Back in the mid-1970’s we rented a 35 foot RV for a trip back to Kansas to visit our families. It was Pat and I, our teenage sons, Russ and Doug, our daughter, Terri, and Terri’s friend, Susan. We cut across northern Arizona to Prescott and Jerome and then to the Four Corners and over to Durango.

We had reservations at a campground for the night and decided to have a Chuck Wagon style BBQ dinner at a place just out of town. The place guaranteed a stage show and live music along with their fantastic dinner.

The eating area had a stage and a bunch of tables with benches. We got in the chow line and filled our plates and then took a seat at the last row of tables. Directly behind us was a wood fence or wall about 4 feet high that ran all the way across the back and served as a divider between the entertainment area and the rest of the property. Behind the fence, the land sloped up and was covered with small pine trees and bushes.

We were enjoying our dinner and the show when Pat got an eerie feeling that someone was staring at her back. She whirled around to confront the intruder and found herself face-to-face with a bear that was leaning on the fence and watching us eat. Pat let out a scream that stopped the show and the whole audience turned to see what was going on. What we all saw was that bear, scared out of his mind, and running up that hill as fast as he could go! The announcer, on stage, says “Well, we won’t be seeing that bear for a while!”

Dave Thomas
November 28, 2014