Two of the other families have a membership to a campground just across the border in Washington State, so they convinced us that this would be a great place for our first ever Airstream moment. “And you can camp for free all weekend, you’ll just have to listen to a teensy weensy little sales pitch for about an hour.” The first thought that came to mind was “oh crap”, as I have little patience for sales guys. (If your reading this and you are in sales, please don’t be offended. I am in sales, but I have little patience for high pressure sales tactics.)
We head across the border and once again, the border guard cares little about any kind of contraband or illegal aliens were smuggling across, nope, they’d rather talk about the shiny chunk of aluminum behind me. After 5 minutes of pleasantries, we enter the States. 20 minutes later, we are at our destination. Luckily for me the spot chosen by my friends was a pull through, which is exactly what I needed until I become more proficient in towing and backing up a trailer. I researched what I needed to do to get “set up” as I didn’t want to go through the classic noob questions, but I was thankful to have patient friends that would happily help if requested. I put the jacks down and made sure things were level. I then hooked up the water, electrical, sewer, turned on the propane, extended the awning out, unrolled the artificial turf, step extended, hot water furnace on, and finally...pink flamingo lights up around the awning. I looked at my watch and whoo-hoo, it was Beer O’clock. Perfect timing! I grabbed the lawn chairs and met my friends at the campfire. It was there I met for the first time the director of this campground. First impressions are everything, and my first impression of him was disappointing. He was completely drunk and dropping f-bombs in rapid succession. I’m ok with drinking and having a good time, and I don’t offended too easily if someone swears as I’ve dropped a few cuss words in my day also. What bothered me about this was that there were 8-10 young children in his presence. He was too drunk to understand a simple concept called “couth”. It got to the point where one of the mom’s finally asked him to leave as he had ignored several requests to not swear in front of the children. He is probably a decent guy when sober, but this was the first of a few warning signs I received this weekend.
Once he left, I returned to the task at hand, enjoying the first official night in my Airstream. After a few more laughs, marshmallows and hot chocolate for the kiddies, it was time to turn in. Teeth brushed, kids tucked in, the wife and I lying in our cozy little bed....and then I hear a clicking sound. It just happened to be the coldest Thanksgiving on record, so that little clicking sound was the heater starting up. It’s strange how something as simple as a heater can stir up feelings or emotion. I lay there with this overwhelming sense of just how truly blessed I am....to be falling asleep with my beautiful wife by my side....with beautiful little girls fast asleep just feet from me...in a trailer I have dreamt of for years...yup, I have been blessed beyond what I could have imagined. 
No comments:
Post a Comment