"The Rest of the Story"

Yes, we had an awesome time camping--my daughter Angela, my daughter Ashli and the twins, Payton & Marley. We gathered wood and cooked out, we told stories around the campfire, we left "raccoon bait" by the trees, we played mini golf, played on the playground, fished, went swimming and played "Go Fish" while we were cooling off in Bah Bah's camper. But, as fun as it all seemed, the trip was not without some slight glitches--hey, that rhymes with hitches and so begins my tale of all the little things that went wrong.



Friday was the big day--I cancelled a hair appointment so that I could get all of the last minute items for the camping trip purchased and loaded into my car and get to Lake Paradise by 4:00. There is limited space in Puc (pop up camper) so the back of my car was ridiculously loaded with stuff. Too bad I didn't get the ball mount for the trailer hitch out of the little compartment under the cargo space in the back. Yep, I had to partially unload to get it out. No big deal, I'm ready to go. I start backing my car up to the trailer and the neighbor's handyman decides to help me--very nice. But, I wanted to do it all myself so that I can learn. Once I told him how to hook up everything right, I really was off. Yippee!! My first camping trip with Puc. We're on our way to Oak Grove.



The Lake Paradise "gate keeper" tells me I'm on site #670. Just take this road that way and make a left and go up the hill and there you are. Yeah, right! I took the wrong road two times, which took me up two steep hills which meant I had to come back down two times, but luckily, I never had to back up--my greatest fear at this point.



Finally I find the right site--or so I thought. I pulled into it, saw it was the wrong one and then I had to BACK OUT! "Just back up straight Sharon--that's all you have to do." And, I did it!! Then I just pulled right into the next one which was also the right one. I set up little Puc in no time and was even told by my camping neighbor that I looked like a "pro" doing it. Yes!!



The girls and the twins arrive and the fun begins. My only concern was the little trek to the "comfort station" we have to make every time we had to "go", but we all agreed it wasn't too bad. Actually, it was awesome in the middle of the night. Angela, who is about 3 months pregnant and has to go at all hours of the night, would wake me and we'd walk together in the moonlight. She and Ashli saw a shooting star on our first trip to the bathrooms--somehow I missed it, but the stars out in the country like that are just amazing. Last night I went to sleep listening to my favorite songs on my iPod and looking out at the stars--it was awesome!



So, today we have to pack up and leave by 11:00 a.m. I fixed my famous French Toast and sausages for breakfast and then we clean up and start preparing to fold Puc up. I was so meticulous about everything--a little O.C.D about tucking in the canvass and doing everything just right. We got her done and hooked up and said our good-byes and I get in my car and it won't start. Dead battery. I left my cell phone charger plugged in--which I always do here at home, but I drive my car every day and I guess that makes a difference. I never drove my car or started it during the entire camping trip. Luckily nearby campers had some jumper cables and Ashli and I got it started. Whew! One more lesson learned--I've got a list, and it gets bigger by the moment.



Now, we say more good-byes and start down the hill. I hear some crunching noises associated with the camper trailer, but I heard some on the way out too, so no big deal, right? WRONG!!!!!!



I make it out of the Lake Paradise area and up to the highway--F Hwy. in Oak Grove. I'm moving right along with Ashli and her bunch right behind me, when all of a sudden I feel a huge jolt and hear a horrible noise. I immediately slow down and look in my rearview mirror and realize that there is a huge problem. I pull over as far to the right as I can possible get and stop and get out. I see that the tongue of the trailer is on the ground and I think I'm looking at a trailer hitch that has broken off of my car. Nope. The problem was that the ball mount had come out of the hitch adapter and I immediately know why. I had forgotten to put the pin that holds it in there, in there. Probably one of the biggest mistakes I could have possibly made today and one of the most dangerous. The first thing I thought of was how fortunate I was that I hadn't caused some horrible accident that could have involved my two daughters and two of my grandchildren. Once that wave of relief was over, all I could think of was what do we do now? We can't lift this thing and even if we could, is it broke? Within moments I see a truck pulling a horse trailer begin to pull over to see what's up. This man and his daughter were able to use a wooden block as leverage to lift the tongue high enough for the girl to get the trailer jack in place to crank it up and align it with the hitch on my car. The man inspected everything and said that nothing seemed damaged and told me that I had been blessed. Like he needed to tell me that. I know I was blessed today and the song "Jesus Take The Wheel" has been on my mind ever since I arrived home safely.



I thanked the man and his daughter and I know that they will be blessed for their kind acts today.



So, that is "the rest of the story". ; )

Out of the Mouths of Babes

I'm sure that everyone has been surprised, shocked, amused and embarassed by something they've heard a child say. Unless we can actually remember how our little minds worked way back then, it's hard to figure out what is going on in these little heads. I have gotten so much pleasure out of my grandkids and the things that they have said. And I just have to share with my friends the most recent conversation that Ashli, my daughter, had with Payton, her 3 1/2 year old son.

Ashli was explaining to the twins on Thursday about my next door neighbor passing away recently. Payton and Marley both would run to hug George when they'd see him outside--and his wife, Julie.

So, upon hearing that George had died, Payton asks his mom "Why did he die?" Ashli explains that George was very sick and just could not get well. Payton then asks if George is in Heaven with PaPa. Ashli assures him that he is. Then Payton asks how George got there. At this point I'm sure Ashli was sorry she'd ever started this conversation, but she told Payton that Jesus had come and taken George up to Heaven. Payton looks a bit confused and then says, "But how did he do that? Jesus is just a baby".

I love it! Payton likes to sing a song that I sing at church called, "What Did You Say Was The Baby's Name?" and of course, most little children know the story of Christmas, the birth of Jesus. So in his head, Jesus was just a baby. Is that sweet, or what?

Keep 'em coming Payton!

Practice makes perfect, right? WRONG!!

Okay, so I drive over to Shawnee Mission, KS this morning to pick up my camper and it all goes well. I back my car right up to the tongue of the camper, Griff hooks it up for me and gives me my paperwork and some other extras for the camper and I'm off. Pulling it was a breeze, switching lanes and starting and stopping were no problem, but then I get to the church parking lot--lots of room, hundreds of parking spaces and a little drive way at the missions building for me to practice backing up into. This is going to be great....or so I thought.



OMG! What is wrong with me? I'm a great backer-upper. I pride myself on that and yet, trying to back that little camper where I wanted it was next to impossible.

I tried the theory of turning the steering wheel the opposite way of where you want the trailer to go. Nope, I couldn't do that. So, I try the tip about holding on to the bottom of the steering wheel and turning it in the direction of where you want the trailer to go. Nope, that didn't work either. I know...both ways should have worked, but not for me. I was there for like 45 min. to an hour. I just about jack-knifed the thing several times. I got so stressed out I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Thank goodness there was no one around the church today. Oh geez, I just remembered that there are cameras mounted on the buildings now. Please tell me they weren't on today.



So, I decided to just take little Puc home and do what I could. I worried all the way home. I live at the end of a cul-de-sac so I really don't even have that much space to maneuver in anyway, but I was going to have to do something.



I get to the cul-de-sac and I see my neighbor's daughter walking with two guys. I rolled down my car window and told them that if they really wanted some entertainment, they should stick around and watch me try to back the trailer in my driveway. The girl says, "Do you want him to do it for you?" as she pointed at the young man. She told me that he backs boat trailers up all the time. I looked at him and he smiled and said he'd be glad to do it for me, so I let him. I couldn't believe the way he just backed it on in there, close to the wall and as straight as a string. Unbelievable! Again I say, I'm an idiot! Why can't I do that?



So, I popped up my little camper, turned on the A/C, opened up all the little cabinets and drawers and found all kinds of nifty things--a microwave, a space heater, clip on fan/lights for over the beds, a built in cooler and a stove you can hook up on the outside of the camper. This is the cleanest camper I've been in that wasn't new. It even smells new and it's 11 years old. I really lucked out--this is a sweet little camper.



It fits perfectly in my garage and except for about 6-8 inches, I can raise it up all the way. At least I thought so until I went to shut the garage door. Oops! Bad noise! No big deal though--I just had to lower it a smidge--which meant unhooking brace bars, pushing the beds back in and practically taking the whole thing down again. Ugh!



Except for the stress of backing the darned thing up, I really enjoyed my day with Puc. Oh, and Tilly enjoyed it too. She snooped around inside the fridge and in every nook and cranny and then stretched out on the king-sized bed. We're going to be great camping buddies. ; )