Posts
Months ago, we planned a camping trip. By "we", I mean the hubby and I. Take note of that, it will be important later. The kids had been begging to go camping, but as you locals know, it was freezing balls this winter and there was no way I was taking a trip to the coast when I could still see my breath in my car every morning. As we looked at our schedules, we decided on Spring Break. The little girls would be out of school, I wouldn't have any volunteer stuff going on, and Derek could take leave, plus, we figured it would surely be warmer come April (insert laugh track here).
Unfortunately, plans have a way of changing. Derek had to fly to Texas to attend his grandfathers funeral somewhere in the middle of what would be our camping trip. When the girls learned daddy would be going to Texas, they assumed we were canceling the trip. Actually EVERYONE assumed we would cancel the trip. Except me.
Let me take a break from the story to share an epiphany:
Mil Wives, upon telling a friend/relative/hobo that your husband is deploying, have you ever been met with "what will you do?" or "how will you get by?"? Yeah, me too, and it effing sucks when everyone in the room with me feels that I turn into an infant when my husband leaves. I am actually quite self reliant. I've had some practice "holding down the fort". This is one of those things , that as a mil-spouse, sends me over the proverbial edge. We are all strong, independent women who have had to deal with and take care of more issues during a single year, than some people deal with in a lifetime. So camping? I got this.
return to story...
The kids thought the trip was off, even Derek brought up, more than once, postponing. My Dad second guessed my decision to go, and my mom even asked me several times if I was going "by myself". I wasn't phased. Girls Camping Trip '11 was on. And it was doomed from the start.
I wont go into how I had to shop, cook and pack solo all the while listening to the kids second guess what I was doing, even though I usually do this same crap any other time we go camping.Or how I had to open storage box after storage box in the garage because someone re-organized and didn't bother to A)make sense or B)tell anyone else what they did. Instead of boring you with that.. let us jump straight into it.
Thursday morning - load the kids up in the car to head over to Adventure center to pick up the pop-up trailer we rented. Derek had made these reservations, but luckily I had the confirmation info. We were running an hour late already because the kids "forgot" to take showers the night before. I wasn't going three days with unwashed kids. Just as I arrive at Adventure Center to confirm the pick-up, the power goes out. No power means no computer. No computer means no checking my reservation. Grrr. No worries, they should have a paper confirmation, which took 20 minutes to find, filed in the trash can because the date on it was wrong. Of course, that's the exact moment the computer system came back up. Reservation confirmed. On to the trailer lot where a very nice, but slower than molasses, older gentle fellow proceeded to help me out. First, he had to get (find) the canopy we rented, incase of rain, much like the heavy drizzle I was standing in at that very moment. After a good forever, he found the correct size canopy frame, but strangely, no actual canopy tarp. Hmmmmm... where could it be? After he checked every nook and cranny, he eventually found it by accident when he went over to the main building to ask for help.( I should point out now, that this tarp didn't even go on the trip with us) At this point we were almost an hour into the "pick-up time" and hadn't even gotten to the pop-up trailer yet. I was getting frazzled, but the kids were still in good spirits so I put my game face on. Derek had called to check in, and they were giving him a play by play.
Next, the pop-up. which is literal, because they only had the one, and it was NASTY. Whoever had it before us forgot to use common sense and manners. It was filthy, wet and smelled like gross. I don't know why it hadn't been cleaned before our arrival, but it hadn't and Mr. Molasses took one look at it and stated he couldn't give me that one, it just wouldn't be right. Sadly, we had to make it right, because after popping up two others and realizing they were broken, this was it. He told me to hold tight and he was going to spruce up my only option. One hour and forty minutes after arrival,and after noting several broken features, we were finally ready to hook it up to the car. After changing some light bulbs, getting an adapter for my hitch, and filling the propane tank (that was supposed to be full),signing all the paperwork and going through a tutorial of how things worked, the girls and I pulled out of the parking lot and headed on our way... home. We still had to pack all our crap into the pop-up and car. Over three hours behind schedule and we still had stops to make. But we just kept saying our Mantra: Girls Trip!
The first " are we close?" came an hour into open road travel.I laughed it off and all the other inquiries of where we were. Keeping calm and relaxed was my goal. Until I had to cross the bridge into Astoria. Christ that thing is scary. I am terribly afraid of heights and that SOB is tall. And long. And scary. I think I freaked the kids out with me labor breathing. I actually told them, "No talking while we're on the bridge". It was crazy town.I think that was the first moment I actually second guessed my enthusiasm to camp alone with the kids. The second time came as we pulled into camp, with only a few hours of daylight left, and I realized I couldn't back the pop-up into the space. Panic. Luckily my camp neighbors noticed (after 6 attempts) and took pity on me. They went so far as to back me in, help me un-hitch ( since I realized the release wheel was stripped) and yell words of encouragement over the bush that separated us. I did manage to get the electricity hooked up on my own, and had the heater warming the pop-up while we realized the beds were damp, the fridge smelled like dead things and the stabilizers were broken. I also had to screw the door into place with my leatherman, tape the velcro that keeps the door covered, fix the door lock,and dry off our sleeping bags from the undrained sink water that spilled all over them in transit. Oh... and we missed the wood cart. Thank God for GPS and tourist town grocers.
Ever try to make a pit fire in the dark? With matches? And hungry kids? Just don't. We decided to call it a night, and headed into the pop-up for some triscuits and cheese and a good game of Yahtzee. The saving grace was that the pp-up was toasty, as we snuggled into our sleeping bags.
I redeemed myself that morning. Fire:started, Pancakes:made, day:planned. It was a sunny wonderful day for exploring. I never got the hang of making a fire, or keeping it going for that matter, but overall, we had a really good time just hanging out. Until the day we had to leave. Ruby spilling my last Monster should have been the harbinger to the cluster that would surround our departure.
Remember how I told you the release wheel was stripped? Well, that effects how you hitch the pop-up back onto the car. But before that...
*the pop-out bed refused to slide back in
*the sink had actually been broken, and had to be propped for closure,
*we had to crank up and crank down at least 20 different times to get all the canvas in properly
*the stabilizer got stuck in the down position
* I'm 5'2" and there are things in a pop-up that require you to be taller to assemble/disassemble/lock/work properly
After finally compacting the pop-up, I had to use my jack to get it to the height I need to attach it to the muthereffing ball, just to have the release wheel lock up on me. In utter frustration, sweating and near tears, I kicked it and viola'! the release cranked down, I locked that bitch in place and we were ready to roll.
The upside? We had clear weather the entire time, we had fun together and we kept a sense of humor about (most) things. I also got a gift certificate from Adventure Center for a free rental after telling them about our issues.
My advice for girl-time camping?
Take a hatchet. You may only use it to look tough, or to show you know how to swing a potential weapon, but it does come in handy.
Mace yeah, I'm talking pepper spray. It's good to always have a small can on hand.
A freakin Lighter I am aware of this being a no-brainer, but mine was supposed to be in my camp stuff and it wasn't DOUBLE CHECK
Maps of the area GPS doesn't always work in the woods. Get maps from the visitors center when you check in.
SMORES GALORES you can never have enough chocolate, or marshmallows!
Put the food in the car If you don't, raccoons will steal your delicious pancakes you woke up an hour early to make.
ALWAYS have : duct tape, bungee cords, rope and a utility tool in your car.
A good attitude While having the guys around for the tough stuff is nice, It's not a necessity. Be a team, and keep the faith. Laugh off the goofs and hiccups and it will all be OK.
We might just make this an annual thing, me and my gals :)
