I'm Back

We survived a camping trip with the boys and our "new" trailer.  It took us a total of ten hours to arrive at Yuba State Park in Utah where we met AJ's family.  We broke the trip into two days, day one: 6 hours to Moab, UT and on day two another 4 hours to Yuba.  The boys did soooo well in the car I was really amazed.  While in Moab we stayed at a completely full KOA campground.  We had never stayed in a commercial RV park before and were horribly underwhelmed.  Why do people pay $40 a night for this?  We were crammed into slots that were about 12 feet wide.  We were packed in with other RV's like sardines and we could hear everyone VERY well.   We were deprived of sleep due to the noises coming from the "resort" around us.  It was awful.  A Wal-mart parking lot would have been preferable.

(On the way home we stayed in Moab for two nights and visited Arches National Park which was amazing.  You would think we learned our lesson at the KOA but noooo, we elected to stay at another RV "resort" that was supposed to be better than the KOA.  And it was not any better.  We had to turn on our AC unit on the RV to block out the sound of the dude in the next camp site (4 feet away from our heads) zipping up his sleeping bag and blowing his nose.  It was fancy.  Never again.  I mean it this time.)

We got up early the on day two and hit the road.  Thankfully Yuba was a gorgeous lake with spectacular views.  The campground was full, but spaced out so we didn't feel crowded.  And the showers and restrooms were clean and in good condition.  I can't say enough good things about our experience here.  The kids had fun and got to know their cousins better. 

Now for the drama:  While we were unhooking the trailer to set up we became "those newbies" that everyone gathers to not-so-secretly watch set up camp.  The trailer hitch fell off the block and began to roll (NOT GOOD!!) Thankfully the wheel chalks stopped it.  At this point AJ and I had a clenched teeth "meeting" in the center of our site because I had told him NOT to do what he did and now LOOK WHAT HAPPENED.  My "I told you so" angry attitude did not help the situation at all.  He managed to get the trailer back onto the vehicle and reposition it on the leveling blocks.  Then I had to get my two cents in about how to NOT cause the trailer to roll again, which AJ just LOVED to hear.  This resulted in another clenched teeth "meeting" in the campsite much to the delight of the neighbors who must have taken great pleasure in watching the angry body language and frustrated gestures.  The neighbors set up CAMP CHAIRS TO WATCH US.  Yes that is right.  We provided loads of entertainment for at least two campsites full of people.  For an hour and a half. 

Part of the entertainment we provided free of charge: Nick pooped all over the place and fought me to the death when I tried to change his diaper.  Olivia was bouncing off the god-damned walls trying to release energy after two days of being in the car.  The boys found the shut off valves to the sprinkler system as if they have freaking RADAR for plumbing and it was all I could do to keep them away from it and ended with me yelling and threatening them with death.  Nancy was supposed to be coming in behind us but missed the turn in her massive RV and called me to vent and ask me what to do.  She wanted AJ to meet her at the entrance so that she wouldn't get into a situation where she couldn't back out with the massive RV.  I was trying to talk to her and give her better directions, keep Lucas away from the plumbing to the entire campground, keep AJ from killing himself while attempting to level the freaking trailer, clean Nick's poopy ass, and keep the dog from giving me a reason to beat the crap out of her.  And I was doing the pee pee dance because my needs were dead last in this line up.

It all worked out.  AJ got his Mom's tow car disconnected, and got her backed into her site while I watched two of my nieces that traveled with her.  Then he was able to come finish at our site (incident free) so that I could get into the trailer and change Nick, get the kids snacks and start to unpack.  It was a tense afternoon but once I got hold of a beer my mood improved significantly. 

The rest of the vacation went great.  It was so good to see Christina, Nancy and Steve.  The kids loved playing together and they really loved playing in the water. 

Nick landed face first on the trailer hitch which was a bloody mess, but thankfully his teeth are intact.  Lucas fell out of Aunt Christina's trailer and landed on top of his head.  That too, was a little bloody but I'm quickly learning that just because there is a lot of blood doesn't mean there is a serious injury.  Head wounds just bleed a lot.  So until I am able to get a good visual on the injury I am learning not to panic.  I managed to jam my big toe and bleed all over the trailer.  I thought I had broken it at first but I can bend it and the bruising is minor so it is really just a nasty flesh wound. FYI: somewhere in our trailer is a big old chunk of my toe that we never found so if you ever camp with us - keep a look out for that (haha!).  All these injuries made me realize that our first aid kit needs to be beefed up a bit.  Ice packs, trauma pads and non-stick gauze are on the top of the list to add to the kit. 

On the last day at Yuba we got to watch another couple argue and fight over how to handle their trailer.  It was nice to not be the only dumb asses making a spectacle of ourselves in the campground for all to see.  We pulled up lawn chairs and just watched them fight to get their trailer hooked to their truck.  It was funny.  But they weren't nearly as entertaining as we had been.  We like to set the bar high here in the Johnson camp.