Thursday, September 2, 2010

Camping a la Murphy's Law

We sure had a great time at Seaside Beach... once we got there on our last day. My, my... the RV rookies, Dad and Mom, sure climbed a steep learning curve throughout our camping trip, but they persevered, stubborn as they are, and also met some really nice "advanced" folks, who literally saved their butts (so we could get out and play finally!) Without going into too much detail, suffice it to say that we drove to Fort Bragg near Mendocino - normally about a 3-hour drive, in four hours. Not bad. Mom drove/towed the trailer and did okay, maybe due to the fact that she used to drive horse trailers a lot in younger days. We found our spot at Mackerricher State Park - beautiful - and Mom backed right in. They leveled the camper just fine, but couldn't uncouple because the ball was frozen to the hitch (Dad forgot to grease the ball). So we set up camp a little and after dinner for both us and MomDad, we took a little walk down a nice boardwalk towards the sea and saw some cool fluffy ground squirrels I just wanted to chase so bad! Not to be, so back to our site for bed cause we were all very tired. At 3 a.m., we all woke up to a shrill beeping sound - the CO monitor was making a disturbingly loud noise. Dad told us all to get out and finish up our sleeping in the Jeep. He grabbed the car keys and pushed the panic button by mistake (headlights flashing brightly, horn honking loudly). And he couldn't get it to stop. After morning showers close by, Dad ran into a very generous camper with 30 years' RV experience. He fixed us all up, teaching my parents how to fire up their generator for power (the CO monitor had simply lost power; the whole 12-volt system had died). He helped us uncouple the jeep from the trailer and re-level it properly. He got the hot water heater to function and lots more stuff. Dad and Mom were armed for the rest of the trip (well... sort of) but extremely grateful. Anyway, we got to play, visit some friends for a dinner out, see some sea lions, run around on beaches and walk around a pretty lake. Here's a little movie of part of the "path" around Lake Cleone - a rickety boardwalk!



If you want to check out the longer movie of the Sea Lions feeding at the Fort Bragg wharf, you can catch it here. And below is a little slideshow of some of the things we did and places we went.


And a little hint about Part II! See Ya!



19 comments:

YD, sometimes with ♥June and ♥Angel Samantha said...

What a start to your camping trip! But it looks like everyone is having so much fun!!! Love the slideshow, it's pawsome!!!

Sam & June

Sierra Rose said...

Ah! These photos make us smile! What a fun time! And, with some camper excitement and 3am Panic Buttons!
We haven't been to this area in ages, looks fantastic! Love seeing Sammie and Avalon running together!
Will miss you this weekend!!!!!

Hugs and snaggle-tooth kisses,
Sierra Rose

Emma Rose said...

We had a good chuckle over the new camper mishaps. We went through so many of those too! Fortunately we had close friends that had been RV-ing for years. They were a tremndous help! Once you get the kinks out and get through the learning curve you will love it!

Happy trails!!!

Kisses,
Emma Rose and the Duchess

Golden Woofs! SUGAR said...

Woof! Woof! YAH! You guys are back. How FUN was that. Your Lil sis is not so little anymore. Great to see Avalon having such a great time. Looking forward to see more photos/slideshow/video of your trip. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar

Anonymous said...

Yay! Sounds like fun! Your sister is so big now! My goodness! Love the videos! :-)

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

My husband who doesn't read blogs LOVED this post as did I! You have a new fan at our house!! :-)))

Maggie Mae and Max said...

Samantha,

OMD!! YOu is back, I is sooo happy!
What a wunderful time youz guys had. :) Mom and me luvs all da pictures! Avalon is such a big girls now too. :)

WOofs and Licks,
Maggie Mae

NAK and The Residents of The Khottage Now With KhattleDog! said...

SOOOOO much fun!

SOOOOO much khuteness too!

Khousin Merdie gives The Froggie Puppie HIGH marks ;-)

Thanks fur sharing!

Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra

Frankie Furter and Ernie said...

Campers are like Blogville residents.. They will help you with all sorts of problems... GRRRREAT isn't it???

Wrigley said...

I am glad to hear you overcame the camper setup woes and had some fun!

Love the videos.

Wags N Kisses,
Wrigley

the booker man said...

miss sammie!
welcome back! i missed you bunches 'n tons!
i'm glad your mama and daddy had that nice dude to help them figure out the RV and everythingie. those alarms and beeps and stuff would have totally scared me, so i'm glad ya'll didn't have to experience that again. teehee.
ya'll picked a most beautimous place to go campin'! i love the pictures and can't wait to see part 2! :)
*woof*
the booker man

Thor and Jack said...

What a fun time you had!

Infrequent Flyers said...

Oh dear, sounds like you had some challenges on your trip. But glad you made it back in one piece. Hope to see you...maybe in October? My September is swamped!

Kari in Alaska said...

Thank goodness you met the experienced people!


Don't forget, we moved to http://dogisgodinreverse.com

Molly the Airedale said...

What a beautiful trip! We loved the slideshow!

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

Gus, Louie and Callie said...

What a great camping trip you had. We love the video's.. So beautiful and really relaxing...

Big Sloppy Kisses
Gus, Louie and Callie

Teddy Westlife said...

As long as you all had fun together, that's the main thing!

Oskar said...

My people & I are very jealous of your trip. We LOVE camping & haven't gotten to go much this year.

I'm so happy that you have such a great adventure!

Augie and Ti's mom said...

Whew, I am behind in my blog reading!

Funny (to me, hee hee) start to your camping trip! I'm glad you got over the hump and enjoyed yourselves. The video of the pups was soooooo cute! :)