Since I'm starting the next part of Gus and Benny's story in a new thread I'm going to put a "re-cap" sorta thing. Basically just the last part of the previous story.
-----------------------------
Re-Cap (Part 1)
Nov 3: Nashville, TN >> Pensacola, FL (Part 1)
It feels strange to be back in Florida. Loving the weather though even with the rain. Hurricane season is over, and it is party in the street time for some people.
The plan was to meet up with the State Park contact tomorrow who would then set up a meet and greet with Rick, which left me one day to do the prepping I needed. We were on the road by 5:15 am this morning. I took I65 straight south and to as close to the Florida border as I could get. Hopped onto AL-113 for a few miles until I could pick up US29 right on the Florida border and stayed on it another hour to get right into Pensacola about lunch time. The Air Force base was locked down tight and you were encouraged to pick a route that didn’t intersect with their space. After the terrorism they faced there a couple of years ago, and now the hurricane damage, I’m not surprised. All the bases in Florida apparently have similar “no trespassing, go away … or else” signs hung on them. Even MacDill down in Tampa which is all but surrounded by the ‘burbs and is a major point of support for retirees with the Bx, medical care, and all the other whathaveyou.
After the long drive both Benny and I were starving. I knew from experience that it was a bad idea to try and shop when we were hungry. Hungry could turn to hangry in the blink of an eye. Not to mention all sorts of nonsense hopped into the buggy and not all of it food. We would wind up with more junk than real food. On the recommendation of someone that had left a comment on the blog I stopped at one of the Jason’s Deli franchises and it turned out to be a winner.
I had a really hard time not ordering everything I saw. And Benny was so hungry he couldn’t decide and started getting upset but trying to be a “big boy” about it. I wanted some assurances that gluten-free was a fact and not just an advertisement when I hear, “I ate here yesterday and didn’t have any problems. Little Bear should be fine.”
I jerked around and it took me a sec but I recognized him, “Rick the Ranger.”
He nodded and smiled. “Uh … should have re-introduced myself first.” He looked at Benny and said, “Didn’t mean to startle her.”
“I remember you,” Benny said brightly. “Your sister loves you a lot.”
I had a hard time not breaking down right there. The poor guy didn’t know where to go for cover. Rather than embarrass him more I said, “Okay Benny, we’ve got the recommendation and we’ve got the a-ok from someone like us. So … will it be a salad, a baked potato, grilled cheese, or chicken nuggets?”
“I’m really hungry Aunt Gus,” he said giving me puppy dog eyes.
I sigh. “Fine. Chicken nuggets and a grilled cheese sandwich. But what you don’t eat comes back around for supper tonight. Got it?”
Benny’s smile could have lit the room. For myself I ordered a Nutty Mixed-Up Salad and a half roast beef sandwich (regular bread since I wasn’t sharing with Benny). Part of me was jonesing for a soda but I went with Fresh Berry Hibiscus Tea. A little sweeter than I’ve been choosing to drink (barring all the rootbeer I’ve been drinking lately) but it was still better than downing a Coca-Cola, even if I could have used the calming effect of the caffeine. When I pulled out my debit card to pay Rick the Ranger handed a card over to the clerk instead.
“Hey!”
“Relax,” Rick said. “I’ll explain when we sit down.” He then proceeded to make his own order. I saw Benny watching wide-eyed and big-eared so decided not to make a public spectacle … yet.
We got our food at the end of the line and then moved to get our drinks and then sit down. Benny made a face when I put a little salad on his plate. “Keep doing that and your face is going to get stuck that way.”
He laughed. “You always put the green stuff on my plate.”
“You like salads.”
“But not all the time.”
“And what are the rules?”
He opened his mouth and then realized we had an audience. “Sor-ry,” he muttered.
“What’s the rule?” I repeated.
“If I got something to complain about, do it in private so we can talk it out.”
“And?”
“Sorry Mr. Rick.”
Rick wasn’t sure what to think but he said, “Apology accepted. You sure you can finish all those chicken nuggets? I mean they look good and all … but you don’t seem hungry.”
“Yes Sir. I’m starrrr-ving.”
Rick got another surprise when Benny closed his eyes and said quietly, “God is great, God is good, and we thank Him for our food. Amen.” He then started to reach for the ketchup then pulled his hand back. I reached into my backpack and pulled out a squeeze bottle and handed it over.
“You brought it?!”
I chuckled. “For just in case.”
“All right!”
“Indoor voice.”
“Yes Aunt Gus,” he said putting his voice back down into less window shaking territory.
“Uh …” I looked at Rick and he pointed.
“Homemade ketchup. I found a lot of the commercial condiments have some type of gluten in them for thickening that Benny reacts to it. Not all of them, but enough of them that it is just easier for me to make our own. Cheaper too as I can make as much or as little as we can go through.”
“You do that?”
“Make ketchup? Yeah.”
“I mean you make a lot of stuff … gluten free stuff. And you eat it too even though you aren’t gluten sensitive?”
“Oh. Well sure. Less mix ups that way. Fewer containers. Cheaper.”
“And you’ve continued doing it even while you were on the road?”
“I guess you only flipped through the blog a little.”
“Actually I’ve read it all and then went back and read it again a couple of times. And … er … I’m not a stalker. Really. I … uh … look, sometimes people say they do things and go places but that’s not always true. At least in my research on the subject.”
I snorted. “Met a few like that online. Then I’ve met the opposite type as well where they have to go to the most extreme experience just to prove … Lord only knows what. They must do everything themselves or buy the most expensive or newest whoosy-whatsit. I even got into it a little at first … I have a solar cooker that makes killer kabobs but I never have used it as much as I probably should have given the original price of the thing. Turns out the shape of it just doesn’t work for everything but it was the only truly compact one that had good reviews.”
“I saw that episode.”
I chuckled. “Did you see the episode where I tried to make breadsticks?” He nodded and tried not to laugh at the mess I had made. I rolled my eyes to let him know there were no hard feelings and that I agreed. I also added, “I have a grill sort of thing that I’ve used more … cheaper than keeping charcoal on hand … but if I had it to do all over again, I don’t know if I would have spent the money on either item. But then again maybe I would. I don’t mind DIY and hacking a few things but I’m not into re-inventing the wheel either.”
He passed me a note under the table and it said, “Can you talk in front of Little Bear? We have a few things we need to discuss.”
Instead of answering directly I asked him, “How did you know I was going to be in Pensacola much less here?”
“I didn’t,” he said. “I was going to wait to do this tomorrow at Big Lagoon but to be honest I’d rather do this now, without an audience.”
“And what is the ‘this’ you want to discuss?” I asked carefully.
“Some stipulations that were just handed down from the State.”
“Stipulations?” I asked, wondering what was going on and if the job was going to be crap-canned before it even started.
“If you are wondering, this isn’t exactly non-negotiable but a couple executive-level administrators have some concerns with a young woman and child traveling alone together. And before you say anything, I know it is insulting after you’ve obviously proven that you can do that very thing. But they are in charge of insurance and liability issues.”
I started to relax. “Ah, got it. Do they want me to sign a waiver for the State? I already signed one for the concessionaire.”
He looked a little surprised and then conflabergasted. “Look, I might as well just say it and hope you don’t get suspicious. In your shoes I would. And to be honest it is embarrassing as hell that they think I have a closer relationship with you than I do. I’ve tried to explain but … they say one way or the other they want a liaison along for the ride and if it isn’t me, it will be someone else and …” He stopped, obviously uncomfortable. “I don’t want it to be someone else. I may not know you personally but …” He shook his head. “This is ridiculous.”
“What is? I was already given the mandate that you and I would be working together on this. Is the ‘working relationship’ going to be more complicated than it needs to be? And what do you mean by a ride-along liaison?”
“The devil is in the details. And ride-along means exactly that. Look, as I said I just don’t want it to be anyone else. I may not know you personally, but I do feel I know you enough through your blog posts that I think we can work together, and I won’t try and tell you how to do things. I’m actually going to be along to keep other people from trying to tell you how to do things. Including the photographer that is going to be coming as well. Also smooth the way with park staff. I won’t schmooze you or treat you like some kind of Hollyweird actress playing a role.”
My laugh caught both of us off guard. “Sorry,” I apologized. “My dad and brother used to call it Hollyweird in that same tone. It just struck me funny. Please go on.”
He smiled. “That’s what I mean. You’re … real. That’s what we … I … want people to see. I don’t think telling you how to act, what to do, what to say is really what the state park system needs. People that view this project need to see that regular people can find a great deal of enjoyment out of the parks in this state and that Florida isn’t just what goes on in Orlando.”
“Don’t look surprised but I’ve never even been to any of the Disney parks. In fact, the only Orlando theme park I’ve ever been to was the old Aquatica and that was only because the year I was in choir that’s where we went for finals.” At his strange look I had to laugh. “I know. I don’t look like choir material. I wouldn’t have minded participating all the way through high school but there are only so many hours in a day and so much money in the bank and I chose the Career track rather than the Arts & Media track, though for a while I had a foot in both.”
“Not college?”
“That wasn’t the plan at the time. I was going to graduate and go straight into the Navy like my brother but … life happened.”
He sighed. “I don’t know if you remember …”
“That your GS kept you out? Yeah. I had two friends in the NSCC that found out when they tried to enlist that they were in the same boat.”
“They were gluten sensitive?”
“Uh uh. One girl found out she had a small imperfection in her heart valve. She was devastated because that also meant that she got cut from the sports teams, which meant no sports scholarship. The other guy? Let’s just say so long as Townzen took his ADHD meds he was rock solid and great to have on your team. A gifted geek that could make all kinds of tech sit up and do the boogie woogie. Off his meds? Man, he could barely tie his shoes without getting distracted. His dad kept pushing him even …” I stopped and shook my head. “I saw him back in April and he’s already started his own business making the big bucks, but his dad still can’t quite get over the fact he is never going to follow the family tradition of serving in the military.” I shrugged. “We all must deal with what life dishes out. The sooner and better you deal with it the sooner and better you find out what you are really destined for. Unfortunately, the people around you aren’t always the most supportive of that.”
“My uncle says the same thing.” He chuckled. “He’s actually the one that talked me into looking into being a ranger. He thought I’d go the forest ranger route, but I like being a park ranger.”
Curious I asked, “For the state or federal park system?”
“I used to think about the national park system, but I think I’ve found my niche in state parks, at least for now. I’m also thinking of going back to college and advancing my degree with additional training. Er … sorry.”
“Yeah, we did get a little off track. Is there more to this liaison thing?”
He nodded. “Would you mind taking the conversation outside? If you are going to cut me off at the knees, I’d prefer as few witnesses as possible. I know the manager here and I don’t want it getting back to her because then she’ll tell her husband, and he and I work together.”
I was a little concerned about the turn of the conversation, but I agreed. When we got to the van, I asked Benny to go clean up and give Ranger Rick and I a minute to discuss things.
Just as Benny was about to close the van sliding door he asked, “We’ve still got a job? Right?”
“Yes Mr. Ketchup Nose, we have a job. Aunt Gus is just working out the details.”
“They won’t make me go away?”
A little shocked, and frankly concerned that was his worry I answered, “Are you kidding?! We’re a team. There is no Aunt Gus without her Little Bear. But seriously. Go do something with that nose Buddy. You look like you’ve been snuffling at a trough.” I made some pig noises and chased him a bit which was a distraction and then I provided another one. “And guess what?”
“What?”
“I found out we can have a different kind of park passport that we can get stamped at each place we go. And there are some cool pages for plants and animals I can print off. And I’ve got some other ideas too like some of the state parks have patches and things like that.”
“For real?!”
“For real. But we’ll have to come up with some rules for us to work with. Just getting stuff for doing nothing isn’t cool and we’ll get bored. We’ll come up with a way to earn the patches.”
“Yeah! Can I help come up with the ideas?” he asked hopefully.
“Well, I was counting on it to be honest.”
I finally got him all the way in the van and then turned to look at Rick who was just watching like Benny and I were some exotic animals. “What?”
“You’re going to think I’m …”
“You’re what?”
“I want this.”
“Beg your pardon?”
“I’m no stalker. I swear it but … what the two of you have? I want something like that in my life.”
“Uh …”
“Look, I know. I sound like a creep but …” He shook his head. “I guess I better just say the rest of it.” At my nod he explained. “This wasn’t my plan. My thought was that we’d be very hands off so we could get a more natural and truer interaction between the two of you and each park. My understanding is the concessionaire agrees with that point. The way that benefits everyone is that any problems that get revealed can be part of the improvement plan that will come from the grant, and it might even be featured so that the general public sees how much we value input and participation from the public. However, the executives in the park system administration want two things … they want to be sure they are getting what they are paying for, and they want to make sure that it makes the park system look good, even if that means hiding some of the problems but still making a plan to address it.”
I nodded. “I get that. No one wants to pay to have someone throw eggs at their house. I’m not going to intentionally give bad reviews. My thought is that if we have a bad experience, we’ll simply leave that park out or say the park system is doing a review of that park with an eye on improvements or something like that.”
He didn’t relax which told me that I was still missing some information.
“Ride-along means literally riding along. They want me to travel with you.”
That did catch me off guard. “Beg pardon?”
“They wanted me to be on camera and us as partners, but I talked them out of that. However, they still want me to travel along. One, they say they want someone on the inside. Two, they really do want a liaison with park staff to keep misunderstandings to a minimum and the timetable efficient. Personnel are stretched thin and some of them … let’s call it being stressed. The hurricanes have impacted the state park system as hard as they have impacted the private sector as far as rebuilding goes. And the governor has us at the back of the line; people’s homes and businesses come first for building materials. Lastly and at least as importantly, they have some legitimate safety concerns. Since the hurricanes there has been an increase in crimes on public lands. Some parks also have issues with the homeless population, pot farms, that sort of thing.”
My concern meter pegged. “How much crime are we talking about?”
-----------------------------
Re-Cap (Part 1)
Nov 3: Nashville, TN >> Pensacola, FL (Part 1)
It feels strange to be back in Florida. Loving the weather though even with the rain. Hurricane season is over, and it is party in the street time for some people.
The plan was to meet up with the State Park contact tomorrow who would then set up a meet and greet with Rick, which left me one day to do the prepping I needed. We were on the road by 5:15 am this morning. I took I65 straight south and to as close to the Florida border as I could get. Hopped onto AL-113 for a few miles until I could pick up US29 right on the Florida border and stayed on it another hour to get right into Pensacola about lunch time. The Air Force base was locked down tight and you were encouraged to pick a route that didn’t intersect with their space. After the terrorism they faced there a couple of years ago, and now the hurricane damage, I’m not surprised. All the bases in Florida apparently have similar “no trespassing, go away … or else” signs hung on them. Even MacDill down in Tampa which is all but surrounded by the ‘burbs and is a major point of support for retirees with the Bx, medical care, and all the other whathaveyou.
After the long drive both Benny and I were starving. I knew from experience that it was a bad idea to try and shop when we were hungry. Hungry could turn to hangry in the blink of an eye. Not to mention all sorts of nonsense hopped into the buggy and not all of it food. We would wind up with more junk than real food. On the recommendation of someone that had left a comment on the blog I stopped at one of the Jason’s Deli franchises and it turned out to be a winner.
I had a really hard time not ordering everything I saw. And Benny was so hungry he couldn’t decide and started getting upset but trying to be a “big boy” about it. I wanted some assurances that gluten-free was a fact and not just an advertisement when I hear, “I ate here yesterday and didn’t have any problems. Little Bear should be fine.”
I jerked around and it took me a sec but I recognized him, “Rick the Ranger.”
He nodded and smiled. “Uh … should have re-introduced myself first.” He looked at Benny and said, “Didn’t mean to startle her.”
“I remember you,” Benny said brightly. “Your sister loves you a lot.”
I had a hard time not breaking down right there. The poor guy didn’t know where to go for cover. Rather than embarrass him more I said, “Okay Benny, we’ve got the recommendation and we’ve got the a-ok from someone like us. So … will it be a salad, a baked potato, grilled cheese, or chicken nuggets?”
“I’m really hungry Aunt Gus,” he said giving me puppy dog eyes.
I sigh. “Fine. Chicken nuggets and a grilled cheese sandwich. But what you don’t eat comes back around for supper tonight. Got it?”
Benny’s smile could have lit the room. For myself I ordered a Nutty Mixed-Up Salad and a half roast beef sandwich (regular bread since I wasn’t sharing with Benny). Part of me was jonesing for a soda but I went with Fresh Berry Hibiscus Tea. A little sweeter than I’ve been choosing to drink (barring all the rootbeer I’ve been drinking lately) but it was still better than downing a Coca-Cola, even if I could have used the calming effect of the caffeine. When I pulled out my debit card to pay Rick the Ranger handed a card over to the clerk instead.
“Hey!”
“Relax,” Rick said. “I’ll explain when we sit down.” He then proceeded to make his own order. I saw Benny watching wide-eyed and big-eared so decided not to make a public spectacle … yet.
We got our food at the end of the line and then moved to get our drinks and then sit down. Benny made a face when I put a little salad on his plate. “Keep doing that and your face is going to get stuck that way.”
He laughed. “You always put the green stuff on my plate.”
“You like salads.”
“But not all the time.”
“And what are the rules?”
He opened his mouth and then realized we had an audience. “Sor-ry,” he muttered.
“What’s the rule?” I repeated.
“If I got something to complain about, do it in private so we can talk it out.”
“And?”
“Sorry Mr. Rick.”
Rick wasn’t sure what to think but he said, “Apology accepted. You sure you can finish all those chicken nuggets? I mean they look good and all … but you don’t seem hungry.”
“Yes Sir. I’m starrrr-ving.”
Rick got another surprise when Benny closed his eyes and said quietly, “God is great, God is good, and we thank Him for our food. Amen.” He then started to reach for the ketchup then pulled his hand back. I reached into my backpack and pulled out a squeeze bottle and handed it over.
“You brought it?!”
I chuckled. “For just in case.”
“All right!”
“Indoor voice.”
“Yes Aunt Gus,” he said putting his voice back down into less window shaking territory.
“Uh …” I looked at Rick and he pointed.
“Homemade ketchup. I found a lot of the commercial condiments have some type of gluten in them for thickening that Benny reacts to it. Not all of them, but enough of them that it is just easier for me to make our own. Cheaper too as I can make as much or as little as we can go through.”
“You do that?”
“Make ketchup? Yeah.”
“I mean you make a lot of stuff … gluten free stuff. And you eat it too even though you aren’t gluten sensitive?”
“Oh. Well sure. Less mix ups that way. Fewer containers. Cheaper.”
“And you’ve continued doing it even while you were on the road?”
“I guess you only flipped through the blog a little.”
“Actually I’ve read it all and then went back and read it again a couple of times. And … er … I’m not a stalker. Really. I … uh … look, sometimes people say they do things and go places but that’s not always true. At least in my research on the subject.”
I snorted. “Met a few like that online. Then I’ve met the opposite type as well where they have to go to the most extreme experience just to prove … Lord only knows what. They must do everything themselves or buy the most expensive or newest whoosy-whatsit. I even got into it a little at first … I have a solar cooker that makes killer kabobs but I never have used it as much as I probably should have given the original price of the thing. Turns out the shape of it just doesn’t work for everything but it was the only truly compact one that had good reviews.”
“I saw that episode.”
I chuckled. “Did you see the episode where I tried to make breadsticks?” He nodded and tried not to laugh at the mess I had made. I rolled my eyes to let him know there were no hard feelings and that I agreed. I also added, “I have a grill sort of thing that I’ve used more … cheaper than keeping charcoal on hand … but if I had it to do all over again, I don’t know if I would have spent the money on either item. But then again maybe I would. I don’t mind DIY and hacking a few things but I’m not into re-inventing the wheel either.”
He passed me a note under the table and it said, “Can you talk in front of Little Bear? We have a few things we need to discuss.”
Instead of answering directly I asked him, “How did you know I was going to be in Pensacola much less here?”
“I didn’t,” he said. “I was going to wait to do this tomorrow at Big Lagoon but to be honest I’d rather do this now, without an audience.”
“And what is the ‘this’ you want to discuss?” I asked carefully.
“Some stipulations that were just handed down from the State.”
“Stipulations?” I asked, wondering what was going on and if the job was going to be crap-canned before it even started.
“If you are wondering, this isn’t exactly non-negotiable but a couple executive-level administrators have some concerns with a young woman and child traveling alone together. And before you say anything, I know it is insulting after you’ve obviously proven that you can do that very thing. But they are in charge of insurance and liability issues.”
I started to relax. “Ah, got it. Do they want me to sign a waiver for the State? I already signed one for the concessionaire.”
He looked a little surprised and then conflabergasted. “Look, I might as well just say it and hope you don’t get suspicious. In your shoes I would. And to be honest it is embarrassing as hell that they think I have a closer relationship with you than I do. I’ve tried to explain but … they say one way or the other they want a liaison along for the ride and if it isn’t me, it will be someone else and …” He stopped, obviously uncomfortable. “I don’t want it to be someone else. I may not know you personally but …” He shook his head. “This is ridiculous.”
“What is? I was already given the mandate that you and I would be working together on this. Is the ‘working relationship’ going to be more complicated than it needs to be? And what do you mean by a ride-along liaison?”
“The devil is in the details. And ride-along means exactly that. Look, as I said I just don’t want it to be anyone else. I may not know you personally, but I do feel I know you enough through your blog posts that I think we can work together, and I won’t try and tell you how to do things. I’m actually going to be along to keep other people from trying to tell you how to do things. Including the photographer that is going to be coming as well. Also smooth the way with park staff. I won’t schmooze you or treat you like some kind of Hollyweird actress playing a role.”
My laugh caught both of us off guard. “Sorry,” I apologized. “My dad and brother used to call it Hollyweird in that same tone. It just struck me funny. Please go on.”
He smiled. “That’s what I mean. You’re … real. That’s what we … I … want people to see. I don’t think telling you how to act, what to do, what to say is really what the state park system needs. People that view this project need to see that regular people can find a great deal of enjoyment out of the parks in this state and that Florida isn’t just what goes on in Orlando.”
“Don’t look surprised but I’ve never even been to any of the Disney parks. In fact, the only Orlando theme park I’ve ever been to was the old Aquatica and that was only because the year I was in choir that’s where we went for finals.” At his strange look I had to laugh. “I know. I don’t look like choir material. I wouldn’t have minded participating all the way through high school but there are only so many hours in a day and so much money in the bank and I chose the Career track rather than the Arts & Media track, though for a while I had a foot in both.”
“Not college?”
“That wasn’t the plan at the time. I was going to graduate and go straight into the Navy like my brother but … life happened.”
He sighed. “I don’t know if you remember …”
“That your GS kept you out? Yeah. I had two friends in the NSCC that found out when they tried to enlist that they were in the same boat.”
“They were gluten sensitive?”
“Uh uh. One girl found out she had a small imperfection in her heart valve. She was devastated because that also meant that she got cut from the sports teams, which meant no sports scholarship. The other guy? Let’s just say so long as Townzen took his ADHD meds he was rock solid and great to have on your team. A gifted geek that could make all kinds of tech sit up and do the boogie woogie. Off his meds? Man, he could barely tie his shoes without getting distracted. His dad kept pushing him even …” I stopped and shook my head. “I saw him back in April and he’s already started his own business making the big bucks, but his dad still can’t quite get over the fact he is never going to follow the family tradition of serving in the military.” I shrugged. “We all must deal with what life dishes out. The sooner and better you deal with it the sooner and better you find out what you are really destined for. Unfortunately, the people around you aren’t always the most supportive of that.”
“My uncle says the same thing.” He chuckled. “He’s actually the one that talked me into looking into being a ranger. He thought I’d go the forest ranger route, but I like being a park ranger.”
Curious I asked, “For the state or federal park system?”
“I used to think about the national park system, but I think I’ve found my niche in state parks, at least for now. I’m also thinking of going back to college and advancing my degree with additional training. Er … sorry.”
“Yeah, we did get a little off track. Is there more to this liaison thing?”
He nodded. “Would you mind taking the conversation outside? If you are going to cut me off at the knees, I’d prefer as few witnesses as possible. I know the manager here and I don’t want it getting back to her because then she’ll tell her husband, and he and I work together.”
I was a little concerned about the turn of the conversation, but I agreed. When we got to the van, I asked Benny to go clean up and give Ranger Rick and I a minute to discuss things.
Just as Benny was about to close the van sliding door he asked, “We’ve still got a job? Right?”
“Yes Mr. Ketchup Nose, we have a job. Aunt Gus is just working out the details.”
“They won’t make me go away?”
A little shocked, and frankly concerned that was his worry I answered, “Are you kidding?! We’re a team. There is no Aunt Gus without her Little Bear. But seriously. Go do something with that nose Buddy. You look like you’ve been snuffling at a trough.” I made some pig noises and chased him a bit which was a distraction and then I provided another one. “And guess what?”
“What?”
“I found out we can have a different kind of park passport that we can get stamped at each place we go. And there are some cool pages for plants and animals I can print off. And I’ve got some other ideas too like some of the state parks have patches and things like that.”
“For real?!”
“For real. But we’ll have to come up with some rules for us to work with. Just getting stuff for doing nothing isn’t cool and we’ll get bored. We’ll come up with a way to earn the patches.”
“Yeah! Can I help come up with the ideas?” he asked hopefully.
“Well, I was counting on it to be honest.”
I finally got him all the way in the van and then turned to look at Rick who was just watching like Benny and I were some exotic animals. “What?”
“You’re going to think I’m …”
“You’re what?”
“I want this.”
“Beg your pardon?”
“I’m no stalker. I swear it but … what the two of you have? I want something like that in my life.”
“Uh …”
“Look, I know. I sound like a creep but …” He shook his head. “I guess I better just say the rest of it.” At my nod he explained. “This wasn’t my plan. My thought was that we’d be very hands off so we could get a more natural and truer interaction between the two of you and each park. My understanding is the concessionaire agrees with that point. The way that benefits everyone is that any problems that get revealed can be part of the improvement plan that will come from the grant, and it might even be featured so that the general public sees how much we value input and participation from the public. However, the executives in the park system administration want two things … they want to be sure they are getting what they are paying for, and they want to make sure that it makes the park system look good, even if that means hiding some of the problems but still making a plan to address it.”
I nodded. “I get that. No one wants to pay to have someone throw eggs at their house. I’m not going to intentionally give bad reviews. My thought is that if we have a bad experience, we’ll simply leave that park out or say the park system is doing a review of that park with an eye on improvements or something like that.”
He didn’t relax which told me that I was still missing some information.
“Ride-along means literally riding along. They want me to travel with you.”
That did catch me off guard. “Beg pardon?”
“They wanted me to be on camera and us as partners, but I talked them out of that. However, they still want me to travel along. One, they say they want someone on the inside. Two, they really do want a liaison with park staff to keep misunderstandings to a minimum and the timetable efficient. Personnel are stretched thin and some of them … let’s call it being stressed. The hurricanes have impacted the state park system as hard as they have impacted the private sector as far as rebuilding goes. And the governor has us at the back of the line; people’s homes and businesses come first for building materials. Lastly and at least as importantly, they have some legitimate safety concerns. Since the hurricanes there has been an increase in crimes on public lands. Some parks also have issues with the homeless population, pot farms, that sort of thing.”
My concern meter pegged. “How much crime are we talking about?”
