My last post was on July 5th. On July 8th we set out on our BIG camping trip. A friend of mine named it "The trip across America" thats how big it was. We traveled though seven different states in 18 days. We pulled our 28 foot travel trailor with us. We love to camp and this was the start of our dream to take the kids to all the National Parks. On our trip we made plans to visit two parks, Mammoth Caves National Park in Kentucky and Great Smoky Mountain National Park in Tennessee.
The morning we set out was exciting for everyone! We had everything packed and ready to go the night before. I worked my rear off for about two weeks to get everything perfect for this trip. My house was cleaner than it had been in a very long time. I had saved evey nickle, dime and penny we had for gas. I had stared buying non perishable food and items for the trip a few months ahead. Everything was set and now we are ready to go!!
We left Bob Evans at about 8:30 that morning and by noon we were crossing into Kentucky. Now we get off of 75 and start for the caves. It was an easy drive for us. We all had been in good moods and the boys had enough stuff to keep them busy. We got to the caves at about 3:30 our time. I had reserved a site at the Jellystone campground and was very excited to finally get there. We checked in and the kids were excited to see the pool and water slide. We got our site number and the usual check in stuff. We then proceeded to the site. Hey...did I mention that our camper is 28 feet? Well our site was not really big enough for the camper to sit on the site very well. It was on a slope. Not usually a big deal right??? Well did I mention that our camper sits low to the ground??? I know your thinking ok...so. Well our gray and black tanks were sitting on the rocks. That wasn't going to work. I went up to see if they had another site that would fit us better. They didn't but they did send someone out to see if they could help. K...so...the man they sent is telling us how this site is one that EVERYone fights over and how it's SO great because it's and end site. "We're sorry for all the confusion it's Yogi Bears birthday." This is something That was said to me about three times now. So now it is raining..not just a little rain, but a BIG... HUGH... FAT.... HARD RAIN!!! We get the camper almost leveled, still on the rocks somewhat and HOLY S**T it starts to slide on Matt. He started to push back and it stopped. The man that they sent is no longer around to help. I back the truck up to see if we can move it up some to level it out better. It's still raining and we make the kids stay in the truck. We get it in a differant spot and think that we are set. The hitch on the trailor is almost in the road but hey it might work. We get it unhooked...still raining big fat rain. We are now thinking ok maybe we'll be okay. We really aren't going to spend that much time here anyway. The big light pole that's in front of our door will be ok as long as we don't want our awning out. I guess that we really don't have to all sit around the campfire at once. I really don't want the kids to sit in the road in their chair and I don't want to eather. Matt gets the last of the jacks set and....it slides again!! By this time we are so wet that even our underwear is sticking to us. We looked like we just had the big bucket at Splash Universe dump on us for about two hours. Matt was cussing like a sailor and I was about in tears. The camper almost ran over my husband two times...on his BIRTHDAY no less! We hook it up and drive to the office again. We went in and asked if there could be anyway we could switch sites or if anything opened up in the last two hours that we were trying to set up. "No sorry it's Yogi Bear's Birthday." WHAT THE BLEEEEP!!! At this point I say something that I NEVER EVER do! I look at the lady and say" We just drove over 400 miles with an Autistic child in the back of the truck. If you don't find me another spot then I want my money back and I'll sleep on the side of the road!" I think the rage in my eyes must have been enough because she gave me a refund and then told me there was a campground just down the road. "I don't know if they have a site and I don't think they have a pool but it's a shot" were the words she used. I just looked at her and said "well we can always find a rest area to sleep in if need be." As we drove out I gave Yogi a little happy birthday salute.
We find the other campground and as we pulled in Matt wasn't so sure he wanted to stay. We got out and went in the office. A very kind looking man with a beard was behind the desk. The office was small and cozy. There was a cross hanging on the wall next to a picture of the Lords Prayer. I knew this was the campground for us. The man was smiling and was listening to us vent about the Jellystone. Did I mention that it stopped raining? We were soaked to the bone but felt like we were at home. He gave us a large site on the corner. We had electric, water, and sewer for $70 less than the other place. We got thing all settled and he came around to check on us. He noticed that he over charged us because we only need 30amp service. We didn't care we were so happy to finally get dry clothes on. He then gave us fire wood to make up for the over charge. We finally went to dinner at 7:30. Ben was so happy to finally get his dad a birthday dinnerand a free dessert. This was the end of day one!
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