The Long, Long Trailer

The camping story continues:

When we arrived back at the outfitters, we were so happy to get in the car, and head out to the camp site.  We couldn't wait to get a good night's sleep in the trailer, get dry, get warm, and have a hot cooked meal.  As we started to pull out, the drag was unbelievable, it felt as if we were pulling a load of elephants. We knew the trailer was big, and we were in a muddy field, but this was ridiculous!  All of a sudden, Ray threw the car into park, yelled something, and jumped out.  I looked in the side mirror, and saw a row, about 30 feet long, like a plow had dug a trench.  You could have planted a crop in it! 

 It was the trailer jack!  We had been so excited to get off the river and get to the trailer, that we had not raised the jack up.  It was now bent, and Ray could lift it up only part way!!  The kids were all asking what happened, and I quickly told them to not say a word, when Daddy got back in the car!! 

Ray got in, and stated, "we better not go over any speed bumps the rest of the trip, or the bottom of the jack will hit!!"

So, pulling out, finally, we got out the directions to the camp site.  Being new "trailer" campers, we had googled RV camp sites, instead of State parks.  We were thinking State Parks were more for tent camping, since that is what we had done in the past.

So we pulled into the RV Park about 30 minutes later, only to find that it was, well let's just say, less than beautiful.  The beach that we were supposed to be camping next to, had a large bloated fish, a few pieces of trash, some skeletons, and a "swim at your own risk" sign.  The other camp sites were occupied by people that had obviously been camping there for years, and one lady greeted us by hollering at her kids, who were playing in the mud in front of her rv, "What part of NO don't you understand?!"

We told our kids to divert their eyes, and decided to go ahead and cook our burgers for dinner on our grill, that we were supposed to have at each camp site.  When we inquired at the office, as to where the grill was, she quickly ran into her house, and brought out her's for us to use.  Very nice people, but we were not sure about staying here for three more days.

We decided to go ahead and go to bed, get some rest, then figure it out the next morning.

The next day, we checked our iPhone for State parks. Thank goodness for technology.  There was a State park, not far from where we were, so we decided to go check it out.  It was beautiful, and we found a wonderful place, right on the lake, with lots of green grass for the kids to run and play.  We marked our spot, and headed back over to the RV park to pick up the trailer and move it.  We decided we would dump, (Trailer campers know what I am talking about), since we were all hooked up anyway at our site.  When Ray flipped the switch to dump, it began to overflow out of the ground and ran down the grass into the "Swim at your own Risk" Beach.  No wonder they had the sign up!! GAG!  All I can say is, we were so glad to get out of there.

By the time we reached the State park, it was full, except for the spot we had marked.  As we all piled out of the car, to let the kids check out the beach and the camp site, and to give Ray some quiet as he backed in the trailer, I overheard the neighboring campsite couple talking about what they were about to witness.  The older man next to us said, "Honey, get the chairs, this is going to be a show!! Let's see if this young'en can back this thing in here!"  

No pressure, I told Ray, but the couple next to him had set up with a drink in hand, ready to watch Ray back in the "Long, Long Trailer"!!

I am proud to say, he backed it like a champ, and the old guy even congratulated him on a job well done!! Whew!!

We settled in for a few days of fun and camping.  It was GREAT sleeping in a bed, instead of the ground, and also having a kitchen to cook some of the food for our crew, was also a blessing.  We even had some friends come join us for the last night there.

 

We thought that besides the bent trailer jack, overall, the trip had gone well. A great way to take a big family on an inexpensive trip!!

Sunday morning, we woke early, to head home.  Ray was actually supposed to meet my Dad to go on a fishing trip for a few days.  Ray, being the son-in-law of Mike Janszen, did not want to make him wait, so we packed up in a hurry, trying to get on the road for our 2 1/2 hour drive back to Cleburne.

We thought we had it all packed up, and were ready to go.  Ray had us wait outside the car while he tried to pull out of the skinny camping spot.   Being the new trailer campers that we were, we did not have a "pack-up check list" yet, sooooo, right as he started to pull out, we heard a horrible crunch!! Somehow, we had forgotten to pull out the new blocks, and new jacks we had purchased for the long, long trailer.  Ugh!! ruined!! 

Ok, so, just a few more things that will need repairs after we get home from our inexpensive camping trip in the trailer.

We gathered the crunched items, put them in the car, and headed out, finally.

We were still getting off in plenty of time, and still felt pretty good about our trip.  We noticed, though, that the gas was low in the Excursion.  "No problem", Ray said, "once we get off of the park road, there is a station with diesel, only about 15 miles down the road." The car was showing about 50 miles until empty.

The problem was that the park road was very hilly, and we were pulling the long, long trailer.  The Excursion started drinking the diesel like it was in a desert on a hot day.  Jesse and I began watching the ticker count down how many miles till empty.  It was dropping about a mile per every few seconds.  When we finally reached the main road, we stopped and asked a pick-up truck were the closest diesel station was.  The closest was 10 miles, in the wrong direction!! Now remember, we were on a tight schedule, trying to get home for Ray to meet my dad, and the other guys in the family.   

We had no choice.  The counter said 7 miles till empty, we had 10 miles in the wrong direction, or 15 miles in the right direction.  We had to take the shortest route to the station.  

So right we turned, taking our chances with the 10 miles.  We started praying, that the Lord would multiply our gas, and let it not run out, like the widow and the oil and flour. (scripture reference) That counter started flashing, and might as well have been sounding off and alarm, "0 miles till empty!!" The road sign said we still had 5 miles to go.  We were praying....

Ray said, if we ran out, he would hop on one of the bikes and ride to the station, or take the golf cart we had crammed in the back of the toy hauler, either way, plan B was not looking very good.  

Can I just tell you?....it was a miracle... We made it, literally, glided into the station, and on top of that, one that would fit our long, long trailer!!!

We filled up, and were finally, again, on our way.  We called Dad to explain what had happened and that we were going to be late, and Dad was great.  "No problem," he said. Still, Ray didn't want to dilly-dally, so off we sped to Cleburne.

We made pretty good time, in spite of pulling the trailer, and swerving all over the road on the way home, because we were back heavy.  When we finally were at our last turn, into the driveway of our home, Ray, still not wanting to make Dad wait, didn't want to take the time to let Jesse get out and disengage the gate, to swing it open extra wide, he just decided to shoot on through, thinking he could clear it, and in the process, save lots of time.  Well, we all heard a horrible scraping sound.  After a few seconds, Ray hopped out of the car, and went to see what had happened.  The whole side of the trailer, the side with the canopy, had scraped along the limestone rock entry way leading into our driveway.  I told the kids, again, "Don't say a word!!" As Ray got back in the car, he just pulled on through, gritting his teeth, mumbling something!! When we pulled on up to the house, we got out and realized that the canopy was in shreds, all blowing in the wind like flags.   Yikes!! Just a few more repairs to make from this trip.

Ray ran in, threw his stuff together, and hopped in the other car to meet my Dad.

I walked down to get the mail after he left, and noticed that the limestone pillar, that had scrapped the side of the trailer, had a nasty lean to it, and was about to tumble over.  My heart sank, as I knew Ray must have seen it on his way out to meet Dad.  When I got back to the house, I called his cell, wanting to comfort him, and let him know that it was ok, we would get all the things fixed that we broke on this trip, and not to worry about the entrance, we could get that fixed too.  No worries, and that I just loved him, and thanked him for trying to create great memories for our family.  Little did I know, that he had not noticed the pillar, so when I began to try to make him feel better about everything, I actually made him feel worse, by telling him about something else that had been damaged from this camping trip. So much for "inexpensive" family trips.

So, whatever happened to the long, long trailer?  We had all the repairs done, on our entry way, as well as on the trailer, and prayed for a buyer.  While we were up at Kanakuk, the trailer was at the shop getting fixed, and the Lord brought a buyer!! Hallelujah.  No more long, long trailer for us!! 

Thanks for reading this long, long post!!

Happy New Year,

JJ