I followed Charlene out and into the laundry. There were lots of washers and dryers. There were counters for folding clothes. There were even a few pull out ironing boards. At the back of the room was a counter with a sink and a window. I looked out and saw a few nice trees on the hill. Looking to the left I saw a loading dock. I guess the building was shaped more like a lopsided T instead of an L.

Dad came in and said, "Nice place. They do seem to have everything."

I had to agree. The RV Park was like a tiny little town. People seemed friendly and there was everything I needed to live. I probably didn't need all the things I'd brought, but I supposed it would be more convenient. I didn't want to argue over the TV or anything. Not that I would.

I suppose, like a small town, everybody knew everything about everyone. I'm guessing that everyone had already heard how long I was staying. I'm hoping they didn't know why. I don't mind friendly people but I don't really care for gossips, not even nice ones. Stories they tell have a way of taking a life of their own.

We walked back to the trailer and motor home. When we got back Charlene asked me what I was going to do next. I shrugged. "I suppose I'll go check out the beach."

Charlene said, "That sounds like a good idea."

"What did you think about how some of these places were set up?" Dad asked.

"Some of them looked nice." I said wondering just what he was planning.

"I was wondering about a shed." He said. "It'd give you a place to put the things in the back of Henry."

"I guess that would be good. When did you want to go?"

"Oh I don't know. Maybe later today. I have to find a hardware store first."

"OK."

"How long do you plan to be at the beach?" Charlene asked.

I shrugged again. "I don't know. You don't have to make lunch though. I still have the lunch Shelly's mom made."

"OK. Do you mind if I come down and join you later?"

I shook my head and Charlene smiled. Dad smiled too.

I told them I was going to go change. They said OK and that they'd see me later. I went into the trailer, and making sure the door was locked, went up the bedroom, undressed and put my new one piece swimsuit on. Then I got dressed again. It was still cold and gray out too cold for me to be walking around in just a swimsuit. I also wasn't sure I would actually go in the water but I wanted to be prepared just in case. I dug a duffel bag of out the closet and stuffed a couple towels, a book, my glasses' case, and suntan lotion into it. At the last second I also put in one of the little cans of pepper spray. Dad got it for me, so I may as well take it with me. It'd make him feel good knowing I'd taken it with me. I hoped I wouldn't have to use it though.

Not wanting to spend the next week getting sand out of my sneakers, I put some sandals on instead. Then I grabbed my keys, a sports bottle, and then locked the door to the trailer. I stopped at Henry to pour some tea into the bottle, picked up the small cooler, and headed for the beach.

At the end of the lane there's a stair way going down the hill to the highway. That where the crosswalk was. I was about half way down the stairs when my foot slipped on the edge of a step. I sat down hard and then slid down several steps on my butt. It hurt but most of the damage was to my pride. It was embarrassing! I'm glad no one saw.

I picked my self up and looked around. Not seeing anyone I dusted myself off and picked up the cooler. Fortunately it hadn't come open. I went down the stairs more slowly holding onto the rail. I made it to the bottom without any more mishaps and then ran across the street after making sure there were no cars.

On the other side of the highway was a dirt parking area on a little embankment. I walked through the parking area and followed the trail to the right. It led to the other end where a little dirt service road led down to the breach. I turned left and walked down it. As it went down, there was a rocky cliff face on the left side and a large circular area below filled with ponds and wild plants on the right. An open area met up with the road where it leveled out. There were little gullies with water in them leading to the beach. Along the edge of the cliff on the left there were some port-a-potties. Past this area to the left was the end of the cliff encircling the open area. To the right was another smaller area like the one the left. Straight ahead was the beach.

There was also a sign on the right. It said, "Private Property For Guests of Golden Shores RV Park only." Below that it said, "Clothing Optional From This Point On" and "No Lifeguard. Swim at Own Risk"

My eyes got stuck on "Clothing Optional" That sure hadn't been advertised on their website! Probably so the weirdos wouldn't come around. Still, even if it was safe I wasn't sure I was ready for a clothing optional beach. I looked back the way I'd come and then back at the beach. I couldn't leave just because clothing was optional. Not after Dad had spent so much money getting me here. Besides, the sign said "Optional," not "Nude Only". That meant I could keep my clothes on. I took a deep breath, prayed I wouldn't see anything scary, and headed for the ocean.

The path got less rocky and more sandier the closer I got. The little gullies continued towards the right and there was a mound of sand to the left. I went up the mound of sand and there was the beach. It was small but beautiful. It was sort of crescent shaped with boulders at the ends. The right side along the cliff face was rockier while the left side was sandier. The cliffs on the right left side were also further back, leaving lots of sand and room for people. The left right side didn't have as much room

There were some towels and a cooler over on the right side. I guess they belonged a couple of surfers who were out catching waves. Not really wanting company right then, I decided to go to the left. I made my way through the sand to the large boulder. It was about my height but easy to climb up. I climbed up. It was mostly flat on top with the exception of a bathtub sized hole in the middle filled with water. I splashed the water a little and then looked off to my left. The boulder was easier to go down on this side. I went down onto a small straight beach, cliffs on the left ocean on the right. It looked perfect.

I put the cooler and my back pack down and dug out a towel. I spread it out and then piled sand up on one end to lean against. I sat on the towel and took off my sandals and my socks and dug my toes into the sand. It was cold and I shivered but I knew it would warm up. I took my book out of my bag and tried to read. I gave up after a while. I just couldn't concentrate. I kept thinking about what Shelly would say if she knew I was at a clothing optional beach. I also thought about what she'd do.

She'd be surprised I'd even gotten the courage to get past the sign. Then she'd want to know if I went optional and when I'd say "No" she'd ask "Why not?"

I think she'd love it here. The beach was nice and it was clothing optional. If she were here she'd go topless for sure. She might even go fully nude. And knowing her she'd probably try to talk me into going topless also. I probably wouldn't unless she really pushed and no one else was around, but I wouldn't be all comfortable. It takes me a while to work up the nerve take my arms out of my straps to minimize tan lines. I always worry someone will dump water on me to make me jump up so they can see my breasts.

I sighed. I must be nice to be able to be so free. I do wonder what it'd be like to walk around topless, or even completely nude. I know Shelly would enjoy it. She didn't have any problem being nude. Maybe, just maybe, if this beach really is private and no one is around I might try topless, but that's a really big MAYBE.

I have to wonder though how you would put on sunscreen at a nude beach without being seen as doing something naughty. I suppose it wouldn't be so bad putting it on your breasts and ass. Some suits don't cover much of either anyway. But what about down there? How do you put sunscreen down there without it looking like your doing something else? I suppose you could put in on before you came down, but it does wear off after a while. So what do you do when you need to reapply it? And you'd have to reapply it. There's no way I'd want a sunburn down there. None at all! I can't imagine anyone else would either. So how do you do it?

I can see Shelly laughing at me and saying "Just put it on but don't take too long about it." I can also see the interested look on Paul's face as he waits to watch me do it.

That thought still makes me blush and gives me this warm tingly feeling in my lower belly. It also makes me sad. Shelly isn't here to tease me and Paul isn't here to make me tingle even more.

I miss them so much! It hurts missing them so much! Oh darn it. I'm crying again.

Ok I'm better now. Well not really, but I'm not crying at the moment. That's better, right?

Any way, I cried a while on the beach. Afterwards, I just sat there with my arms on my knees and my head resting on my arms. I'm not sure how long I stayed like that but it was sunny when I finally looked up. I sighed, and feeling like I needed a swim, I pulled my sweater up over my head. Then I took my jeans off and got up. I walked to the water and let the waves roll over my feet. The water was cool but not cold. I gradually made my way in and then jumped under the water. I came up shivering.

I went out a little further and when a wave would come I'd jump and let it carry me towards shore. I wasn't surfing just letting the waves carry me a bit. It was nice and kind of fun, but not as fun as it could have been. Some things are just more fun with others.

I caught one last wave and got out. I took my other towel from my bag and dried off. Then I sat down and started putting on sunscreen. I am not really a "work on my tan" kind of girl, but I wasn't ready to go back to the trailer yet either. Despite missing my loved ones, it was peaceful and relaxing here.

I'd just finished putting sunscreen on my top and was working on my left arm when I heard a noise and looked towards the rock I'd climbed over to get here. There was a woman with light brown hair, wearing a yellow sundress and a big floppy hat, carrying a big shoulder bag. She was looking back at me.

"Oh! Hello. I'm sorry to disturb you. I didn't know anyone was here. There usually isn't."

I told her that it was OK.

She smiled and said, "Would you mind if I sunbathe here?"

I shook my head.

She said, "Thanks. Sunbathing is much nicer here. It's more peaceful" as she came off the rock and walked towards me.

I nodded. "It is nice here."

"Yes I come here a lot to sunbathe and do yoga, and some times just to meditate and think."

I nodded again and started putting sunscreen on my right arm.

"You're from the RV Park aren't you?" she asked.

I looked up surprised.

"I thought I recognized you. I was in the kitchen when you and your folks walked through this morning."

I blushed. I hadn't recognized her. She'd been wearing jeans and a flannel shirt and looked kind of frazzled. Here she looked a lot more relaxed and younger. I figured she was in her forties but she looked ten years younger than that now.

She laughed. "I'm not surprised you didn't recognize me. Those kids will wear anyone out. Fortunately I only have to cook breakfast and lunch for them. I don't start my real job until two. I'm Faith by the way," she said sticking out her hand.

I hesitated. My hands were oily from the sunscreen.

She smiled. "It's OK. A little more sunscreen won't hurt me."

I smiled back and shook her hand. "Samantha."