Includes video report
HALLOWELL, Maine — Nobody was more surprised than Linda Von Oesen to find she'd won $8,190,000 in the September 26th Megabucks Plus drawing.
She was sleeping with her husband Bob in their camper, parked in a Walmart parking lot, when one of her daughters called to see if she'd bought a ticket.
"So she says, 'check your ticket'. I said, 'oh, alright'," explained Linda Von Oesen. "So here we are in a camper, pitch dark and so I says, 'I got to find it, just give me the numbers.' And so I wrote them on a piece of paper and then I went and found the ticket, and I says, 'Stacy, I got that one. Stacy, I've got that one!' And the next thing I was saying was 'Stacy, Stacy, Stacy' and she's going 'Ma! Ma! Ma!' And probably the whole parking lot woke up."
The Von Oesens were then faced with a dilemma, continue on with their vacation, or head home and get the ticket to lottery officials for safe keeping.
"I wanted to secure it, because I mean, I couldn't leave it in the camper," she stated. "And I couldn't take it down the river."
She says she buys one ticket for each Megabucks Plus drawing every week, and lets the machine pick the numbers.
"I do easy pick. I'm fairly lazy. Like I said, I don't even look in the paper. I don't even look at the numbers. I don't know what numbers I get. I don't even look at them when I buy them."
"It only takes one," she added. "If you are going to win, you are going to win on one."
The couple says they do not have any plans to splurge with their new found windfall, save for buying a new, more fuel efficient car, something they had already been planning on doing.
Well, except maybe one item, for their cocker spaniel, Abby. "We might buy a snow blower so she can have a path to go outdoors," said Linda.
"I'm still kind of in shock, trying to figure it all out," admitted Bob.
The Von Oesens have five daughters and fourteen grandchildren, and have already begun planning ways to use their money to help them.
"We are doing what we want, help our kids," said Linda. "It has always been about helping our kids, you know, make sure they're on the path to earning a living and that."
Pressed if they planned to take an exotic trip to enjoy their winnings, Bob explained that a wild adventure is not something they plan to do anytime soon.
"I was in the service, and had all the cruising I wanted, in the Navy," he said. "So that took care of that, and she doesn't want to fly, so we are not going to fly anywhere. So I guess we are stuck with our four wheels on the ground."
Which it seems is exactly where their feet are planted, even though their good fortune has their heads in the clouds.
The Von Oesens chose to receive a one-time, lump sum payment of $4,146,922 after taxes.
RAW VIDEO: Watch the press conference
Full press conference: $8,190,000 Tri-State Megabucks lottery winnersThe Von Oesens have five daughters and fourteen grandchildren, and have already begun planning ways to use their money to help them.T14M19Shttp://img.youtube.com/vi/BkGBeDxhRWk/3.jpghttp://youtu.be/BkGBeDxhRWk2012-10-12T07:53:00-05:00