I've never been a camper. I dropped out of Girl Guides because I hated camping. So buying a Winnebago & going camping for a weekend was a big step. As a family we have gone camping once in a tent & that lasted 12 hours. (never doing that again) In August we bought a 1979 Winnebago. Since then it has only been on a couple of gravel runs & then sat in the back yard. (it was like Cousin Eddy....did you ever see the Griswold Christmas?!) The kids love it & slept in it a lot. Our friends (well they were before we left for camping) invited us to go camping with them. We had it planned for 2 months. It was a Halloween themed weekend with site decorating, scavenger hunt, BBQ, pumpkin carving & trick or treating. I love Halloween!! I think it's the best time of the year so throwing in a little camping into the mix couldn't be that bad right?!
Will was really busy at work so I prepared the RV for our adventure. First off it meant getting the RV out of the backyard. Well before you can move it the thing needs to start. You know maybe this was my first sign. Dead battery....... That's ok we have booster cables. I managed to maneuver the beast out of the backyard & drove it out to the shop. (planning my route with as few turns as possible) Time to fill the water tanks & test the furnace. Ok this might have been sign #2. The hose was disconnected from the tank so water leaked all over the floor under the couch. Ok deal with that...... hook it up. Refill it...... Next up the furnace. Yeah that didn't work either. No big deal that's why space heaters were invented. How cold could it possibly get? (yeah we will talk about that later) That night I tell Will all about my adventures with the RV. He tells me he remembers the previous owner telling him that one water tank leaks. (great time to remember that) There are 2 tanks so maybe it was the one I haven't filled yet. When I went back out to the shop in the morning the tank had been leaking all night. #@%* So that makes sense why it was disconnected. It only leaked underneath so the inside was fine. I needed to drain that tank & run the water so it all goes in to the grey tank. Then I get a lesson on how to dump the tank. Ok really I would love to meet the person that invented that........(we will talk about that later too) I have to say the toilet does flush & the fridge seemed to work so that's a plus. The second water tank is a lot smaller but it held water. I figured we would just take a couple of jugs of water & only use the tank for flushing the toilet. At this point the RV is as good as it gets. I went to put gas in it & realized I can only get into the gas tank marked AUX. I can't find the key for the other side. Now I'm praying that 32 liters & what ever that was left in it will be enough to get us there. (the gas gauge doesn't work for that side. Really at this point does that surprise you?) I drove it back home to finish packing . Will had booked the weekend off so this was going to be our little vacation. We had planned on picking the kids up at after school & head straight for the campsite. That didn't happen. Hockey came first so we were leaving right after that..... Nope Will was called into work. That meant I had to drive the RV in dark out to the campsite. (how many turns was that going to be) The boys, Bear & I did it. (we might have got lost in the park but we made it safe & sound) We got the RV plugged in & crossed our fingers the fridge worked. We headed over for a nice campfire at our friends site. The kids roasted hot dogs & marshmallows over the fire. We had a great visit then headed off to bed. Will ended up coming at 11:30pm only to have to leave for work again at 6:30am. The first night wasn't too bad beside sleeping in one of the bunk beds & it feeling more like it was a coffin.
Day 2 I'm making breakfast & learn that you can't have the toaster & space heater plugged in at the same time. It trips the breaker. I also learned that the fridge works so well that it froze the milk & a few more items. The power issue was fixed. I went from 15amps to 30amps. This should mean I can run the space heater & the kettle. Nope now it trips the breaker in the RV. Ok so positive side to all of this I know how to fix it all if it ever happens again.
After breakfast I decide I'm going to move the RV ahead a few feet to make it easier for the Trick or Treaters to come into our site. I open a window to look out. (remember this cause I didn't!) I turned it over. I don't think Winnie likes the cold. I try a few more times then the battery is dead ....again.... I have two batteries so I learned that I can boost one battery off the other. That worked too. See there is always a positive side to every lesson.
The kids carved a pumpkin & then decorated the site.
Inside the cauldron was a flashlight that flashed & screamed help me in a creepy voice.
The graveyard had a strobe light & a fog machine. It looked really cool in the dark. (& dark it was out in the park)
We went for a walk to the park BBQ then to the beach where we saw 4 swans swimming in the cold lake.
I've never seen so many ladybugs in one spot. (maybe they were huddling to keep warm)
Trick or Treat time.......
We ended up having 58 kids. At home I'm lucky to have 12.
After trick or treating we all gathered around our campfire
& popped some Jiffy Pop. I have never had Jiffy Pop.
I was really excited about having it. I think it's all about the popping not about the eating.
Will showed up at 11:30pm again only to leave at 6am. Not much camping for him. I didn't end up sleeping very well again but this time it wasn't so much the bunk bed coffin. It was the fact that I left a window open all night & it was freezing.....duh!! I only noticed it was open in the morning when I was opening the curtains.
Sunday was pretty quiet. We spent most of the morning packing & cleaning up our site. In the afternoon we went for a bike ride to the park store. I bought a
spider dog cutter so then we had to have another campfire to try it out. It's child safe. No blades gotta love that. I think I had more fun with it than the boys. (it doesn't take much to amuse me)
Our camping experience was almost over. Just one more thing to do. Drive over to the pump out station. I saved the best for last....... This I was not looking forward to. Thank God for Steve. He was one of our friends that originally invited us on the camping trip. At this point do you think he was wondering why they did... We parked side by side so I could see how it's done & then do it myself. I got the gloves on & started to pull the hose out. Wrong hose. Steve found the right hose & he hooked it up. I knew where the lever was to release the tank (poop one first) so I was all ready to pull it. Yeah right I had to get to it first. It's at the back of the camper but in the middle. That meant I had to crawl under it. Ok so lets think about this for a minute........... I'm crawling on the cement pad that poop had probably been spilled on. GROSS! Well it had to be done. I scooted under & pulled on the lever. Nope I couldn't pull it out. I tried a few more time & finally Steve came to my rescue AGAIN. He pulled the lever & the hose started to leak. OMG I've never moved so fast in my life. I'm sure that would have made a great utube video. I was on the ground laughing so hard I couldn't get up. The people waiting in line behind us must have thought we were crazy. I know I did. After everything was cleaned out & rinsed off we headed home. This was definitely a trip to remember. We had a blast & we (yes including me) are looking forward to our next adventure. I'm going to watch the movie RV & see how crazy a camping trip can be.
Her sock machine gadgets are all matchypoo!! (is that even a word?)
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