The November Trip

The Thanksgiving (US) Weekend Story:

We rented a Recreational Vehicle and "camped" at Lake Cachuma, California for the Holiday weekend. This could be a very long story. I'll try to summarize/condense it because, after all, it is kind of old news.

The rental company ran out of the 25' long RVs and upgraded us to a 30 footer. It felt so very big, and my very dh did a great job of driving all weekend. "Long and wide," we were told, "always think, 'long and wide', which DH did.

After four stops, (gas, potty stop, something flapping on the side of the vehicle, and a snack), we made it to the campsite at around 8:30pm Wednesday evening. About 1/2 of our group was there, and we sat by the fire for a little while, got all set up with beds ready for our weary bodies, and tried to go to sleep in our new "habitat."

We did not sleep very much that night, but the next morning's brilliant sun and clear blue sky awoke us anyway. What a gorgeous day awaited us! Boat trips, fishing, cooking, eating and eating and eating, having a huge Thanksgiving dinner at the picnic tables, with massive amounts of desserts, in the beautiful forest air, hearing all kinds of birds, including wood peckers, bluebirds, magpies and of course ravens, and that was just breakfast! (nah--it was at least 4pm when we finished Thanksgiving dinner.) We played badminton and cards; we sewed, napped and read. We talked and joked and really enjoyed being there with our friends and their families.

At night, a family of raccoons nosed around and scuttled from their tree-homes (either under the trees or in them, we never quite figured it out) through our campsite and to the lake, then returned.

Friday morning brought us the jaunt to Solvang for breakfast and shopping, and lunch, too. The women split off from the men and children, so that the men and kids could go back to camp and play, while the women knocked off some Christmas shopping and souvenir hunting. Another beautiful day's sun shone on us. We dressed for winter, and it's just a good thing we had layers of clothing, because we stripped a layer at a time since it got so warm. We found bargains, not such bargains, and beautiful expensive things, plus delectable delacies from the delicious bakery.

We waited for our "limosine" driven by one of the husbands to take us back to camp so we could prepare dinner for the group. It was my turn to make the main course, and I had made lasagne. Our RV had a convection/microwave oven, and it worked quite well to warm the lasagne. It was nearly all gone by the end of dinner. I made it with my own home made sauce, my own secret ingredients (only secret until someone asks for it)--a recipe not written anywhere, and no measurements except a palm full of this, a handfull of this, a pinch of that. Even I liked it.

Full and happy, but cold, we retired to the campfire once again, to share stories and jokes and yes, some gossip even.

Sleep came a little easier to DH and me, but to BD2, strange surroundings were difficult on her. I ended up sleeping with her in the dinette-set/kids' bed, and wasn't sure if I'd be able to straighten out the next morning. We had nicknamed DH "Dances with Blankets" because he tossed and turned so much that he kept getting tangled in the blankets, leaving me with none. So, sleeping with BD2 was nice, since I got to keep a blanket, and also, she is a great heater!

Saturday brought some clouds and winds, but it was still tolerable. We had planned to do the birthday boy's celebration at the picnic tables. He turned 12 on November 25. However, It began to rain. So, since we had the biggest RV of the group, about 17 of us crammed into our dining room and sang "Happy Birthday," he blew out the candles, and opened his prezzies. It was a very cozy birthday party!

That afternoon the park ranger came around and told us they expected 50 mph winds that night, and since we had tent campers with our group, it would be advisable if we left. The most experienced among us, a man who had been coming for about 25 years every Thanksgiving, plus some other occasions, decided that he and his wife would leave. If he was going, we were not staying, and the whole campground, 2 RVs, a minivan, a truck & camper, a truck & tent trailer, kids, toys and everything were packed in one hour. Record timing for packing up to leave!

Because one of the vehicles had become disabled, DH, the girls and I, plus one other family, stayed for nearly 3 extra hours, until after dark waiting for a tow truck. We then called the towing company and found that all of us did not have to stay, only the driver of the disabled truck did. So, off the last of the camping group went, one stop to McDonalds for "dinner".

We got home at about 9:pm Saturday night. Tired but really happy we got the opportunity to go on a great trip like that. We unpacked the RV mostly Saturday night, but left the rest for Sunday. Sunday, my wonderful DH cleaned out the entire RV, including vacuuming and wiping the counters, as well as unpacking all the rest of our gear. What a pleasure I got walking inside the thing! It looked brand new!

I had to return the RV the next morning. It was just shy of the 1/4 tank of fuel we were supposed to return. I thought I'd just return the thing because I felt uneasy enough just driving on straight roads and freeways with it; I did not want to chance the gas station. The rental guy convinced me it would be less expensive to go get some gas "right around the corner." So off I went, leaving BD2 with my good friend who had followed me to take us home.

You might imagine my horror when I heard an ugly scraping sound when I pulled up to the gas pump. Yup, I had scraped the side of the RV with a pole set at the end of the pumps in order to keep people from driving into the pumps.

I went ahead and put gas in the RV, sobbing, cursing myself, and thinking that it wasn't worth it to come over here and get the fuel. What will DH think??? This will certainly give him good ammunition for his thoughts that I am not a good driver. Hell. It was a thirty-foot long, 8 ft wide vehicle! I had hever driven anything like it before (and may never again). I do just fine with my old SUV thank you very much. But mostly, I cried and wondered what the cost would be and if this would affect my auto insurance. Inadequate, I silently screamed. Not good enough still, I yelled in my mind. I was so proud of myself for getting it there undamaged, and then this. Can not do anything right. Again, the old dismal inadequacy voices erupted in my head.

Returning to the dealer, I was still in tears, especially after realizing that the money I had saved by getting the fuel was only $8 from the cost of what they'd charge for not having enough fuel in the tank. When I told the guy what had happened, he felt bad that I feld so bad, and said he had the parts necessary to fix it himself, so it would not be too big of a deal. I told him to keep the $300 deposit toward fixing it. I was visibly shaking. When I got in my friend's car, waiting with BD2, and I cried some more, and told her the whole story. Then I called DH from the cell phone, and told him.

He began to say something about me needing to be more careful, but I stopped him, saying that I had already berated myself enough for both of us; I didn't need his scolding, too.

So except for the very last hour of the whole weekend, we enjoyed a great, happy, healthy time. I keep trying to remember the other 91 hours.