This was posted on our Facebook page, RV Coronavirus News by trucker Cyril Martinez.
I’m trucking across I-40 with an ice cream load for Henderson, NV. I’m parked for the night at Moriarty, NM. My full day consisted of 670 miles of driving and two fuel stops at El Rino, OK, and Tucumcari, NM.
I implore everyone to please stay home!
The Loves truck stops that I fueled today were packed with non-trucking people buying up all the packaged food, milk and coffee! Not one item was spared!
Why is the interstate packed with family travelers?! Stay home!
The worse thing is not the lack of the mentioned items. The worst thing is flooding these truck-stops with germs and creating a volatile environment where the truckers cannot perform their duties to deliver the goods we need (Medical supplies, food, water, and even fuel!).
GO HOME AND STAY HOME! This plague is spreading like wildfire and we don’t need to cripple the supply chain!
I can sympathize with all the truckers who are inconvenienced by increased usage of truck stops. I presume, by the tone of Mr. Martinez’s letter,that his diatribe is directed toward RVers. Well, as a full-time RVer (No house anywhere to stay home in) I take offense to his comments. You see Mr. Martinez, the real problem is with overbearing , uninformed, and over-impressed-with-their- insignificance legislators at local, state and the federal level that have closed the campgrounds and RV Parks where we would normally be staying. Add to that the restricted and limited access to places like grocery stores where we can buy our needed foodstuffs. I’m sorry if you have had a bad experience, but we have too. I pray this COVID-19 horror will be over soon. But until then, we have to contend with bad decisions made by legislators that don’t have the first clue about RVers and RVing. Please, don’t complain about us, but rather take action to get the legislators to open the RV Parks and campgrounds (which never should have been closed in the first place) and I assure you we will be happy to alleviate the crowded conditions in truck stops that you riled against.
Maybe they needed those things to live?
What can one say! People are just xxxxx who think they don’t need to comply with the quarantines the rest of us abide by trying to stop the spread of this virus that kills painfully and indiscriminately. They think wrongly that they can’t be the one who gets it which means they can’t be the one who spreads it. Well a plague upon them all. We need to let the truckers stay safe or no one will be delivering the good we are now hoarding. Stop being xxxxx and stay home. [Bleeped by Diane. No name-calling.]
Cyril, maybe you don’t realize it but many of us are full timers that don’t have a brick and mortar home to go to. Before we were inundated with this scourage from china we were happily traveling the highways and byways of this great land of ours happy just to see the sights and meet new people.
The wife and I lost my father in November of 2017 and lived in the family house I helped him build. Mom passed in March of 2004 and I moved in to help take care of my father and elderly uncle. During this time I found the love of my life and together we cared for my father and uncle. Dad passed first after a long battle with dementia and during this time we were forced to put the uncle in a very nice senior citizen home where all his needs were taken care of. He passed in October of 2019. Both of them were veterans.
The wife and I are professional Mr and Mrs Santa Claus for a local Christmas tree farm with a steam train that is quite popular in Central Calif. each year we make children and adults from 0 to 90 or older smile . It’s a great job that is very exhausting but the rewards are huge! There is nothing to compare to the way our customers light up when we arrive on scene!
We begin each season in October when we arrive at a friends house and park in her yard and I drive a hay wagon for the children and adults who come to spend the day here and buy pumpkins and other Halloween items. Then the weekend after Thanksgiving we begin our job as Mr and Mrs Claus for those who travel from far away to just around the corner here. It’s a very rewarding experience.
This takes place everyday in December until New Years Day. Then we recuperate and head out into this beautiful country to see what we haven’t seen before usually the first week in February!
Our 5th wheel is our home so we have no choice but to stay where we can and move on when we have exhausted all there is to see in the areas where our wheels stop rolling for the night. We try to stay out of the truckers way as best we can and try to be as friendly with them as we can and move on when we are able too!
So you see Cyril, some of us don’t have a choice to stay home, our RV is our home! And we try as best we can to stay out of you big guys way and only purchase what we need when we need it!
Some day I would love to meet you and shake your hand or maybe even give you a big hug when it is safe to do so, just to give you a heartfelt THANK YOU for all you do for the American people!
God Bless you sir! Keep the muddy side down and the shiny side up and safe travels!
I wish I could post a picture of us when were are in full Santa and Mrs Claus regalia. But there is no way to do so here!
It is sad, we only leave the house when absolutely necessary, but the roads are packed, some people just don’t get it.
Yes some nomads are out there but that doesn’t mean that you can’t park it and stop traveling until this is over. Find a safe place and stay there. Everyone invading truck stops are not full timers.