We set off on Friday afternoon on our very first aluminum camping trip. Towed Haul was running heavy with food, Easter eggs and birthday presents, not to mention that full tank of fresh water. The weather was against us; raining on and off all morning, temperature barely scraping 4 degrees Celsius and a keen wind to boot. Not an auspicious start but hey, we're crazy people!
The drive down was interesting, with the anti-sway bars howling like so many whales in labour and the webbing holding the extension mirrors tight vibrating in the cross wind like a jack hammer against the door. But Towed Haul stayed firm and true behind us, with the Sienna motoring along quite happily.
The big drama was getting into the park. Asked to park over by the office, I failed to notice the (very) large Stop sign to my right and dragged it along half the length of the trailer, it bouncing nicely off the awning supports and coming back to ding a foot long dent in one of the rear panels. Given the whalesong we were experiencing at the time, I didn't actually hear the carnage against poor old Towed Haul and it took one of the tadpoles to point it out to us once we'd parked up. Now, a lesser family might have been crushed by such a mishap, and on the maiden voyage, but not the Toads. We have embraced our ding and now see it as a fine distinguishing mark, only to be removed if someone offers to do it for free!
Anyway, back to the camping. We set up, on a very slight sideways tilt, on a grassy site near the bath house. I couldn't correct the tilt because the ground was so boggy that I could not get the car to grip sufficiently to pull TH up onto the leveling blocks. Hey ho, they say you learn by experience.
Unhitching was done in the rain and the barely above freezing temperatures, which was nice. Yet more experience I think. We didn't have a lot of time to settle (other than to get the furnace going) because we were due back in town at a birthday party later that evening, which with hindsight wasn't a smart move. We were at least able to check out the offending Stop sign at the gate and noted with a grim satisfaction that it was nicely bent.
Returning to the park after midnight, we drove through torrential rain and brilliant flashes of lightning. The car splashed across our camp site and we dashed out under the awning to get inside dear Towed Haul for a good night's rest. Ha! Not a chance.
The rain continued and increased in intensity, drumming louder and louder on the roof. Whilst trying to convince myself that the storm was a good leak test, we all of us failed to get much sleep until the din quietened down at around 5 am. Of course, the lightning was dramatic but it scared the tadpoles a little so we were a bunch of tired campers later that morning. I have to admit to thinking that we'd probably sink into the mud overnight or possibly float away in the inevitable flood but no, TH stayed on her slight list and there were no floods at all, which was fortunate because I have a feeling that Airstreams don't float.
So, after one night we were all tired. We hadn't floated away or sunk into the mud. The furnace and water heater was working as was everything else, thank goodness. What, I wondered, would day 2 bring?
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