Follow That Red Suburban to Interlochen - DAY 1

We decided to join some friends of ours very spontaneously on their trip to Interlochen over the holiday. We were skeptical that we would even be able to find a camp site available but much to our amazement there was some available but just not all on one camp site. We were going to have to hopscotch it for the time we were there but we thought that would be no problem since Interlochen State Park (which is one of the oldest and biggest in Michigan) has less than modern sites available. This means for us, a family of seven, need to fill the fresh water tank for showers and such and dump the excess if you know what I mean. How long does it take to fill a 40 gallon tank? I will spare you the answer.

The trip up there was pretty smooth until we stopped at a rest stop to give Kara, our one year old, a break from being cooped up and a snack. She was insistently letting us know it was time. While everyone was taking a potty break, I took Kara into the camper to feed her. I turned very quickly to throw away her yogurt container and she somehow scampered over to the door quickly and quietly (which didn't get shut all the way) and fell down the metal stairs onto the pavement. As I rushed to her, blood was running out her nose and a purple goose egg on her head was raising quicker than a volcano reaching it's boiling point. Other than that, she seemed coherent and alert. So after a bit of consoling and kissing on, she was ready to roll.

Upon arrival to the park, we were excited to find out that there were some cancellations which meant we did not have to move our trailer. It could stay in one spot the whole time we were going to be there! Only people who are familiar with backing in a 30 foot trailer between a bunch of trees could really appreciate our excitement. We stopped at the filling station to fill the fresh water tank with water. (Let me just interject here....I've never filled the fresh water tank, we've always used the water hook-up right there next to our camper for an ever available supply of water...end interjection.) As I was filling the tank, I heard the gurgle that reminded me of a full tank (just like filling the gas tank) and water shot back out at me leading to my assumption that it was full.

We then proceeded to our site which with great surprise, we were met with a very narrow and very wooded site to try to maneuver our trailer into. Now keep in mind, it was very crowded so using the site in front of us was a bit difficult. We couldn't see anyway possible to get the trailer in so we drove back up front to see what could be done and were met with...that site, sir, is good for a 35 foot trailer. So off we went back to the site. Only this time we went down the up (one way) listening to many telling us we were going the wrong way. We even went bajaing through the baseball diamond trying to not hit trees and such. Once we got to our site, Bob tried for an hour to back our trailer into the site. We had offers from our friendly neighbors to use their smaller vehicles to back us in but of course, they weren't rated for such a load. Finally, one of our neighbors came by to offer his directional assistance and it came at right moment before frustration started flying. In two shakes, he had us backed in and in just the right spot. Was it poor parenting to offer our first born child to him?

We set up camp, ate some dinner and off we went to Frankfort to watch the fireworks being shot off Lake Michigan. It was spectacular and enjoyed by all except for Aaron. He covered his ears the whole time and quite emphatically announced to me that I needed to go tell them to stop right now.

One of our friends had stopped on the way up to our destination at a fresh cherry stand to buy some cherries and had been eating those all afternoon. What happens when you eat a lot of fresh fruit....do I dare mention this??? I hope she will forgive me as I continue. You get a rumbly in the tumbly and I'm not talking hunger pains. During the fireworks, she was searching for a restroom but none was to be found. As it was getting more and more urgent her daughter mentioned she needed to go potty and what a perfect decoy she was. What would you do in this situation? Would you find some bushes or would you put on your most beautiful smile with your adorable daughter right in front of you and plead at someone's front door? Well, she choose to ask at one of the houses to have pity and the husband of the home did. The wife, wasn't so sure but at least, she got in before he changed his mind!

On our way home, we were directed by another person in our party (not mentioning any names to protect the innocent) to turn right when we should have turned left. After 35 miles or so and not seeing anything familiar (of course, what looks familiar in a strange place, in the middle of complete darkness, in the middle of the night???), it came to our realization that we had indeed gone the wrong way. A U-Turn was made and off we were again. After two and a half hours, we arrived back at our camp site ready for B-E-D.