And Not a picture to show you! In fact I didn't even take my camera out of the bag.
Way back in January or February Beth, Lucas and I decided we would go camping within the path of totality for the eclipse and Lucas made us reservations at Merrimac State Park. Less than 300 miles which ended up requiring 10 hours of driving for me!
Quinn and I left home about 2 in the afternoon to hit the bank and pick up Zoe for the ride down (she gets the whole back seat in my truck as opposed to the floorboard in theirs) then went off to pick up Ceili. More of a chore than usual as I brought Annie (my bicycle) along and had to move her and her bike rack onto Ceili before I could hook up-so maybe 5 more minutes than usual. Also, Ceili's battery was dead (again) and it takes longer to raise and lower the tongue by hand-I'm spoiled by that electric jack! Hooked up and on the road, we went by the KOA to get propane but they had a long line of rigs checking in so we just went on. I really don't require propane at this time of the year as long as I have an electric hookup-although it would be nice to start the frig cooling down while I drive. I can't use the stove itself but I have an electric skillet, a charcoal grill, an electric coffeepot and a microwave (which is ridiculous -I hardly use the one at home.) With temperatures in the 90'sF I wasn't going to need the heat so it was all good! (I will get propane soon, though. The problem is that Ceili has BIG canisters which do not fit under the cover of my truck and which I cannot lift when full. That means I can't just take them with me when Ceili goes to storage and bring them back full-working on a solution to that.) We hit the road south to 50 highway and turned east. At Jefferson City a helpful fellow driver told me I had a flat on the trailer! I needed gas so pulled off the highway, it wasn't just flat but totaled, sigh. Last summer a service station fellow told me it had a bubble on it, they often say such things hoping to frighten the little old lady into replacing/repairing something that doesn't really need it. I could never find this bubble so I just kept driving. Fortunately, Beth and Lucas were behind me several miles and got off to help me-Lucas had to go get the proper tool at the auto store as my lug wrench didn't fit the tires. I broke out the cookies and the dogs had a walk and a long drink. By this time it was getting dark, the road was two lane, twisty, up and down. Things went fine after that until I let Google direct me to the park-I missed the first turn from HWY T to Blue house Road (I swear to you it looked like a dirt road to me!) Then Google lost service. No place to stop, no place to turn around but I knew if I kept on I'd hit an innerstate sooner or later. Google came back and the route took me on some 5 0r maybe 6 backroads, some of which were dirt or gravel roads-I'm sure it would have been quite lovely if it had been daytime! Finally, got to where Google said I'd arrived -ah NO another country lane but no campground, at least I could turn around there. I'd decided that I'd go back to the hwy and turn left if I didn't find the park really soon I was going back into town and finding a hotel room for the night! Fortunately, even though I drove past it and had to turn around (no one can really understand how hard it is to turn around with a trailer). Lucas finally got through on the phone and met me at the entrance! Yeah Lucas! After filling with water and me trying twice to back the trailer into the spot while avoiding two HUGE trees, I just let Lucas do it. It was midnight, I was exhausted, I didn't unhook from the truck just plugged in (even that wasn't right as the 30 amp plug didn't work and I had to use my 50amp adaptor to get the A/C and frig working.) I just crashed about 1:30am!
The dogs were amazing, the best trip companions around!
1 comment:
Now that's an adventure! Off to read part two.
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