Experimental Trip #1
Friday, January 8, 2016
Our first camping – or “glamping” – adventure! Perry hooked up the trailer to the back of his truck with all the fancy attachments & light kits that cost “extra” when we bought the thing. I finished outfitting the “household” & got the pups ready to go. They were smelling & looking mighty fine with fresh haircuts & baths & for that I was grateful. Just one “OPPS!” right off. When Perry pulled the camper out of the backyard, he forgot to retract / turn the door rail & it caught on the fence. It’s pretty bent so I suppose we will have to replace it at some point.
We drove just 15 miles to our first camping adventure – Ft Yargo State Park in Winder. We checked out the facilities the previous weekend & decided it was a good idea for us newbies – near home so we could make a run back if anything big was needed but still be out in “nature.” I went online & made our reservations a couple of days prior & Perry got us registered at the office when we arrived. For anyone interested in camping at Georgia State Parks, let me suggest you get a Year Pass – Family Plan for $60. It gives you 2 vehicle passes (gave one to our son & family) & also gives you a two night camp pass. As camping is $32 a night, this $60 actually saved us money! Also, the Pass gives you a 10% discount each time you camp & you get a Passbook with stickers for each night – 10th visit (one night) – is then FREE!
We found a campsite right by the lake (Ft Yargo is a first come, first serve place) & Perry backed the trailer in as I stood on the parking deck & directed him via cell phone. Yes, we used our cell phones to communicate instead of yelling back & forth. The people waiting to get by us for nearly 20 minutes were laughing at our Bert & Ernie episode & showed enormous patience during the wait. Perry leveled everything up & hooked up the power & water. I pushed the button to extend the bumpout & another to extend the awning. It was hard work but someone had to do it. While Perry set up the grill & such outside, I got things ready for our “home away from home” on the inside. Then we sat down with the pups & felt all proud we hadn’t killed each other yet. Robby, Lisa & Lily joined us for dinner – steaks, baked potatoes & salad as well as sweet tea! Our first guests! The dinette in the trailer is quite roomy so the 5 of us were comfortable inside as the temp outside was a little nippy. Everything was tasty & clean-up was pretty simple. But I had to have Perry escort me to the public restrooms – no way am I going potty in the trailer with people just feet away! It was dark & I kept remembering our last camping adventure some 20 or so years ago when I came face to face with a bear. This old girl will require an escort – probably forever! By the way, the restrooms at Ft Yargo are CLEAN! WooHoo!
The night provided peaceful sleep & a renewed sense of adventure for day two.
Saturday, January 9, 2016
During our first night, I discovered that my husband’s snores make my dog (Spice) think we are about to have an intruder. She makes a great security alarm even when there is no threat. Also, our little trailer retains heat like CRAZY! Perry gets cold during the night & I get hot. He turned on the space heater & I was drowning in sweat. I’ll be picking up an electric blanket for him to use on the other bed (the dinette folds into a bed). Then I’ll find a small fan to plug in, aimed at me in the Murphy bed. The noise should keep Spice from hearing the snores.
Morning arrived & Perry took the pups out for a walk. He reported that they love the new smells EVERYWHERE & they pee & poop like they have been saving up for a month. Meanwhile, I got breakfast started on the stove. We have no toaster & I didn’t want to light the pilot in the oven so I buttered the bread & fried it in the pan. Well, this created smoke & the fire alarm went to screeching! Deafening! I have no doubt the neighbors were awakened & thought aliens were invading! It wasn’t too long after that the people in the site next to ours packed up & left. After we figured out the roof vents & that the stove has a hood vent that requires a push of a button to turn on, we were good to go. Frying the bacon didn’t even set it off again. Then I fried eggs & discovered I did not have a spatula so those eggs were scrambled. They still tasted great.
We got everything cleaned up & Perry headed down to the restrooms for a bit so I thought I’d take my shower. I didn’t even have my hair completely wet & the fire alarm went off again! I threw that door open & attempted to climb out to investigate the cause but Spice was jumping in the shower because she was totally freaked out. Water went everywhere, I was soaked & so was Spice. I have to assume the steam set off the alarm as there was no smoke in the trailer. I’m just glad I hadn’t opened the blinds yet or the world would have seen me full Monty. I finished the shower & cleaned up the water mess & dried Spice off but noticed the water was not draining properly from the shower. It appears these little trailers only have so much room in their catch tanks & we had not been conservative on their use – remember, this is our “trial run.” We needed to either take the trailer over to the dump station in the park & drain it or get one of the water bladders you can wheel around & hook to the tow hitch of your vehicle to take the waste water to the dump station. It’s a learning experience, this camping thing. We were aiming to hit beginner level after this first weekend adventure!
We put one of my freezer to crockpot meals on & took the pups home for the day. Then we went to the North Georgia Trade Center RV Show in Gwinnett. We had never been to one of these shows before & we were both disappointed. Our thought was that we’d find all sorts of booths with things that would “enhance” our camping experience. Instead, the show was all about buying a new travel trailer so there were a whole lot of people in & out of these tight spaces & I do not like strangers touching me. I was totally claustrophobic in no time! The few booths that were there were selling things like candles & gutter guards. Yes, there were a couple that pertained to camping but it was so limited it was ridiculous. Lesson learned – no more RV shows for us. We decided to head up to Camping World in Oakwood. I had been told by my friend, Cindy Murphy, that Camping World was THE place to go for the “goods” we were looking for & that the folks there would be more than willing to answer any & all questions we could possibly have plus give good advice on things we hadn’t even thought of. She was so right. That place was awesome! We left with a couple bags full of “stuff” we just couldn’t live without – like a clear Black Tank elbow so you can see when the flusher is flushed completely & a telescoping fly swatter for Lily. By the way, that water bladder on wheels cost over $200! So, we opted to stop off at Home Depot & bought a couple 5 gallon buckets that we can fill with the gray water & then walk them over to nearby gray water holes in the campground. Two buckets with lids for under $10 – MUCH better!
We went home to pick up the pups & then returned to camp. Our friend, Mark Findley, came by for dinner & a visit which was so enjoyable. Just chatting about this & that & life as it has unfolded. Evenings like that are what I picture as the way “glamping” should be – laid back & easy. Okay, so the fire alarm went off yet again while Mark was with us. GRRRR! We have resolved to remove the batteries from the darn thing while cooking & replace it for times we are not in residence or when we are sleeping. Crazy fire alarm! Hurumph! This happens at home, too. Surely it’s not caused by the way I cook?!? As the evening came to an end the rain began beating on the roof
Sunday, January 10, 2016
It didn’t just rain all night – it poured. One take away lesson was to roll the awning in at times like this. The weight of the water can cause damage. Something popped & scared us so we rolled it in (love that it takes only a push of a button – from inside – where it’s dry). I rolled it back out once we had daylight & all looked good. But the wind seriously picked up overnight so I retracted it again. We let it dry out later at home when the wind calmed down. There was no thunder with the storm so Spice didn’t get her tutu in a twist & we all slept MUCH better. When I stilled owned & operated my publishing company (I did that for 24 years), I slept maybe 3 or 4 hours a night – it was SOOOOO stressful! It took about six months after I decided to shut it down before I could sleep 6 hours straight. Now it’s been four years & I sleep sooooo well. A 7 or 8 hour night without waking is the norm. I think, if it weren’t for the dogs needing to go out to potty, I could have slept 10 hours in the trailer. For that kind of calm, I am grateful. Perry sleeps well, too. Life is good!
Breakfast was without a hitch – mainly because we removed the fire alarm battery before cooking commenced. Then we leisurely cleaned up & stowed everything in preparation of our trip home – all 15 miles. There will be a few more things we need to gather to make camping easier, such as a yoga mat for Perry when he has to lay on the ground & connect the hitch stuff & disposable rubber gloves for when he has to empty the gray water & black water at the dump station. Let me just tell you, we had NO idea what we were doing with this foul chore & couldn’t find the owner’s manual to see the instructions (I have since found this very important book) so we were “winging it” on how to connect things. Neither of us had ever seen it done which made for high anxiety. But, we think we did it right & the tanks are clear. I’ll look over the book just to see if we missed something or if there is an easier way than what we created during our first attempt. I did think it cleaver the dump hose fits so perfectly inside the back bumper of the trailer. And I’m glad Perry remembered his brother, Paul Barton, told him that little secret.
So, we got home, backed into the backyard without incident & I left Perry to disconnect the trailer, etc. I took the pups inside & promptly dropped my tired self into a hot tub of water. Just 48 hours of camping & I was exhausted &, even though I had a shower the day before, I felt so dirty & smelly. That MAY have been caused from seeing the dumping chore done. None got on us but – just ICK! I have to assume my exhaustion was caused by fretting over the unknown. Perry leveled up the camper & parked the truck back in the garage &, when he came inside, he said he was exhausted, too. This just made me laugh. We are either older than our numeric years or we just have to assume the first camping adventure is torture amidst the fun. After an early dinner at Cracker Barrel (when you have an AARP card, take advantage of it!) we sat on the couch, eyes sagging at 6:00p.m. And we laughed at ourselves so laugh with us!
The plan was to spend a week or two gathering the additional things needed & then commence the NEXT trial run! Not all who wander are lost, as they say.
