Lessons Learned.....Installment 2

Call it what you want, but I will call it making memories.
You might call it unorganized, confusion or even catastrophic.
What could it be? The latest in my family's road trip adventures. (If you missed the first installment, click here).
We traveled to a nearby mountain resort town for the weekend. My husband had a booth at a home show. My kids and I had a break in our pressing cartoon watching/cereal eating schedule.
Let the family adventures begin.

Lessons Learned

1. Be very careful when you use someone else's travel trailer.

2. Even though it is June, your planned camping destination may be "snowed in"

3. If you say out loud the phrase, "I don't know if we can make it," while debating an entry to a campsite, you are probably right.

4. Small rocks protruding from the ground can snap someone else's travel trailer's sewer line. (Don't worry- nothing had been used yet- but no matter what you are discussing, the word "sewer" causes everyone to cringe.)

5. It is a good idea to check the trailer's water, propane & generator gas levels BEFORE you get to your campsite & before 9:00 p.m.

6. When going after propane so that your small children do not freeze their hineys in the night, the one open station will have a "broken part" that may or may not "take a while." Don't worry though, you can pass the time while the attendant shares his views about legalizing marijuana and why police are stupid for arresting "users" when they could be out getting the people on the hard stuff..... all while fixing the part to dispense a highly flammable substance. Cool dude.

7. After leaving original campsite to go after supplies, do not again attempt to "make it" back into the same site. "Now that you've had the practice, you will for sure make it!" You may or may not also dent a trailer, (that, of course, belongs to someone else), on a large rock protruding from the hillside.

8. Still not getting water, (Why? I don't know- but apparently my husband knows. Apparently, water is not available in resort towns and apparently 3 small children and 2 grumpy parents do not need water...necessity of life? Who says?) will cause somewhat heated discussions in the pouring rain, (ooohhh- if only we had thought to pack a rain catcher, our problems would have been solved).

9. Surviving off of Capri Suns and granola bars for 2 days makes you not like Capri Suns and granola bars.

10. Fancy resort-town shop keepers get very nervous when a mom with a double stroller and a "curious" 4-year-old enter their stores.

11. No matter how fancy of a town you are in, a chili dog is still disgusting.

12. Jr. Hamburgers in fancy resort towns are miniature sized....literally. Maybe the size of a small cookie. These "special" miniature hamburgers ONLY cost $4.

13. Do not let your 4-year-old use a double stroller as a scooter/skate board.

14. Band-Aids from a fancy resort town cost much more than they should. However, they do still miraculously fix most owies and stop most crying. It was completely worth the $4 to not walk the 2 extra blocks with the kids to get our own packed bandages.

15. If you have a baby in a back pack while trying to accomplish almost anything, all sorts of people will take pity on you and volunteer help. I am now taking the pack with me everywhere I go.

16. For some reason.....the second day of a fancy Home Show, when 3 slightly dirty children with slightly sticky hands are not around, a lot more business is generated.

17. If you have been asked to give a talk on preparedness, and don't know what to talk about, have a weekend like this. You will have plenty to say, trust me.


I can't wait for our next big trip at the end of June. The count down is on.

Oh- and if I don't post again for a while, sorry, but if my husband finds out all of the "secrets" I just told you, I may or may not be banned from the household.