This past weekend Bat and I traveled the 250 mile trip to our family hunting camp in eastern West Virginia. The route we took is one I have been driving for my entire life. It winds through the hills and hollows of West Virginia on a two lane road. There is a faster and easier way to get there but none as nostalgic or that offers sites as pleasing to the eye.
There is a roadside park in the National Forest which is about halfway to our camp. In the old days, when we hauled coon hounds to camp, we always stopped there to let them stretch their legs and do their business. Our Rhodesian Rideback pup was riding in the back seat with us so I figured the stop was warranted. And, I need to stretch my legs and do my business too.
Guess what? This little circle of road which has about five camping spots, fire pits, picnic tables and two of the foulest smelling out houses you have ever pooped in, was closed!
The sign said it was all due to the Government shut down and that no services would be provided. This was a perplexing notion since there was really nothing to shut down. This is an unmanned “SELF SERVICE” campsite in the middle of no where. In almost 50 years I’ve never seen a National Park Service employee there and I’m fairly certain that in that same amount of time they have never serviced the outhouses. (Trust me, the smell is so foul that you simply cannot imagine how something could stink so bad. In fact, I’ll bet that those who use this campground opt for the woods to do their business unless they have a gas mask.)
Here is the thing, some National Park employee had to drive from who knows where out to this little roadside nothing of a park to lock the gate and put up a sign just to inform us that the Government, which was not really shut down, did not want to let me drive around this circle and pee in a rank outhouse which was erected and paid for with my money.
The point of all this is not to express my discomfort in not being able to pee – there were plenty of trees to get behind – the point is to let you know that your current Government does not give a rat’s rear end about anything but politics. I typically and wisely avoid commenting on politics not related to firearms and religion but this made about as much sense as having your coon dog’s nipples pierced!
I sincerely hope that when the Government does open and that when some National Park Service employee drives out to that little road side park to take the sign down and open the gate that he will also service the two outhouses on the premises. If he does it will be the first time it has been done in 50 years.
If he does not take the time to do that he should at least hang signs on the doors that say. “Closed because this shit stinks.” That is exactly what the current sign should have said…I smell a rat!
