TWEEDLE DEE AND TWEEDLE DUMB GO CAMPING
Cindy Maddera
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We took the Cabbage to Hannibal MO over the weekend and the first thing she said as we pulled into the campground was "Do we get a house like all those other people?" She was referring to the giant travel trailers that surrounded us in the campground. I think she still harbors some disappointment that we didn't swing for the four bedroom camper with a fireplace and wifi, the kind of camper that costs more than my house. We set up camp reasonably well considering we had arrived after dark and opted to only hook up the electricity for the night. We'd hook up the rest of the things in the morning when we could see what we were doing.
The next morning started out with pee all over the camper floor because the waste container had shifted during the drive. Then Josephine got in trouble for barking. One of the neighbors complained to the camp host. These were the same neighbors who's dog barked constantly inside their camper all day. Next, we drove out to the Mark Twain birthplace, which is on Mark Twain Lake. We realized very quickly that we should have stayed at this state park instead of the over priced tourist trap campground we were staying in. After learning all about Mark Twain, we loaded up to head back to Hannibal for lunch, but Michael wanted to take a different way back so we could see the lake dam. We did not find the dam and ended up lost on gravel roads and dead ends. Finally we made it back to Hannibal, found a dog friendly place for lunch, and waited for over an hour for a grilled cheese sandwich.
Michael and I just watched the slow meltdown of the Cabbage. At one point, she got so fed up and said "I'm going to go see what's taking so long." She got up and marched herself inside, but came out soon enough because she lost her nerve. It was now almost 4 o'clock. The kid was starving. After telling the Cabbage all day long that we would not go to McDonald's, we walked out of the restaurant and went to McDonald's. Everything was great after that. We had campfires and smores. Josephine learned to curb her barking. The Cabbage made some camping friends to play with. I ate the biggest ball of cotton candy I have ever seen in my whole life. The Cabbage ordered a grilled cheese sandwich with baked beans, the same thing she ordered the day before, at a new place and she got it within ten minutes. She told our waitress "This is the same thing I ordered yesterday at the other place and I NEVER GOT IT!" We climbed two hundred and forty something steps to see a fake lighthouse that had been built as a Mark Twain memorial. I conned the Cabbage into "whitewashing" a fence and Michael and I were momentarily mesmerized by what turned out to be a christmas light.
We are getting the hang of setting up and breaking down the camper. We have learned something new on both camping experiences. I suspect that by the end of the summer, we'll be old hats at all of it and may even find that missing set of camper keys in the process. Oh yeah...we've misplaced some keys, but at least we remembered to actually latch the trailer to the hitch this time!