I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I am not your typical sleep-in-the-woods-camper. I’m a glamper. This year, I thought Dale and I had all of our bases covered for a camping trip we’d both love – especially with the purchase of our new (to us) luxe camper. But, of course, our first trip with the camper went about as well as our previous adventures.
On Friday, we arrived at our campsite around 7:00 pm to learn the entire campground was without power. Our camper has no generator, we could only turn on the lights through the battery. Pop quiz – What do you call one hour without A/C in Alabama? The answer is ‘hell’. Finally, at 1:30 am, we turned in for the night (read: tossed and turned while sweating buckets). And our fancy Simmons queen-size mattress? It was as hard as a rock.
Still, the next day, we were ready to have a good time doing what we do best: boatin’ and fishin’. My hubby, Dale, was in charge of making sure fishing supplies, licenses, and life jackets were all in the truck; I was responsible for clothes, food, first aid, toiletries, linens, kitchen supplies, grilling supplies – you know, the mom stuff. Dale forgot our youngest son’s life jacket. And our fishing licenses. Thankfully, the campsite let us borrow one of their jackets, but unlike my son’s sleek-fit jacket at home, this historical puffball seemed to have been rescued from the Titanic. As for the license, I was able to save the day. I had photos of them on my phone I had taken ages ago – because you never know when you might need to have your fishing license handy.
After three hours of no luck on the water, we decided to head back in. When we turned the key to start up the boat, though, nothing happened. We were two miles from the boat ramp, and after 20 minutes of trying, still nothing. We realized we’d have to use the trolling motor to get back (which moves at about the speed of snail), and at that rate, we’d arrive around 1:00 am (ugh). My youngest, our would-be hero, broke out the paddles and started paddling.
My plan? I was going to radiate positivity (Matchmaker Logistics-style!), despite feeling anything but thrilled. “Okay, here is what is going to happen,” I calmly told them. “I am going to make myself a chicken salad sandwich, eat my sandwich, and then we’ll try to crank the boat and the motor will start.” After I took the last bite of my sandwich, we gave the motor one more try. We turned the key, and it came right to life. The power of positivity? Magic chicken salad? Well, whatever it was, it worked!
On the way back, I felt like we were home free. Then, a wheel fell off of our friend’s boat trailer, and our truck (a Ford F150 V6) hardly had the power it needed to pull the camper up and down the rolling hills of Alabama. We were afraid on our next trip, our engine would blow straight out.
So, a few days later, my husband’s dream of owning a Ford F250 Super Duty Truck came true. I’m telling you, camping is more expensive than we bargained for!
Happy Monday,
~Mary
