Due to certain recent posts, I've been thinking about what I would do and how it might go.

My existing BO plans are for very short-term local incidents: toxic spills and fires are the two main things that come to mind. I put the basics into the truck which includes some camping gear, and the animals, and I'm gone. If a wildfire is threatening but not imminent, I'll cram in some more.

Long-term BO is my dead last option. It means that I have NO OTHER OPTIONS. Where I am now would be unliveable for the foreseeable future.

But if I did, here's how I would see it happening:

Since it would be a widespread situation, I would contact as many friends as I could (conditions allowing) and ask if they wanted to join a convoy/caravan for mutual supply and support. Most of them are into preparedness. I would hope someone had a viable privately-owned destination that could accept all of us, like a farm or ranch, within our gasoline allowance (the real limiting factor).

Tighten the camper shell onto the truck. Attach the car dolly to the hitch. Run the little old Cavalier onto the car dolly if I had the forethought to fill the tank.

Toss the collapsed dog crates into the truck, add the plastic crates with the cats, and the one with the four hens. The dogs would go in the cab last.

The tent and other camping gear, stoves, fuels, bedding, tarps.

My books and info on preparedness how-to, plant ID, etc. All the food and water I could fit. All the animal food I had.

"Important documents" that would probably have the value of toilet paper. And, speaking of which, it's probably too late to stock up on that. Okay, phone books.

Then we all meet, bawling our heads off, and start rolling down the road to some kind of destination.

We get to our destination (with luck), scared, hungry, tired and out of sorts because we were too scared to stop anywhere. I hope it has some kind of hand-dug well or spring. But that would probably be too much to hope for. But without some water source, we're dead.

We set up the tents, probably close together. Draw straws for guard duty. Tether the dogs so they don't run off chasing porcupines or raccoons.

The tenseness would get to everyone. If there were any children, they would probably be either playing loudly enough to get on everyone's nerves, disappearing and driving their mothers crazy; the younger ones would be whining and crying. The teenagers would be pouting when their battery-powered games went dead, and be wanting to use the drinking water for washing their hair every day.

Most of the people would probably be eating more than necessary because they're used to it. And that would make the ones who are trying to conserve food angry and uneasy.

If there were any 'neighbors', they would probably start looking like the cast from 'Deliverance'. Probably even more people would have come into the area, and any natural foods would grow scarce. Instead of just cutting the tops of perennials, they would probably have just been pulled up and the inedible parts tossed aside.

Everyone would probably donate their books to the 'library', and try to find ways to contribute to the group. Tools would probably be duplicated or had been forgotten. Makeshift would be the game of the day. After a while, we would have read all the novels, but due to the present circumstances and suspect future, they would seem far, far away.

We would be running out of everything. Everyone would be tired, guards might be getting more nervous. There could be altercations between any of the different groups in the area for any number of reasons.

People with health problems could die. Dealing with death directly is going to be really difficult for people from a greatly sanitized America.

Illness could come in many forms, imported or existing and passed around. Dysentery would be a real problem. No IV fluids, no medications strong enough to do the job.

Complaining would increase. People who were friends would be breaking off into smaller groups. Some might leave. Arguments would break out if a group that was leaving wanted their original belongings back, that had been donated for general use.

If winter had been coming, there's usually no chance for a garden in many areas of the U.S., even if anyone remembered to bring seed. And if you did manage to grow some food, could you guard it well enough from your hungry or starving neighbors?

Has the water supply been compromised? Has carelessness and ignorance caused it to become contaminated? What do you do now?

All the propane, charcoal briquettes and alcohol has long since been used up. We have to range farther and farther to find firewood, and the farther we go, the more dangerous it becomes, as we would probably be venturing into strangers' territory.

Are any radios still working? Is there news of any kind? Could things have somehow improved and we don't know it? Should we try to go somewhere else?

But where to go? Is there any gasoline left? Can't take much on foot, esp if you have smaller children. What about home? Is it possible to go back? Again, how to get there? Is there fuel somewhere nearby that may have been overlooked? What if you could only make it halfway to somewhere else, what do you do then?

All I would really foresee is eventual death, from one cause or another.

We could have done that at home.

Sue