Camping Adventure

*Some details may be a little exaggerated for added drama.



So Granpa Jim & Plain Grama asked if we could set aside a weekend to go camping with them before summer was over. We had already been out on two other camping trips this summer and with all the home remodeling projects to get to, we decided that Mark would stay at home and get lots of work done and I would take the kids. Because we were going with Granpa & Grama, I didn't have to do much planning at all. My responsibilities consisted of packing clothes, a tent and sleeping bags (and some chocolate chip cookies of course) and Granpa & Grama took care of the rest. I knew where we were going (at least I knew the name). I, however, didn't have to know how to get there. I didn't even have to drive. It was easy-peesy.





We got a late start on Friday because Granpa ended up having to work later than expected. But still, all was okay. We should have had time to make it there before it got too dark. So we set off toward a fun-filled happy weekend of camping. About two hours in to the trip it was starting to get dark and we were on a gravel road. "Are you sure there's a campground up here?" "Yes! We have reservations for Frog Lake. We followed the directions to Frog Lake." A couple of miles up this gravel road we stop to speak to the only human we've seen in about an hour. He's just setting up a pole to go fishing at dusk. Granpa pulls up and asks him, "Are we close to the campground?" His reply? "There's no campground on this lake. I've been coming up here for 20 years. There is no campground here." Fantastic!!! Where on Earth are we??



So with this man's help we learn that there are two Frog Lakes in the area . . . about an hour apart from each other if you know the back roads. Who's idea was it to name two different lakes the same thing within that close proximity?! Ridiculous! So off we drive to find another place in the vicinity to stay for the night. Yeah right! Like you could find a campsite without a reservation on a Friday night at 9pm. So we check a couple of places. No go. Keep in mind there is a 2 yr. old in the vehicle who has been sitting for nearly 3 hours!! At one point Granpa stops the truck in the middle of this nearly deserted road in the pitch dark so we can figure out whether or not to keep going or take a cut-off. We notice a car approaching from behind. So, Granpa starts to back up and pull of the road. Smash! Crunch! Bad noises! What was that noise?!? Fortunately, it was not us running in to the people behind us. The boat trailer had tipped over! The people behind us were totally lost too so we all sat in the middle of the road and commiserated for a few minutes. They easily got the boat trailer uprighted and we got going again. We drove about 500 feet and I said, "Stop! We're camping right here at this pull-out. I can drop a tent right there." And that's just what we did. We camped right there on the side of the road.



to be cont . . . .