Dealing with the unpredicablity of life and your camper!

[pk1023]

Okay, this is going to come out as just as complaint session, but I have to express it.

Soo... We've had a travel trailer for about 2 years, traded our terribly little one in on a nice BIG 30 foot unit with a slide. It's something our family of four can really live in and that's great.

Using it the 2nd time here in Central Indiana this weekend. Not far from home, about 30 minutes. I wanted to go a bit further, but about a week ago a co-worker at the preschool where my wife teaches said there's this "big party they host on their farm" this same weekend. My wife wanted to go and I think that pretty much helped decide that we'd camp but stay close. No problem I thought, camping is camping, just fun to get away.

The other challenge comes last Sunday, we need a reservation. So we start calling around, finding not much. Finally choose a private place that's like 37 bucks a night, much more than the 26 we pay at state parks. But, it's something and close which will allow the party to be attended.

So here we sit on Thursday. The weather forecast is pretty BAD for the weekend. It's going to be a wet, cold affair this weekend in Central Indiana.

So, before we break into the courses of all the things you can do camping while it might be raining, we know all that. We have board games and TV, plus my 10 and 8 year olds are happy to just play their video games. That's not the problem.

The problem is the best laid plans always seem to fail for us. What will run through my head all weekend is could be sitting in our nice, big house instead of paying 37 bucks. I mean it'll be rainy and cold, it won't be weather anyone wants to go out in. Probably no fire, probably no bike riding.

I'm excited to go to the party, I think that'll be a good time. But, it seems like the smarter move would have been to cancel camping...

I just get this feeling as I sit here at this desk and work 8 hours a day that god is mocking me. It's like I do all this work to get these cool toys, but then I can't seem to ever get what I need.

There was a stretch of weather here in Sept, the weather people kept saying "Get Out and Enjoy it" over and over. But I couldn't. Work, school, commitments. I couldn't enjoy it with my camper because life doesn't just work that way. The best of nature doesn't just line up with the schedules of a life. Flag football doesn't cancel for GREAT weather, just crappy, which means it took even MORE time up.

Okay, let the flaming begin! 🙂

[Chock_Full_o__N]

john&bet wrote:
We were out with a group of friends one weekend 5 years ago I had a hard time breathing. Sunday evening after getting home I was at the ER. A week later on Monday morning I had a double bypass. Three weeks later we were back enjoying our friends again, but feeling much, much better. Life moves on.

We have had so many medical events on campouts--pneumonia, altitude sickness, scratched cornea, burst eardrum, skull fracture, seizures, lacerations-- that we have a saying in our family: It's not a real vacation until somebody goes to the ER. :S

[john_bet]

We were out with a group of friends one weekend 5 years ago I had a hard time breathing. Sunday evening after getting home I was at the ER. A week later on Monday morning I had a double bypass. Three weeks later we were back enjoying our friends again, but feeling much,much better. Life moves on.

[pk1023]

Grit dog wrote:
Yup you're complaining. Plus I'd have stayed at the farm so I could get completely schmammered at the party and only had to crawl back to the warm camper!

Frankly the farm was a JOKE. It was a couple acres on the outskirts of town that used to be a larger plot. The hosts, a co-worker of my wife from the pre-school, were very much into themselves and thinking they were showing us city folk how the other half lived. BUT, I could count five houses with in ear shot of the main house. That's not country.

They provided no meat, a cardinal SIN in my family back home. You make everybody drive out, you roast a hog. That's the deal. Most of the food was finger foods and junk. Lots of store bought stuff because there wasn't any organization.

My folks live in the woods. My dad chopped down every tree where the house sits by himself. I was cut wood most summers and brought it in to heat in the winter. We'd had a square mile of woods and creeks to play in every day. There were snakes and snapping turtles waiting for a bite at every turn. Coyotes got pissed if we went out at night.

So yeah, I mean I guess it was a farm. They had a barn and some goats. But, doesn't Google have that? 🙂

[Grit_dog]

Yup you're complaining. Plus I'd have stayed at the farm so I could get completely schmammered at the party and only had to crawl back to the warm camper!

[Tlauden]

pk1023 wrote:

Tlauden wrote:
I work 12hrs a day and it seems like when my weekend finally comes it's always raining.

12 Hours a day? 5 days a week? If so, why do you work SO much. Are you paid by the hour? Was that the agreement when you took the job? Do you just like working alot?

I do my 8 hours, I'm a Web App Developer and I feel like the tons of education I have entitles me to 8 hours a day. Now, I do run on OnCall and I will work more when the crunch is on.

But, 12 seems excessive.

12 hours a day, yes.
5 days a week, yes.

Some days it's by choice, most days it is mandatory. I don't mind though, I can honestly say I like my job MOST days. I kinda go with the theory, if I'm already there for 8 I minus well stay for 12 and get almost double the money. I like to buy a lot of toys haha!

Paid by the hour, kinda... It's the railroad and our paying system takes a little getting used to. Anything over 8 hours a day is overtime but any time I work for less than 8 hours I still get paid for 8, but legally we can only work for a max of 12 hours each day.

[pk1023]

Tlauden wrote:
I work 12hrs a day and it seems like when my weekend finally comes it's always raining.

12 Hours a day? 5 days a week? If so, why do you work SO much. Are you paid by the hour? Was that the agreement when you took the job? Do you just like working alot?

I do my 8 hours, I'm a Web App Developer and I feel like the tons of education I have entitles me to 8 hours a day. Now, I do run on OnCall and I will work more when the crunch is on.

But, 12 seems excessive.

[Tlauden]

I'm sorry, and trust me, I know exactly how you feel! I work 12hrs a day and it seems like when my weekend finally comes it's always raining. But such is life.... I'm just thrilled when I can get away for a bit, ANYTHING is better than being at work!

[musicman54]

we know its going to rain this weekend but we are going anyway unless its a typhoon i will go

[welove2drive]

I am glad you had a nice trip! Flexibility is important and a good lesson for the kids. Those of us that tent camped prior to having an trailer laugh at the rain. Once we did a cave tour. It was dry and warmer in the cave! We did an entire float trip in the cool drizzle. The kids still talk about that one! Our teen son was offered a beer for his poncho. That was the last time we floated on Saturday. When we got back we had to pour the water out of our tent. One time it was raining so hard we could not set up the tents so we rented a basic cabin (shelter w/covered porch!) for us, kids and friends. The next day was a beautiful float trip day. I'm sure everyone could share "Plan B" stories. They make for great memories! Happy camping to you and your family!
Marcia

[Lantley]

pk1023 wrote:
OP here, trip report.

Not half as bad as expected. Rained Friday on arrival. Sat was very nice but chilly, Sunday was better but we had to pack up.

STILL A LOT OF FUN and better than being at home.

I guess it's just work that bums me out so bad.

We tried to tell you rain or shine you'd still enjoy yourself, if you were trying. Now you know too! 😉

Next time the weather is threatening you won't flinch/worry at all.

[pk1023]

OP here, trip report.

Not half as bad as expected. Rained Friday on arrival. Sat was very nice but chilly, Sunday was better but we had to pack up.

STILL A LOT OF FUN and better than being at home.

I guess it's just work that bums me out so bad.

[Tennessee_Nomad]

A good time or a bad time is your choice and what you make of it. We've had many fun outings in inclement weather. Put the poncho and boots on and get out there in it! You won't melt.

To quote Luke Bryan: "Rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey
Whiskey makes my baby, feel a little frisky"

[Dog_Folks]

Some camping trips have been better than others, but never have they been "bad."

Some of our best trips have started out poorly.

Maybe the rough start is what makes them memorable?

[allen8106]

Often when we are planning to go the the lake my wife's brother will be talking to me about it and he say, "it's going to rain this weekend". My response, "WHO CARES". The get away is part of it. If I decide I'm going camping then I'm going camping regardless of the weather if it's 110 degrees or 30 degrees or rain in the forecast. If I wait until the weather or other life events were perfect I would never get to go. Unfortunate stuff happens even with the best laid plans. I remember a few summers ago in July my wife and I headed to the lake on Friday evening about 120 miles away. On Saturday got up and took the jet ski duo into the small nearby town to gas them up. When I got back to the lake I looked down and found the wheel on the trailer about to come off due to bearing failure. I spent until 5:00 that evening running down parts and repairing the trailer. Did it mess up my plans? Absolutely but I didn't let it ruin my weekend. We got up on Sunday and put the jet ski's in the water and and had a great time. We went home late Sunday making the best out of a near disaster.

[Chock_Full_o__N]

Dog Folks wrote:
Attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure.

Pick which one you want.

I like your attitude. Like a lot of us on RV.net, we started out in a tent. We always encouraged our two older kids (7 & 14) to bring a friend, so off we went with our three, plus 2 or 3 friends(youngest DS is severely mentally handicapped so he didn't bring a friend, just lots and lots of diapers ;)). We always strung up a huge 40x30 blue tarp over the whole site and put the 2 tents under it, with the picnic table.

This one camping trip it started raining about 30 min after we got the Big Top set up, so we hurried to pitch the tents and get everything under the dry. We bundled everyone up in jackets, hats and ponchos and off they went to have adventures--no TV or video games, but lots of playing in the creek and running down hills. We kept the campsite mostly dry under the Big Top. I washed and dried jeans & socks every day. Oh, and did I mention it never got above 50 degrees? We have very good sleeping bags.

On the last day, we woke up and the misty rain had finally moistened just about everything, including the picnic table and the tents, and it was about 40 degrees. I had just about had it with the rain, when one of the kids' friends came up, gave me a big hug and said,"Mrs. D, did you know it's been raining for 72 hours?" I was about to make a sarcastic remark when he added, "This is the best camping trip EVER!" And how could I argue with that?:p

Of course, now we have a nice camper, with a DVD player, a nice dry bed and a furnace so we don't have to sleep cold or wet now. But we still reminisce about that camping trip. And we always pack our ponchos.