Thief in the night!

Conni got up at 7:30 this morning to take Bear out.  I was awake but still in bed.  She was only outside for 2 minutes, then came crashing back in hollering at me.

"Mom!  Come quick!  The bikes are gone!"

I bolted out of bed, skipped the contacts, and ran outside.  Conni was almost frantic.  And she was right - our bikes were gone!

We started dashing around looking for them.  In an RV slot behind us, we found a different bike lying in a bush.  It was a gear bike, but not ours.  Conni jumped on it and rode to the office to report that our bikes were stolen.

Meanwhile, I was just sick.  I kept envisioning myself calling Tim and telling him our bikes were gone.  And one of them we had only owned for 2 days!  We had just bought a bike lock for the bikes but had not locked them overnight.  After all, we're basically living in an assisted living RV park!  Everyone here is in bed by 9:00 and I don't exactly see some 80 year old man sneaking around the park in the middle of the night looking for a bike to steal!  It never even crossed my mind to lock them up and I had seen several other bikes parked next to RV's also.

I had come back inside the RV and was getting dressed and putting my contacts in.  I heard Conni riding back and hollering for me to come out.  She had reported our bikes missing then took a round-about route home.  Somewhere on the other side of the park, (btw, this park is HUGE!  It has 1,000 RV slots), she had seen her bike parked in front of someone's trailer.

We took off on foot, looking for the place she saw her bike.  We walked and walked.  She couldn't remember what street it was on....they all look alike.

We split up and kept looking.  As I walked along, I saw a police car up ahead of me.  There was a policeman out in front of an RV talking to a couple.  At the same time as I was passing them, I heard Conni yell from a street on the other side, "Hey!  Here's Mom's bike!"

I walked up to the couple and the p-man and Conni joined me.  My bike was lying in an empty slot behind this couple's RV.  And wouldn't you know it....they were reporting a stolen bike!  We stood and chatted for a bit.  We told the p-man about our missing bike, too.

Conni got on my bike and kept riding looking for her bike.  I walked back home.

In about 10 minutes, Conni came riding up on my bike, and towing hers!  We were so glad!  In fact, I was so relieved, I didn't mind the fact that our new bike lock was gone.

Conni jumped on the bike that was NOT ours and rode it to the policeman.  He kept the bike, put it in his trunk, and started cruising around looking for the owner.

Come to find out, there were at least 3 of us that had bikes stolen last night.  It seems like the thief/thieves rode them around until they found a better one, ditched it, and took the next one.  Both of ours were found in completely different areas of the park.

A little bit later, Conni found our bike lock thrown in the hedge beside the RV!  Whew!  Three for three!

A happy ending for us, but the last we heard, the other people still hadn't found theirs.

So much for a secure park.  It's completely fenced and has gates that you have to have a password to open, yet someone still gets in here and steals bikes!

Yes, tonight I'm locking the bikes.  To the lamppost.

And leaving this note on the door: (Sure hope Bear steps up in the guard department.)

And for a personal note:

Somehow, that makes me feel better.