We planned to leave Friday. But we had to weigh the truck and trailer (for military purposes), and the only place to do that was in town. We don't live in town. So, I had already planned to be in town to meet some members of my unit who were in town doing work at the Air Force Academy. We decided that we would go to town, weigh the camper, meet for dinner, and then get an hour or two on the road.
Well, we kind of did that. The nice thing about having a deadline in the evening, is that you are less likely to linger to collect odds-n-ends. Which means that I left my retainers and the dish soap at home. Sigh, the retainers will have to be sent. I was late to dinner, and "Lonnie" followed later with the family and camper so that he could do the finishing packing touches. When he finally got to the restaurant, the twins were asleep and Kai was covered in layers of filth normally saved for characteres in Mark Twain novels. I had warned my buddies that the kids would be dirty from playing outside, but when Kai came in, Higgins said "wow, you weren't kidding. He looks like a Dickens novel!" We collected our food to go and hit the road about an hour later than "Lonnie" hoped. Long roadtrips always leave late, so I didn't stress about that too much. We planned to stay the first night in a Flying J travel plaza, not a TA one because that just brought back strange memories from back home. I always thought the TA truck stop was an "evil place" for no apparent reason, and would avoid it. It didn't help that we were all told stories of men picking up Lot Lizards (hookers) and preying on young girls. Nuff said, I'll go to Flying J. In retrospec, I wonder if this was a brillant marketing scheme by Flying J...or the TA was really just that creepy.
Anyway, we wanted to test the truck's navigation system and put in the Flying J. Partway to Nebraska, we knew we missed it and you cann't just whip a 40' trailer in a quick U-ie on a dark 2 lane country road. So I had to get out and help "Lonnie" back the trailer onto the road from a cross street, no street lights, in the middle of cannible country. Did I mention I was still in my dress and heels from dinner? We are already really late and very tired. Stupid Ford navigation! And I already had bonded with the truck and knew she was a girl, but for cripes sakes, did she really have to fall into the "girls can't tell directions" stereotype. Ugh. We finally made it, partially set up in the parking lot, and tried to sleep. Except at this point, all the kids had been asleep for about 5 hours and were TOTALLY EXCITED AND READY TO START A NEW DAY, not taking into account that it's 1 am. Everyone did finally fall asleep in a pile and Night 1 was achieved!
Day 1 started fine: pancakes, wet wipe baths (the shower is full of packed laundry and swim gear), and on the road! The kids were great, really great the whole day. My only adventure was at a truck stop. I went in to have some private alone time and as I'm sitting there, contemplating my future, some lady comes in and as she leaves she turns the lights out!! In a public restroom! So I'm sitting there, in the dark. I can't see anything and I don't have my phone to call for help or to use as a light. I verbally yelled "Hey, I'm in here! Turn on the lights!" To no avail. My future is no longer a concern. I'm not sure how long I actually sat in the dark trying to figure out the best way to deal with things, when finally someone came in and turned the lights on. I quickly finished things and went out, to prevent another incident, and was washing my hands when my savior exited her stall. Always one to strike up a bathroom conversation I said "I glad you came in! I was totally just sitting in the dark because someone turned the lights out", she said, "Yeah, I was wondering why it was dark, and then when I turned the lights on I saw feet in the stall and realized that someone had been sitting in the dark", I said "yeah, and I wasn't quite sure what to do about it either, but now I know how people die at truck stops, they are left in dark bathrooms to rot!" We left the bathroom better and wiser people.
We arrived at our first RV park ever!! When I told the RV park guy that he was skeptical and became suspicious. I'm not sure if it was my excitement about it or concern that we were going to blow the place up. Hmm. It's a small and quite place in Kansas, with a little lake. The wild, ferrel children replaced my well-behaved truck children and immediately headed for the lake, tormenting other campers on the way (meaning they petted a dog). The lake was fun and I was taking some pictures thinking, "wow, RVing is great", until...Orion slipped in the mud and got covered, and then Kai started chasing the geese, all the kids ended up in the muddy water, and Ayla whacked me with a muddy stick and lake-fun-time was over! Good friends of our family recommended 2 things to have in an RV, an awning (which was useful at our lunch stop) and an outdoor shower. Boy was I happy for that outdoor shower!! Night 2 ended after the Olympic Ceremony (hooray for trailer TVs) and with only mild threats to their future existences, the wild, ferrel children calmed down and slept. In a pile...like wolf pups.
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