Eli gets a reminder

Day 245
Big Meadows VA

I can't understand why we run into so many people who are ignorant pieces of crap. This happens to us everywhere we have been. When you check into a campground they always go through the pet rules with you. Dogs must be on a leash. Sounds simple right? I would say that 75% of the places we go there is always someone who thinks that their dog is special and so are they. We leave in the morning for our normal walk and stroll down the camp roads in Big Meadow. Sure enough, out runs a dog that isn't tied up and starts to sniff Eli face to face. Eli thinks every dog in the world is going to be his friend. A few seconds pass and the dog bites Eli on the lip. They have a 10 second tussle and it is all over. I ended up stepping on the other dogs leash and the owner took her sweet time to come out and grab him. Meanwhile here comes there other dog that isn't tied up. "Oh don't worry, he's friendly", she says. Are you fricking kidding me. 
Now this can go down two different ways. I can either swear and scream and make a scene that won't accomplish anything or we can report them to the park ranger and let things run their course. Eli only has a bloody lip and doesn't seem bothered at all. We opt for the latter.

We walk over to the camp office and report the incident. They call a park ranger and she is by the site in less than 30 minutes. For those of you who don't know, a park ranger has all the authority of a police officer and then some. They are federal officers who take their jobs seriously. She stops by for a chat and gives us some options. We can have the other owners fined and make them supply proof of rabies vaccination. The fine isn't worth it. They go to court and I have to appear... in Virginia. Making them supply rabies proof will be plenty of inconvenience to screw up their weekend. That means they must leave the campground to find a cell phone signal and take care of a bunch of leg work. Meanwhile the family gets to argue with one another who's fault it is and hopefully they hate each other for the next couple of days. While all this is going on we hit the trails for another hike.

Our last day at Big Meadows gives us a nice hike with some great views. It's a nice break away from the stupid people we constantly run into. An hour or two goes by and we make our way back to Eli. The park ranger swings by again and gives us confirmation the other dog had his rabies shots. That's good news. Eli has his rabies shots already, but it's nice to know they had to do some work on vacation. The rest of the afternoon is spent prepping to leave and me working on this blog. Tomorrow we leave for the north side of the park. I can only hope that it isn't full of more ignorant dumb ass people.