The End!

So Thursday was the day that Jen had to leave.  They had to drive to South Carolina.  They left around noon.  We were not in the mood to sit around or to go out on some big adventure.  So we went to the fish hatchery.  Joshua really enjoyed it.  There were these long cement pools were they put the fish.  After they grow they release them into the river that runs along the hatchery.  It was again about 105 degrees.  Josh made Matt walk all the way down one side and up the other.  It was about the lenght of a football field.  We then went down by the river.  The temperature dropped a good 25 degrees and the water was cold.  Later that night we went to dinner were Josh told a group of young girls they were all "beautiful ladies."  It was an eventful day.

On Friday we went to the spring and the guys swam.  It was fun.  They had a rope tied and they could swing out and jump.  Of course my dare devils did it!  Adam didn't want to try but enjoyed the swimming.  Here's a picture of Ben swinging. 



This was a county park and you didn't have to pay anything to go.   The kids had a great time and I think Matt really enjoyed swinging from the rope also!  Wonder if Grandpa could hang one of these babys up for the pool!   

This was our last day in Arkasas.  We decide to take two days to go home.  Smart idea, maybe I will give better directions if we are well rested on our drive home. 

We leave at about 9:00am on Saturday.  We  plan to only drive for 5 or 6 hours.  We make it to Illinois and stop at the rest area.  Maybe all rest areas are like this but we loved this one.  We went in and there were two ladies working at the desk.  I don't really go to rest areas, so I was surprised that they were there. One of the ladies asked Matt if she could help him find information on anything.  He asked if she had any on campgrounds.  She showed him the info, called the campground and booked us a site.  We got a discount at the campground because we booked from the rest area.  Holy cow talk about service!  I was releaved that we were not going to be looking for signs for campgrounds along the road.  So this is a big shout out to the Illinois rest area people...THANKS FOR SAVING MY SANITY!!!

Now with a map to the campground we head out to Effingham.  Ok so that is a pretty funny name for a city.  We still laugh about our stay in Effingham.  The campground was very easy to find.  They had a great little playground area for the kids.  I was pretty happy with the showers.  Other than being at our Aunt and Uncle's I've been taking a shower in the camper and it's not that big.  I was happy to have a good shower after a long day on the road.

We make it home the next day and I tell you I was so happy to see the Pure Michigan sign on 23!  The best part of the last 10 miles was the boys doing the aaahhhhh thing over the bumpy part on 23.  Matt and I now do it every time we travel that part of the road.

We had an amazing time on our trip.  I think I said thank you to my husband just about every day over those 18 days, with the exception of the few travel days.  We were so blessed that everything worked out and God made it possable for us to do this vacation.  I have an Uncle who often says there is no greater artist that God and I was so very happy that my children got to see what a beautiful land He gave us.  Thanks for reading this story of our first big National Parks camping trip.  I hope that you enjoyed reading it.  I'll leave you with one more picture of the trip.

Ben took this one when we were on our over priced train ride.  Not a bad picture for an 8 year old.  We look kind of worn out but we're still smiling.

The wedding, Dam, and Branson.

So the rest of our vacation went like this...


Saturday Rebecca got married!  We had a great time and we taught those in Arkansas how we do it in Michigan!!  They don't dance.  I was shocked when I heard this.  My thought was that maybe it was Bobbys family that don't dance.  Not really sure, but the DJ said it was the first time they ever saw men dance the dollar dance with the groom.  Boy did we ever show them how we do it!  Joshua "taught" his cousins grandma how to dance.  Everyone had a great time.

As planned we moved the camper to Uncle Rob and Aunt Tammy's house on Monday.  On Tuesday we went to see some of the area.  We went to Bull Shoals dam, and to the state park.  That night we had a fish fry. 

On Wednesday we went to Branson.  Yup, back to Missouri.  We wanted to take Adam to the Titanic museum.  We looked up some other attractions and planned to go on a train ride also.  It took about 1 1/2 hours to get there.  We went with Matts parents, sister and niece.  We got there got our tickets for the train and found the museum.  We ate lunch at Shoney's.  This is the first time my kids have ever been to a buffet other than a chinese one.  They loved the fact that you could get your food and not wait. I'm not really a big fan but it was fast and everyone was happy.  We went on our train ride.  It was nice but not worth the $115 we spent on it.  We then went to the museum.  That was worth evey dime we spent on it!  It was much cheeper than the train and so much more enjoyable.  My son Adam LOVES  Titanic.  He saw the movie when he was about 5 years old.  He has seen the original black and white film.  He loves the documentary films.  His gramdma gave him the sound track to the movie last year for his birthday.  He was really excited to go to the museum.  We spent about 3 hours going through it.  This was one of the few things that I really wanted to do on this vacation and I was so happy that he got to go!  We were not allowed to take pictures in the museum but I did get one of the building.  



Pretty cool huh!

When we got back to Unce Rob and Aunt Tammy's we found out that Jennifer had to fly back home unexpectedly the next day.  The kids were not happy about this at all.  They had just met their cousins for the first time and didn't want to say good bye yet.  The good news though was that they are going to be in Utah now and not England.  We can roadtrip to Utah ( they have National Parks) but we couldn't pull the camper to England. 

to be continued...

Arkansas or bust!!!

I've been busy getting the kids ready for school, and with bats, both subjects for next week maybe...anyway here's the next segment of vacation.


Remember how I said we were going to start no later than 8am.  Yeah so at 9:30 we head out.  Crap we got a late start.  Well it's a 10 hour drive so 7:30 will be our arrival time.  We get back on the expressway and head west.  This is the day that we've been dreading.  This is going to be our long drive day.  The others were just preping us for this drive.

I got the directions from google and our gps is now fully charged.  We don't use it much so that the battery won't die on us.  We plan to just stop at the rest area to eat lunch.  We don't plan on any stopping or site seeing on the way.  We know that when we get to Arkansas we'll just set up camp and go to bed. 

So we travel the same road that we took from Nashville to Maryville.  We see the same giant cross along the road.  We pass the power plant that I say we should look into moving by.  We really enjoy the ride.  The kids are doing great again with their games and movies.  After about 4 hours we stop to eat lunch.  It is again over 100 degrees out.  We make our sandwiches and eat as fast as we could.  We do not want to sit at the picnic tables or in the camper.  We eat and are on our way again.

After about an hour we get to where we need to turn off the expressway and head northwest to Arkansas.  The whole reason for our Arkansas trip is a wedding.  Matt's cousin was getting married.  Matt's uncle moved to Arkansas about 5 years ago after retiring from the Air Force.  They traveled across America at that time and found that they loved Arkansas.  It really is a beautiful place.  We planned to spend the rest of our trip there.  The part that we were really looking forward to was spending the next week with family.  Matt's cousin that we haven't seen in a long time was going to be there.  The last time we saw her was before Adam was born.  It was the summer of 2000.  Matt couldn't wait.  She had never seen our kids and we had only seen her oldest boy who was only 3 months old at the time.  We planned to stay at a campground for the first four nights and then go to Unlce Rob's for the rest of the week. 

On one of my phone calls with Uncle Rob he had said how there are no expressways in Arkansas.  I guess I never really paid much attention to it or that it didn't really matter at the time.  So we finally get to the Tennessee border and cross into Missouri.  Missouri ?!?!  Yup Missouri.  We will only be in Missouri for 1 1/2 hours then we'll go into Arkansas and then back into Missouri then back into Arkansas.  WHAT?!?!?!  I had read these directions a few times, but I guess I must have just "looked them over" because that's just plan crazy!  We stop to get something to eat at Pizza Hut in Missouri.  It's about 5:30 now and I figure we have about 2 maybe 3 hours to go.  Ok so maybe I was wrong and we'll be there by 8:30.  So as I said it was over 100 degrees out that day.  We go into Pizza Hut and one of the AC units are broke.  Good times!  It was about a cool 98 in the dinning area.  We ate as fast as we could and got out of there fast.  We were back on the road in about 45 mins.  We were all still in very good moods and was enjoying the ride.

So picture being on M50 or 223 for about 4 hours.  Up hills, down hills, around curves and though some flat lands.  The drive was nice until we left Missouri, entered Arkansas, and left Arkansas and entered Misslouri.  By this time it was 8:30.  We were now back in Missouri and not sure why the heck we left Arkansas once we got there.  Hey Unlce Rob said that the roads were crazy down here and  they looked like the men were drinking when the made them.  Yeah that's exactly what it's like. You drive for 4 hours and only go 150 miles.  The thing that really gets you going is the fact that you go though one little town and the speed limit goes 60 to 45 to 25 in all of a mile.  You leave that little town and you do 25, 45, then you see 60.  Ten minutes later you have another little town and it goes back down again.

We've now been on the road for over 10 hours and we are really starting to get tired.  Matt and I start to talk about how great it would've been to live in the country and have some animals.  Then our conversation startes to sound a lot like it did on our drive to the Smokys.  It's starting to get dark and Matt is getting upset because he don't want to have to find the campground in the dark.  I call the office and leave a message only this time the man calls me back.  I tell him where we are and he says to call him when we see the Welcome to Arkansas sign.  So after about another 45 minutes and me becoming a "dream killer" for my husband, We turn onto the road that the campground was off of.  I call the guy back and he stays with me untill I see the sign for the campground.  I tell him that we turn and he says "ok now it'll be about another 9 miles and about 40 minutes."  WHAT!!!!  I hang up and Matt is really mad now.  Not only am I a dream killer but I can't give directions or pick a good campground.  This sounds just like the last few miles of our last day long drive.

We make it in about 30 minutes and the guy is waiting with a flashlight to help us get in our site.  Matt asks if there is a pull though.  No they only have four sites.  The guy goes up to the window to talk to Matt and smells like a bar.  He is trying to give Matt directions on how to back into the spot but keeps saying you got to go this way or that way.  I get out because I don't want my husband to kill the crazy drunk man.  I get us backed into the site and we get set up.  It is now 10:20.  Our 10 hour drive was really 13 hours.  We were very tired and Matt really didn't like any of us by this time.  He wasn't happy that I got a campground that was so far away from everything and everyone.  We did what we could that night and went to bed.

Want to see what we saw the next morning???

These little guys were right in front of our camper.

This was the firepit.  There were only four sites and they shared the firepit. 

They rented out these cabins.  We didn't spend any time at the campground so this is really all the pics I have.

 

The Y and a bear.

So the only things that I really wanted to do in Tennessee was swim in the mountains and see a bear.

My parents lived in Maryville, Tennessee when I was born.  They get all smiley and google eyed at times when they talk about living there.  As a kid I often asked why they moved back.  I really don't remember their answer but I know why now.  Anyway, my parents often talk about spending all their free time in the mountains.  They didn't have much money and the park is free.  What a better way to spend your weekend than picnicing and swimming in the mountains.

So our Tuesday started with really no plans at all.  Matt wanted to ride the skylift in Gatlinburg and I just wanted the boys to see a bear.  We headed to Gatlinburg.  If any of you have ever been there you know what I'm talking about when I say it was CrAzY busy!!  Gatlinburg is a beautiful little town settled in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains.  However it is so commercialized that it will drive you insane!  There is one road into town.  It is so busy that it takes you about 30 minutes to get from one end of town to another, and the town is not big at all.  On our way in I told Matt about the public parking lot and the shuttle that you can take.  He of course didn't hear me.  So now we are driving in the heart of town and trying to find a place to park.  I see another sign for parking, not a city owned lot of course, and we turn.  $10.00!  TEN dollars!  It was 10 bucks just to park!  We are only getting lunch and riding the skylift!  Ok..so this is the one thing Matt wanted to do here...$10..ok!  We came here about two summers after we got married and we couldn't afford to ride it then.  He really wants to do this.  I want to too but am sort of the one who always says ...well we really can't afford that...

We eat lunch at McDonalds, McNasty is what Matt calls it, and then proceed to the skylift.  We do see this really cool granite ball floating on water and we stop to play for a minute.



Here's Matt and Adam riding the skylift.  They loved it!  Ben and Josh did too, but I couldn't get a good picture of them.

So after the madness of Gatlinburg we drove to Cades Cove.  If you've never been there I strongly suggest it!  The Smokys are the most visited of all the National Parks.  I have a personal tie to the area but that aside it is truely breath taking!  I have so many pics that I would love to share but just don't have the room on here.  Anyway, we drive to Cades Cove and take the loop.  We see the mountains and a few deer.  The river that runs through the mountains is just beautiful!  We stop and let the kids put their feet in the water and this is the view looking at the water.

I can see how my parents fell in love with this place!!  The water was cold, but felt great on everyones toes.  It was refreshing on that 100 degree day!  Next stop Cades Cove!!!  By this time I was starting to feel a little crappy, but I'm taking my boys to Cades Cove so buck up sister!

We get there and take the loop.  We see the houses and churches but no one wants to get out and look.  As a kid we always got out to walk up and see everything.  It's so hot that no one cares what is in the houses!  We see some deer and thats about it.  The boys are starting to get board with our drive.  Pretty soon we see a few trucks pulled over and people looking in a field.  We stop and Matt asks whats going on.  A BEAR!!!  WOOHOO!!!  This is the one and only thing I wanted the kids to see, other than the river!!!  Want to see a picture??

ummm...Yeah so do I.  He's there, I swear he's there!  I wish I knew how to zoom in or better yet I wish I took the picture, but I know he's there! He was standing up on his back feet and looking around then he would drop back down. Ben was the only one who says he saw it .  I can be a happy girl the rest of this trip.  The kids got to see a bear and got to put their feet in the river.  Life is good!!

We got back to the camper at about 6:00 and I go to sleep.  I'm really not feeling well and start to think I have strep.  Not a good thing when your on vacation!  Matt cooks dinner, get the boys to bed and does the laundry!!  Holy cow do I have an awsome husband or what!!!

Next day I feel a bit better.  We spend the morning driving  go carts, playing putt putt and riding bumper boats.  The boys really needed to have a little fun and boy did we have fun!!  After lunch it's back to the mountains we go!  We pack up our swim stuff and head to the "Y"!!  There is a place in the mountains where two rivers meet and head down.  They call it the Y.  At least they did when my parents lived there.  It was great!!!  After swimming Matt stops at Kroger for some Mucinex-D. Yeah, I feel crappy again!

Our time in Tennessee was great, but not long enough! I never got a chance to see any of my family that is there.  We didn't get to spend as much time as I would have liked there so I guess we'll just have to go back sometime.  We did however do all the things that we wanted to.  My kids got to swim and see where their grandparents fell in love.  They got to see a bear even though the picture didn't turn out great and my husband got to ride the skylift!  This is turning into the best vacation ever!! 

On to Arkansas!  It's a ten hour drive so we plan to leave no later than 8:00 a.m.  We should arrive at about 6:00 p.m. right?!?!

Oh no....day 4.

So our fourth day was going to be traveling to Smoky Mountain National Park and enjoying some of the mountains before dinner that evening.

Instead, we had an appointment to get the camper fridge fixed.  We had to be out of our camp site by 11:00 a.m. Monday morning.  We left and went to Camping World in Bowling Green Kentucky.  We had a lot of time to kill so we took the kids to a Chuck E. Cheese.  It was in a mall so I left Matt and the boys to do some shopping.  Our appointment was at 1:00 so we then dropped it off and went to have lunch.  We went to a Denny's.  We have not be to a Denny's in years.  As a matter of fact I don't think my kids have ever been to one before.  So we ate and had a grand time.  Ummm, yeah, not really!  The kids were mad because they wanted McDonald.  Everyone was in a bad mood and no one enjoyed their meal.  Ok so maybe I did enjoy my burger and the fact that the kids were being kids.  The best part was the old lady who was dressed in her Sunday best, on a Monday...at Denny's.  She was so very prim and proper that I was feeling like I should be ashamed for wearing shorts to dinner.  She was a hoot to watch after awhile.  She kept looking at the kids like they had two heads.  Mind you they weren't really doing anything wrong, they just weren't happy.  So the lady made my dinner fun after a few minutes of watching her.  I finally figured hey what the heck it's DENNY'S! 

After our meal we went to check on the camper.  It was finished and we only had to fork out another $150 bucks!  BLAAHHH!  We go around to hook it up and the guy was waiting there.  He then tells us the good news!  Hey your roof is shot!!  So we kind of figured.  It was one of those things that you know but you never really say it out loud because than you have to do something about it.  Well that bathroom floor has been getting soft for a few years and this year we've noticed some water on the floor in the kitchen area.  Great Just what we need!  The guy says that the materal is around $500-$1000.  It will cost about $4000 for Camping World to do it.  Well buddy, we are on our way to Tennessee so we'll do it later.  ;) 

We finally get started out.  It's now 3:30.  This was the time we had planned to be there.  Well there is a time change from where we're at so really it's only 2:30.  With fingers crossed we head south! 



We make it to Nashville in about a hour.  So smooth sailing!  Yeah right!  There was a traffic jam.  I guess it wasn't that bad but it put us behind by about an hour.  After that we had a great time looking and taking in everything.  The kids were again playing their ds or watching movies.  There really is nothing like the electronic babysitter!  Matt and I had tons of time to catch up on things.  I must say I never get tired of being with my husband!  We even passed a power plant on a river and talked about how great it would be to live on the river and him just drive the boat to work everyday!!  It was a great drive!

Soon I started to realize that we were still a few hours from the campground and they could be closing the office.  I couldn't find the number so I had to call my SIL and get it.  Matt started to say how we needed a smart phone for such things.  "I mean we could have used it to find Camping World too."  So now I call and there is no answer.  I leave a message and hope they call back.  Now Matt isn't so chipper anymore.  We needed to stop and eat!  So he pulls into a Taco Bell and as soon as he does I say I don't think we can get out of here.  Well he pulled right in and I mean ALL the way in!  Yep...no way out!  The gas station and the taco bell parking lots had a spot were the connected.  It was only a small little opening but if we could back into it we would be able to get out.  So we did it!!!  WOO HOO! 

 We ate quickly and then started out again hoping to get there before it gets to dark.  Yeah we didn't. We make it to Maryville at about 8:15.  Now the last time my husband was here it was 1999.  He doesn't remember what it looks like or some of the land marks of the area. We go by the airport and I ask if he remembers it...no.  Ok.  We go by the hospital were I was born again I ask...no.  We go though town and out another road.  We keep going.  I know we are going the right way but the gps dies and then I start to wonder.  The directions from google are not always great and sometimes I don't see a sign but I know I've been watching.  My mind keeps racing but I say nothing because if I do he'll freak out.  "Oh hey we turn left here."  Shoo  that was close!  We turn and within a few miles it's dark.  Now it's a little after 9:00.  We keep going and Matts cheerful mood from that afternoon went to "I can't beleave that you forgot the number to the campground." or one of my favorites "Could you have gotten us any farther away from civilization?"  or "Are we even anywhere close to the mountain?"  The road keeps going farther into darkness,though twists and turns , ups and downs and finally... I see the road and a sign for the campround!  WOOHOO!!!  I'm so releaved but I don't let on that I was worried at all.  We get there and Matt is griping about what do we do now...they're closed.  I guess my husband has never really read the signs that most campground offices have that say if you arrive late you can just check in in the morning.  So we find a site and get set up somewhat.  It's now after 10:00 and this has been a VERY long day.

Oh hey want to see what he woke up to in the morning???

"WOW this is amazing"  That's what he said on Tuesday morning. 

Two Days in a Cave.

So here's how the next two days on our "Trip across America" went.  Thanks to Melissa for naming our adventure!

Friday night was crazy so I prayed that night to thank God for bringing us to this cute little campground, and for not having my husband die that day.  We have always liked the small family owned campgrounds and felt right at home here. They only had 30 sites and that is just what we needed.  The boys are free to do more at a small campground than at a large one so they were happy that they could ride their bikes and play without me being right behind them all the time.

We woke up Saturday and got ready to go to the park.  We packed a lunch and plenty of water, it was so very hot!!!  The caves were only a 10 minute drive so we started out.  I had planned to do two tours and looked for the easier ones for Adam.  He would NOT like the 2 hour 600 stair tour.  Don't really think I would eather!  We got to the park and got tickets for both tours.  The first was a self guided tour in the Rotunda.  It was a short walking distance to the enterance. 

It was about 98 out that day.  In the caves it was a cool 58.  Our first tour was great and very refreshing. 

Ben wasn't so happy because he was getting cold and I forgot to bring jackets.  I mean really who would think to bring a jacket when you are sweating from just breathing.  So here are the guys in the Rotunda.  Pretty cool place if you ever get the chance to go.

Our next tour wasn't untill 5:00 that evening so we had some time to spare.  We then hiked, by hike I mean walk slowly because Adam doesn't like to sweat, down to the spring.  It was a mile round trip and we figured it would be a nice walk.  It really was!  On the way down I walked with Adam and then Matt walked with him on the way up.   Oh did I mention that it was down hill.  Not really a bad hill but for Adam it was very hard. 

I was so very proud of him!  He just kept going and was smiling through all the sweat.  A few time he would stop and sit down in the middle of the trail, but he never gave up!  We finally made it to the spring and it was beautiful!

Our next tour was in 3 hours so we had some time to kill.  We went on a drive through the park.  We went on a bike ride were Ben crashed.  We made a stop to buy a first aid kit for the truck.  We went and ate dinner at the campground.  Then finally it was tour time!

It was the Frozen Niagra and it was BEAUTIFUL!! This was the end of our second day!  This made everything that happend the day before worth it!

We got back to the campground to find that our fridge had stopped working. Great just what we need.  We are going to be gone for over two more weeks we HAVE to have the fridge.  We fill it with ice and find out there is a Camping World close by.  We get up Sunday morning and head out to find it.

Our third day we got the part for the fridge and a few things at Bass Pro.  It is truely amazing how you can be hundreds of miles from home and still want to go to the same stores we have at home! After doing a little shopping we go to another cave.  Diamond Caverns is a privatly owned cave.   It was our favorite one of the caves.  We had a guide for this one and Ben and Josh were fighting over who was going to be closest to him.   

This is just a little sample of what Diamond Caverns looks like.  This one was everyone favorite.  It was a half mile tour.  There were a lot more stairs but Adam didn't care.  He really loved this one too.

Oh...by the way...Matt couldn't get the part in the fridge.  We called and made an appointment at Camping World for the next day.  We were planning to be in the Smokys by 3:00 in the afternoon.  Our appointment was at 1:00 so there went those plans.  Hey no big deal it's only a 5 hour drive...right....

Day one: Happy Birthday Matt or was it Yogi

  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!