Follow That Red Suburban...To Somewhere Up North

The time has finally arrived.....

It's Camper Time!

We have some friends that needed some help doing some improvements around their family campground up North. My husband volunteered himself and our oldest son for the event which included the whole family attending making it a 'work weekend' for some and a 'have fun and play weekend' for others. We were scheduled to leave late Thursday afternoon.

It all began this way:

Disclaimer: This is our first year having to dewinterize and pull the camper out of storage after the winter. So we are still learning about much!

The camper has been stuck in mud for much of the Spring and Fall and I guess that would make it frozen mud during the winter. My husband has been waiting for the mud to dry up enough to go get it but everytime we make the arrangements, it's either raining again or something comes up to interfere with that. He finally made it up to my Mother-in-law's property where it's being stored on Wednesday evening.

At 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday night, my husband and a friend are trying to dewinterize it in our driveway in the dark of night so that it's already to go for Thursday. It was not even a consideration that we needed to check to make sure everything was working properly. Upon opening the front compartment of the camper up and running bleach water through the system to sanitize it, they noticed a leak. It appeared like it was coming from the hot water tank. After inspecting it more, it was apparent that, that was definitely the issue. I say this to say, we NEED hot water! It's very important to have that! I don't do cold showers!

Note to self: Don't wait until the evening before you are going to leave to get the camper, dewinterize and inspect all the parts for working condition. It's not good for marital bliss nor is it good for a great camping experience.

Thank goodness our destination had a community shower and toilets and a kitchen to prepare food! However, we were scheduled to come back on Sunday and leave again on Wednesday which is now postponed. But before I get ahead of myself....

We loaded up the camper and were ready to go. We only needed to hitch up the camper to the Suburban. My husband gets in the car to back it up to the hitch and low and behold....it won't start! Who ever heard of a less than a year old vehicle with battery problems....

If you've read my previous blogs, you are familiar with a certain three year old that likes to get into mischief. Well, he's struck again! In the process of loading up the camper, our little mischief maker got into the car and was pushing buttons, turning knobs and somehow got the lights to come on for nobody know's how long.....obviously enough to drain the battery. Thank goodness our friends were there so that we could all go together and therefore, were able to give us a jump. We won't mention that in the process of pushing all the buttons and such that all the readings were off like tire pressure and etc which I'm sure were all related to a dead battery too! Did you know that in some vehicles, it has to relearn some things? Thank goodness for the manual and a smart car who doesn't take to long too get it's head straightened out!

After the jump, the hitching up and a scolding to anybody who would listen to keep their eyes on the roaming three year old, we were off for our adventurous weekend. After we had been on the road for a bit, the nagging to watch a movie was off on a run. I put the DVD in the player and pulled down the screen only to find yet another 'oh, no'! Apparently, in the process of playing with the car knobs and such, Mr. Mischief Maker got into the gum we keep in the car for minty fresh breath. Guess where he decided to put his gum after chewing it??? Yep, on the screen! What better place to hide it then in there. Uggghhh! Is there a broken baby store along the way, I asked myself. This one is just too squirrelly. Perhaps a minor adjustment here and there might be needed??? Or maybe it's just this....God's got a very special plan in mind for him and he needed a special home to grow up in so that he could make it to that place where God wants him. God must know that I'm the one for the job. Somehow that thought gives me a bit of comfort.

We arrived around 10:30 Thursday evening, managed to set up camp in the dark and got settled for the day to follow.

Friday brought a new adventure for our five year old. He discovered the world of bugs that he'd never seen before. You may be thinking to yourself that that is right up a boy's alley. But I am here to inform you...that's a BIG negatory! He wanted us to pack up camp and leave for a different camping place. One that doesn't have bugs. His mother was thinking the same thing. When you are trying to use the restroom and there are these flying bugs which I heard were male mosquitoes and they happen to be about as big as your five year old's fist, I strongly object! I was also thinking that there was no way I was revealing anymore skin then was necessary for them to have access to. Not to mention.....spiders! Which I don't want to talk about! See where he get's it from???

Due to the bug factor, Ryan refused to use the restroom and therefore, we went through just about his whole wardrobe on the first day. I finally got him to understand that he could use the camper toilet where I spent quite a bit a time on bug duty making sure if one was to enter the camper, his bug relatives were attending a funeral.

All in all, the ones who were there to play, played hard and the ones who were there to work, worked till they felt the burn and I'm not talking about sunburn. We did take a break and headed off to the beach for some fun in the sun and then for ice cream which is always a welcome for us.

Kara got her sea legs and is walking all over the place and fell in love with a beach chair that was just her size. She was quite adamant that nobody touch it but her. Ryan was such a hard worker even after he got his fingers smashed between a couple of two by fours, learned how to use a saw (not a power one but a hand saw), and put us all to shame with his work ethics. Aaron explored and conquered the dirt pile. His most favorite thing was the 'Mule'. He didn't want to leave that behind! Grace learned how to play poker and hunt for frogs.

We came home Sunday evening with an extra ton of dirt that coated my kids. Perhaps, they should have left some in the dirt pile that was there for the playing pleasure. I'm sure they will probably have to go purchase some more to replace the ton I found in a certain pull-up that was attached to a three year old...it could have been because he was laying in it!

After successfully backing up the camper, I happened to look down at our neighbors grass and realized that there was a pretty big spot of burnt grass. Then I heard my husband say...."oh, no!!"

Another note to self: When sanitizing the camper system, don't do it in the driveway....bleach can kill grass and does!

I'm so thankful that the neighbors on that side of the house are kind and forgiving....

Stay tuned for more adventures in "Follow that Red Suburban"!