Walkabout on Wheels

We didn’t get to see all that much of the Great Plains type of scenery when we drove through Kansas, since it was dark and rainy. Today we just finished driving the rest of the way through. The Kansan landscape stretches into Colorado, of course, and it really is amazing. I thought I had some sense of what Big Sky country meant in Indiana and all, but I was wrong. When the land is flat and stretches out before you, and you can see miles to all sides, the sky surrounds you completely. The clouds suspended in the sky seem to hang low and they go on forever. This is definitely something everyone should see. Here are two of the best pictures I took. And they don't even begin to capture the beauty of the plains.

2:17 PM CST

Rule #2: Do not admire the scenery when you are almost out of gas!

So after I finished writing that, it occurred to me that Brian had mentioned we needed gas. “Hey, didn’t you say that we needed gas?” I said as we passed by a gas station and its exit. I looked up at our little miles-to-empty estimator, and it said 9 miles to empty. I looked at the highway sign which said 7 miles to Bethune. Uh-oh.

Now, as I was saying, the sky stretches for miles here, and visibility is extremely high. So as we approached Bethune, we saw no BP, no Conoco, just some silos and prefab steel sheds. We pulled over right before the exit and opened the toy hauler. Our situation wasn’t that dire; we could ride the motorcycle for gas. Of course, we then had the problem of how to carry a 5-gallon tank of diesel safely while riding on the back of Brian’s bike.

Just in case there really was a town of Bethune nearby, we took the exit and drove down to the silos we saw. It was the Bethune Granary. A semi pulled out of that intersection, and Brian asked where we could get diesel. Right there at the granary, he said. So we parked the bike and dismounted. The first door we tried was locked. But the second opened to a little store. The lady there told us we could get diesel there, but we would need a gas key and could only pay cash. No problem. Hooray!

So we took the gas key, which was attached to a big wood plank which said DIESEL A1, and rode back to the truck. I drove it to the pump while Brian followed in the bike. No sense putting that extra weight in a truck that was pulling a trailer with only 2 miles left to empty. When we got to the pumps, there were three of them, and the middle one had an open grid of keyholes in rows and columns. We tried the key in A1. It wouldn’t turn. We looked around a little more, and on the third pump, there was a door which opened to another A1 slot. Here, they key turned, but nothing happened. I kind of felt like a character in one of those adventure games where you have to wander around and find a missing part. Resident Evil minus the zombies, perhaps.

Anyway, Brian went back to the office to talk to the lady, who called a guy who knew a guy who knew how to work the pumps. When he came, he banged on it à la Fonzarelli, and the pump started. Yes, the old percussive maintenance! I haven't used that since I had a TV with the knobs you turn to change the channel. That was how I fixed the V-Hold.

So we filled up our tank, drove to the office to hand over an arm and a leg, with gratitude. There were some free mini calendars with Bethune Granary at the top. I couldn't resist taking one as a memento of our doubtless unforgettable adventure. And we were on our way. The rest of our trip was uneventful, both comparatively and by normal standards. Our new stopping place, the Denver East KOA.

Here, we just stopped and rested again. No one felt like sightseeing, not even me! So we relaxed and did laundry. Pretty uneventful. On the way to wash greasy dishes in the utility sink, however, Zorah found a praying mantis! Maybe there aren't any bug enthusiasts in my audience, but if there are, you will understand. They are hard to find, and Zorah just found one trundling along in the grass. While I washed the dishes, she gently harrassed it. She ended up herding it right in front of the door to the store. Since I didn't want it to get stepped on, I picked it up, let it crawl on Z for a bit, then put it in a tree. As you can see, we took a picture of our chitinous friend.

Its fate was much happier than that of a praying mantis my older siblings and I found when we were little. We thought it would be a great idea to tie a string around its neck and keep it as a pet. I believe you can guess the outcome.

I also managed to run into the hitch on the trailer while we were there. I was trying to turn off the backlight on my iPod, and BAM! My glasses got squished into my face. Oops. Usually I walk to the right of that thing and under the trailer. Oh, well. I got a nice shiny bump on my forehead about the size of a quarter for my troubles.

Now, I couldn't possibly end this section without a commentary on the playground. It was very nice, and had one especially distinguishing feature. It had a tire swing fashioned into a rather clever horse! I took a picture of Z on it, but she isn't very happy in the picture. Why? She was sad because some playmates had to leave for dinner. Such is life.

After a few minutes, she cheered up enough to play with her usual abandon. Here she is happily climbing the slide.

The next day, we decided to head for the Rockies. We found a place called Tiger Run RV Resort in Breckenridge that seemed to be worth a try.

# posted by Rissa and Zorah @ 2:28 AM 0 comments

Our new place, Kan-do Kampground, is very nice. I wonder about the Ks though. Why not Cs? Eh, whatever. The owners are great. They waited up for us when we called and told them we would arrive after 9 pm. But of course, we are leaving tomorrow, after two nights. The WiFi service here is a bit sketchy, and we need it for various things. I need it to download TV shows, Brian needs it to check world happenings, Ian needs it for schoolwork and the new webpage he is designing (www.reachingtruth.com), and Zorah needs it for her games. Here they are accessing the sketchy WiFi. The family that computes together stays together?

I tried to get everyone to the Graham Cave State Park, which is a mile away from our campground. I managed to get them there in the truck, but what did they have 50 feet before the scenic trails leading to the cave? A gosh darned playground! Why did the park people DO that? Are they trying not to have little kids or their parents walk the trails and see the natural landmarks that make traveling cross country interesting? I mean, gimme a break! I see and have to participate at playgrounds at these parks we go to. I could already puke from playground activities. And now, when I finally manage to trick my family into going to a state park, we have to go to another f***ing playground. I swear, I could have torn my hair out. I still had to take another Z playground photo, however.

After being there about 15 minutes, I convinced Zorah to go up a trail. Ian and Brian followed, complaining about their footwear. “I didn’t know we’d be hiking,” they said. Well, do you even have hiking boots? Whatever! I am in my Wal-Mart cheap knockoff Birkenstocks! So I had five minutes on a trail. And even those five minutes were great. I followed Z up a path where tree roots often served as stairs. It was a little rocky, but not too bad, just enough to keep it interesting. When she started getting a little tired of hiking, I said I thought I saw something up the path. I really did. Some sort of big rock. Brian, who obviously didn’t want to continue, said all he saw was trees, so Z turned around to head – where else?! The playground!!! AAAAAAAHHHH!!!!

How the hell am I supposed to get really enthusiastic about this trip and how the hell am I supposed to see the g******ed country? I suppose I should change the title of this blog to “Playgrounds and Supermarkets Across America” or “America’s Playgrounds and Markets”. Sigh. Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Count to ten.

On a more positive note, Zorah and I went swimming today. The pool here is large, wide, and shallow. So we had a lot of fun just running around in the wading area, occasionally swimming out to the deep end. I pretended she was a shark for a bit, and she chased me around the pool. I guess she grabbed my behind when she caught me. Her nails were sharp, so I screamed and laughed. The element of surprise at work. Then we played “Princess” which entails either she or I being a princess needing to be rescued from a dragon or giant. When she was the villain, I saved myself, because princesses shouldn’t need to be rescued all the time. Then we played “Sleeping Beauty”. I floated on my back in the shallow end and closed my eyes, and she splashed me! “Hey!” I said. “Why’d you splash me?”

“Because I’m the prince, and I needed to wake you up!” she said, matter-of-factly. I laughed. Next time she woke me with a kiss on the cheek.

Now, I suppose it could be argued that playing princesses and fairy tales could give little girls the wrong image of a woman’s role in this world. I say that if we are playing and pretending, and inserting some practical considerations into these silly stories, and using our imagination, there is no true harm in it. Even though I am tired of seeing countless pools and playgrounds, I never tire of seeing her smile, hearing her laugh, and watching her grow, both physically and mentally. I can honestly say, and I told her as much, that she is my favorite person in this entire world besides myself, and maybe even more than me. That is why we don’t go to caves, and go to playgrounds and pools instead.

When we were driving back from dinner the day before the rafting trip, Zorah told Ian she pooped in her panties. When he asked her if she were serious, she said: “No, that was a joke.” Then, after a dramatic pause: “But not a funny one.” We all laughed at that. Then she said: “Here’s a funny one! How do trees fall?” We all thought about it for a little while, and then she gave us her answer: “By themselves!” I think that’s pretty good for an almost-four-year-old.

These moments are what make this trip worthwhile. I don’t always see it that way, and she is certainly not an angel all the time, but wow, you know?

# posted by Rissa and Zorah @ 12:11 AM 0 comments

So we made it alright to Bourbon, Missouri on Route C. I remembered that there were campgrounds in Bourbon, and we ended up staying in one of them, Blue Springs Ranch. It is situated on the Upper Meramec River. Even the road leading to this place was beautiful, so it looked like the right place to be. I mean, look at it! We checked in, and as we drove to our site, we realized that we were the only people staying there. I guess it’s more of a weekend thing. Or maybe being in the middle of Missouri there were not a lot of people staying here. Just north a few miles is Meramec Caverns, which (of course) we didn’t visit, but maybe other people stay at the campgrounds closer to that landmark. Anyway, it was a bit like the Twilight Zone. The place had horseback riding, about which I was excited, but Zorah was too little, so we didn’t go. Not only did this place have horses, and a lot of them, they had cattle who crossed the river near our beach. It is a ranch, after all. We did sign up for rafting, however, for 10 am the next morning.

Then we went to eat a little place called the Circle Inn in town. It's logo is like a Circle K logo. They had good diner food, and these really nice oil paintings done by someone locally as decorations. I was almost tempted to buy one, but I didn't. Various Bourbon landmarks like the train station and the Circle Inn were depicted with really delicate brushwork and attention to detail. Hmmm. I'm going to stop writing about them now, or I'll want to head back to Bourbon.

We also took Z for a swim in what we considered to be our pool, since there was no one else there.

I think I forgot to mention that Missouri has a very strange road labeling system. It uses the alphabet for its route names. Here is a picture of one of my favorites. I missed the photo-op for PP Junction. Heh heh.

We woke up early and tried to think of everything we should bring. Of course, we forgot things. Like sun block. Oh, well. Brian and Ian said I didn’t bring enough food, but even so, it was a great trip. I think just being on the raft made it pretty easy to forget those things. We floated down the river at a very leisurely pace. No whitewater here, and the water was low. It seems like there is a bit of a drought in Missouri. In Danville, where we are now (leaving tomorrow, of course) the corn fields are golden with dried up stalks.

Anyway, floating down the river was great. Zorah would jump out and swim every once in a while, or wade when the water was too shallow even for her to float. I didn’t feel like swimming, so I put on a life vest and floated with her a few times. This ended when she tried to climb onto me and submerged us both. I was singing one of her silly songs and not really paying attention to the fact that she was climbing me. Duh. Most of the time I paddled and steered, sitting in the back of the boat and enjoying watching the rest of the family relaxing in less physical ways.

The trip was five miles down the river, with some really nice scenery. There were holes and tunnels in the cliffs on either side of us. Intriguing. It took us about 4 hours to travel the length of river allotted us, but it seemed much shorter. We had no mishaps or spills, and were sorry to see our trip end.

When we got back to our campsite, Brian suggested that we should move on out. So we packed up in a hurry and left this place for Danville, Missouri, about 60 miles northwest. I drove the trailer again, and Brian took his bike. He went ahead, which was actually bad because he would slow down to take a longer look at some of the countryside as we were driving. Now this would be fine if I were driving just the truck, but a motorcycle slows down much faster than a truck with a trailer. Or a truck for that matter.

So the first time he did that, I could feel the trailer squirreling behind me, and it didn’t seem that I was slowing down enough. I looked down at the brake indicator for the trailer. Where was the power light? So I had to pull over. The brakes and signals weren't plugged in all the way. Aaaah! Overall, though, it was nice driving the big trailer around. It helped me to somewhat fulfill my periodic dreams of becoming a truck driver. And, no, I'm really not joking about that.

We stopped at a local gas station and restaurant. I ordered the ham and beans special, primarily because it came with cornbread. Of course, two minutes before we ordered, the cook had thrown out the cornbread. Oh, well. Still, the ham and beans was a nice stew. Zorah, having been in the car for a while, ran circles around our table. Literally. She would stop to fill her mouth with food, then run around the table until she had swallowed her food. Chew, swallow, run, repeat. It was pretty funny.

I managed to get a picture in the parking lot of that big Missouri sky. And our traveling home.

# posted by Rissa and Zorah @ 2:55 AM 0 comments

Right now we are sort of lost. We planned on staying on a three night rafting adventure, but we couldn’t get cell phone service, and the place looked deserted. Now we have about 45 miles to empty and about 10 miles to the next town. We are driving on country roads. I mean, we just drove by a covered wagon à la Chuck Wagon Dog Food. Zorah and Ian were even doing the classic annoying each other in the back seat thing! It’s a beautiful road, but a little tension as the gas ticks down is making it a bit difficult to truly admire it. Brian is convinced that I am reading the signs and mileages wrong.

Anyway, yesterday we were in East St Louis, Illinois, right across the river from St Louis, MO. We stayed at the Casino Queen RV Park. When we got there, they gave us spaces on the cheap side of the park. I guess that people who stay here don't like to pay the extra six bucks for a big space with grass and a view of the Arch. Not us! So I went in to the office and requested the other side of the park. then Brian changed our assigned space on that side. We actually changed spaces so much that Brenda, the nice lady who worked in the office, had to come out and ask us if we had a problem. Twice.

Anyway, once we finally got parked in the space we wanted, our water hose was too short to reach the hookup. I stared at it for a little while, then just went and bought another hose. I was not about to move us again.

We went to the casino for dinner that night. Actually we went to the hotel. In East Saint Louis, and in Saint Louis, you can only have a casino if it is on the river. As in a boat. So what you do if you want to enter the actual casino is enter the hotel and lobby, then walk about a quarter of a mile down a tunnel onto a boat on the river. On the boat is the casino. Silly, huh? Apparently they have now changed these laws and are allowing casinos to return to the land. After dinner, we took the free shuttle back to the park, and Brian went to the casino. That's how I knew about the whole tunnel thing. Zorah and I went to the playground, yielding another one of her adorable action photos!

# posted by Rissa and Zorah @ 12:11 AM 0 comments

So right now we are driving through Indiana. I guess we are heading straight west from here. We just passed by Marengo, site of the Marengo Caves, a national landmark. Did we stop? No. As I said, we just passed by. I thought the point of this trip was to be able to stop at interesting places we saw on the road. Not so. Brian said he was concerned that we wouldn’t be able to turn the trailer around at the caves. I think it was just that he didn’t want to see the caves. What does he want to see? What does he want to do? I am getting more than a little frustrated with this trip.

2:22 PM

Okay, so I guess maybe I jumped the gun a little bit there. As we drove past Marengo, we saw one of those mile marker signs for approaching towns. What was the first one on the list? Santa Claus! We had never heard of Santa Claus, Indiana, before. It turns out it is – no surprise here – a Christmas themed place with an amusement and water park called Holiday World. There is an RV campground there called Lake Rudolph. When Zorah heard that, she gasped “That is my favorite movie!” So of course we had to check it out.

Now we are camped here at Lake Rudolph, on Prancer Lane, if you can believe it. Brian backed in to our site, which is getting a little easier for him each time, I think. He took Zorah swimming, but I am beat! So I am staying here trying to get the wireless internet working and resting in the AC a bit. Later, we’ll supply as usual, but I am hoping I can convince them to take a trip to Marengo before we leave. I don’t think it’s too far away from Santa Claus.

August 20, 2006

So nobody wanted to do the Marengo thing. Apparently, no one wanted to do the amusement park thing either. That’s fine, I guess. The park had a great pool with squirters and a large shallow area, so Z was happy to frolic there and at the playground next door. Last night, we played pirates at the playground near our trailer and commandeered a little boy who wanted to use the ship’s steering wheel into being the captain. He played along for about 10 minutes then said: “Why am I the captain?” Once we explained that he had taken the wheel, he understood, and we dug for treasure, looked out for sharks, and held tight to the mast when the waves got too high. Zorah had lots of fun with this, but even a pirate has to get some shut-eye. So when it got too dark to see in the playground, we said goodnight to the captain and went home. Check out Zorah's prehistoric action shot below!

Last night, there was a HUGE thunderstorm! Zorah somehow managed to sleep through it, but there were some thunderclaps that scared me awake! I think the trailer was shaking at certain points. I was so tired, though, that I slept through most of it.

So this morning/afternoon, we are on our way out of Indiana, hoping to avoid more of those, destination St. Louis. We passed by some potentially interesting places like an Amish Buffet, and the Log Inn, which is the self-proclaimed oldest restaurant in Indiana. I guess it used to be a stagecoach stop. Of course, we didn’t stop to see any of these places, we just drove by signs for them and ate at Subway. Sigh.

Indiana is beautiful country. I don’t think it is part of the Great Plains, but there really are spacious skies and amber waves of grain, LOL. And also vast stretches of green with a copse of trees emerging from the haze. It is very humid here. These wide stretches evoke in me a sense of peace – when I am looking at them and not thinking about anything else. Other times I am wondering what the Marengo Caves were like, or the Log Inn. I just don’t believe that seeing the country means watching vast stretches of fields pass by on the highway.

When my family used to go on road trips, we used to stop at things someone thought looked interesting, whether it was a general store with a funny name (like Possum Junction, a sign we drove by on this trip) or an alligator farm. The general stores were really cool, because they always had some weird local regional candy to sample. Now, we drive by. I miss my family already, but this makes it harder.

# posted by Rissa and Zorah @ 11:54 PM 0 comments

So today we packed up again and moved about 20 miles south to the Louisville South KOA. This was a definite improvement in the environment category. Unfortunately, the internet doesn’t really work here, so off we go again tomorrow. I am extremely disappointed. The Kentucky State Fair starts tomorrow, for goodness sake! One day here, two days there, one day here is getting rather tiresome. Everything seems to blur because we don’t do anything. We get somewhere, hook up, find somewhere to eat, swim, re-supply, sleep, and move on. I want to see something. I want to do something touristy. I want to take a tour. I want to walk around. I am getting really frustrated. So it looks right now like I am on a bit of a downward spiral. Did anything happen today? I don’t even know!

Actually, I was able to find an RV service place which would fix our trailer, and I was really impressed. I called them, and within the hour, Charlie was there to hook us up. He did meticulous work, was friendly, and cheerful. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any cash, so I couldn’t give him a tip. I will have to send it to him, I guess.

At the pool, Brian launched Zorah into the water, then she would swim back to him to be thrown high and far yet again. That was fun. Did laundry. Ate. Swam. Blah, blah, blah. BOOORING!!!

Here at this site they have prehistoric cave dwellings burrowed in limestone cliffs. Have we seen them? No. Will we? No, because we’re leaving again. ARRRGH!! GRRRRAAAAAHHHH! YAAAARRRRR!

# posted by Rissa and Zorah @ 11:37 PM 0 comments

Well, Tuesday we left Thousand Trails behind. They didn’t actually come by in the morning to make sure we were leaving, which was a pleasant surprise. Our drive to Louisville Metro was uneventful, thankfully. We didn't even stop at this intriguing flea market. And we found the bike shop with only one turn around. Mapquest gave us the wrong directions. Oh, well. Brian’s bike was giving out on him the night before. So not only did he get lost trying to get back to the campground, he was having the bike stall on him every few minutes to boot! I already said that, but whatever.

Anyway, we dropped it off and made our way to Louisville Metro KOA, the campground I had reserved. It sounded nice on paper, with free WiFi, cable TV, a pool a block away, and right next to Louisville. It was also only a mile away from the bike shop, and right next door to an RV service place. I forgot to mention that things have slowly been falling off of our trailer: two weather strip type things on our first jaunt to the Berkshires and then on the way to Lake George, the clothes hanger in the closet (!), and a piece of the bench in our dinette. So as I was saying, the placed looked great on paper. Why do I say on paper?

Well, we checked in and that went fine. We had to back into the site, but it seemed on the map to be spacious. Okay. So we drove past the office and into the campground. But all we saw was asphalt. There were a few grassy spaces in the middle, but, well, it was a parking lot with hookups, pretty much. Given that, however, our site was pretty sweet comparatively. We were in the corner, so we had privacy. Our door was facing a fence, and we had extra room on one side because we were the end of the dog walk path. Internet and cable worked. And there are both indoor and outdoor pools at the Holiday Inn for our swimming pleasure. So here we are still, though we are leaving tomorrow morning. Brian can’t take staying in a parking lot any longer. I think we will be hitting Louisville South KOA in Kentucky. I am pushing for Bowling Green next. They have a GM assembly plant there, and I would love to take Z, who, as you may know, has been asking how cars are made.

So after setting up at our site, for our first night in Louisville/Clarksville, we decided to go out on the town. We went in to Louisville and had dinner at Morton’s. I was so excited to finally have their veal chop again. But wait! No veal chop! AAAARRRGH! They removed it from their menu. I guess the last time I went to a Morton’s maybe two years ago the veal chop was pretty skimpy and crappy, but STILL! Better a crappy Sicilian veal chop than no veal chop at all. I was so discombobulated by this development that I ordered a salad for dinner (and used the word ‘discombobulated’). I never order salad as an entrée. Neeeverrrrrr!

On a more positive note, we walked around the town afterwards. Louisville is a beautiful city. I don’t know why that surprised me, but it did. It is full of charming little details, and grandiose flashy delights for tourists and residents. We were directed to an area called Fourth Street Live, but were sidetracked when Zorah’s eyes lit upon a horse-drawn carriage, all white and shiny à la Cinderella. We took a carriage ride through the streets of Louisville. Billy Bob clip-clopped along, and Catherine told us a bit about the city. She was charmed by Zorah, who absolutely loved every minute of it.

Fourth Street Live was bright lights and Hard Rock Café type stuff. You know, flashy. We didn’t stay there too long. It was more fun to walk around away from the lights and see the odd sculptures planted throughout. Here are some pictures from our explorations. These tree holders all had different posts such as beds and various people. Who? I don't know. I didn't have time to read the inscriptions.

Today was a painful administrative day. Tom Stinnett RV and Camping World, right over the fence from us, would not send someone over to fix our trailer. No service calls to the place just a hop away. And it took them two days to answer my messages. Bigger is definitely not better in this case. They are HUGE! I guess they don’t need anymore business than they already have, and their customer service skills reflected that. Jerks. The other RV place in town would have done it, but they happened to lose a technician today. So nothing was accomplished as far as the trailer goes, but at least B’s bike got fixed.

The highlights of our day were Brian tossing Z around the pool, and going for the first time (I’m pretty sure) to dinner theatre! Now, usually Brian wouldn’t go for something like that, but he actually suggested it. Why? Because they were featuring ‘The Wizard of Oz’. To be honest, that surprised me even more. He had suggested that we get rid of all that Hollywood nonsense, especially any movies where anything mean happens. I was happy. I thought it would be fun, and I knew Z would love it. Ian was game, too. He has been really happy and pretty good about going along with the corny things we sometimes do. Like dinner theater.

So, yes, Zorah loved it. She was laughing, clapping, and bouncing up and down in her seat. Not fidgety bouncing, mind you. Happy bouncing. When Glinda went away on her bubble, waving goodbye to the Munchkins, Z waved too. When the cat was dancing, Z danced a bit too. It was so much fun to watch her watching. The play itself was surprisingly enjoyable, with the only negative thing being the Dorothy’s choice of voice. It sounded like she was a genetic lab experiment splicing Judy Garland and Barbara Streisand. Very weird.

# posted by Rissa and Zorah @ 9:59 PM 0 comments

Well, it was too cold, as I said, so we headed out. We looked at a map and the Frommer’s guide to RV Parks as we drove and called one in Seville, OH. They had WiFi access, so we booked a reservation. The Frommer’s Guide is really inaccurate, by the way. Besides sending us to Lake Placid, which was about 100 miles out of our way, because they put the town in the wrong place on their map of New York, they gave the place we chose, Maple Lakes Campground, three stars for RVs. We thought this place was great! The people were friendly facilities were nice, and signal strength was good. Did we do anything there? Hmm. Not really. We only stayed the night since it was very chilly, and moved on south. I have to say that we have been traveling so much that the days are becoming more than a little bit of a blur. I know that we ate dinner in Seville at a little place called The American Heritage Restaurant. They had a nice fish and chips special. I loved Seville’s water tower. Why? Beats me. But here it is.

Seville itself was an adorable little town with Sears houses. I guess you would call it quaint? Of course, everything operates on what I assume to be small town hours. Closed on Sunday, and most days at 6 pm. With our schedule, we didn’t really get to see it much. I would have liked to have walked through town, but, oh well. “Cause I’m a wanderer. Yeah, a wanderer. I roam around, around, around, around, around…”

Sorry, Dion. Anyway, Maple Lakes had a nice, though slightly dirty playground with a ramshackle playhouse which Zorah absolutely adored. She shut the doors and shutters and refused to come out. So I pretended to be the mailman, milkman, grocery store delivery man, and the repairman (the sink and stove needed to be reattached to the wall). Then we had a pretend meal or two of chicken and apples. I love the fact that even in pretend meals she chooses healthy things to eat.

She also found time to go on their slide, which I think went a little too fast for her. I guess she thought so too, because after trying it once or twice, she ran back into her house and shut the door.

August 13 & 14

The next morning, we woke up and packed up. I got to do the hookups, which is detaching the water, electric, and (my personal favorite) the sewer hookup. I have a new note to self, which is to do the sewer detachment before the water. I did it the other way, and had sewer juice on my hands, with no sink to wash in! Ewwwww! It wasn’t a real tragedy. I just brought the soap out to the water hookup and washed there. But ewwww!

We forgot to heed my advice about getting gas the night before we hitch up, but luckily there was diesel right before the highway. Brian asked if I would like to take a turn driving. So I did! Woohoo! I am a truck-driving mama! It was actually pretty easy, though I didn’t do any backing up or sharp turns. I can drive for really long stretches, so I started hinting to Brian after about an hour of driving that I could just keep on going, and that I was sure Utah would be really hot, since it was in the desert. Coincidentally, at our next Z pee break, Brian said he would take over. He said it was because he wanted me to research our next campsite. I think it was partly because he thought I was driving too slowly (though I was going about 75 on average) and that I had mentioned marathon driving to Utah. Oh, well. Though my turn at the helm was short, it was enjoyable.

It was frustrating to find a new campsite. Finally, we consulted Frommer’s, and found Thousand Trails, which is actually the RVers answer to timeshare condos. We are here for three days and two nights, and all we had to do was attend a 90 minute pitch for their service. I am sure you have all heard that one before. Anyway, Brian was getting tired of driving, and we were all getting hungry, so we took it. Oh, and it had a hot tub, a feature over which Brian and Ian promptly began to drool.

The site was quite nice. Not surprising since it’s part of a travel club. No one wanted to back our trailer into a site, so we got upgraded by default to a pull-through site in the members only section! It was right next to the bathroom too, so I got to enjoy a nice hot shower with good water pressure. Our trailer shower may have these things, but I am wary of it. I haven’t used it yet, though Zorah has.

Anyway, Thousand Trails Wilmington Edition has huge maple trees. I suppose majestic would be appropriate. Here is the family under one of those monsters.

It also has a teepee and a playground!

While Ian and Brian went to the hot tub, Zorah and I went to the pool. There she met a really nice girl named Shelby whose four front teeth were also out! Shelby’s rotted and fell out. Zorah’s rotted and were pulled out. Anyway, they had a fine time in the kiddie pool. As they were playing, Shelby’s father came out to watch them too. As they were playing with a big yellow noodle, Zorah said to Shelby: “My daddy has a penis!”

“Whoa!” I shouted. “That was random!” He and I had been having a normal conversation up to that point. “Where’d that come from!”

“Aren’t kids great?” he said. What else can you say to a comment like Zorah’s. I guess it was the noodle that made her think of it? Who can say…

Today we got some wood and some big cardboard rolls from the deli and Amish products store down the road. Without any promping, Zorah put these rolls on her arms and transformed into robot Zorah. She chased me around our site for a long time, poking me with her long robot arms. They really improved her reach, so more than a few times, I wasn't faking surprise when she poked me.

So as I was saying, we had to attend the sales presentation. We kind of asked him to just give a summary since we never made snap decisions anyway. The guy said that was fine, then went through his thing. We said it was too expensive and went on our way after about an hour. Ten minutes after we returned to the site, our salesman came by to say that checkout would be at 10 am the next morning. Before the presentation it was noon. I guess they weren’t happy that we didn’t listen to the whole spiel. After dinner, a lady in a golf cart stopped by to make sure we knew checkout was at 10 am. Sheesh! Okay, we get the message! I wonder if someone will wake us up at 8 am to let us know one more time.

Wilmington is beautiful countryside. Just driving on this little state highway yields wonderful views.And interesting!

That night we went to the store. Zorah, Ian, and I went in the truck, and Brian followed on his bike. I guess he should really get some use out of it, since we bought a toy hauler trailer to accommodate it. Anyway, Wilmington was a little strange to navigate. I guess 4 or 5 little state routes intersect here, and they all branch at different times. So when Brian said he would meet us back at the park, I was a little worried. I told him how to get back and started trucking to the trailer park.

When we got there, Brian was not to be found. Uh-oh. He came home about a half and hour after. Not only had he followed the wrong route, but his bike had started stalling on him. He couldn't remember the road we were on, nor could he remember the name of our campground. Luckily, there were two on our road, so he eventually found it. Whoops. I found it funny. Does that make me a bad person?

But now we have to find a bike shop to repair his bike. There should be one in Louisville.

# posted by Rissa and Zorah @ 12:01 AM 0 comments