We had heard before how crowded and packed the event usually was, and that parking was going to be hard to find, so we tried to go as prepared as we could.
At the time we had the little 21' Class C that I named Betsy. We also, of course, had the dune buggy on a trailer attached to Betsy in the vane hope to get to ride on the dunes (ha! wishful thinking on our part, but, meh, we didn't know). Since Betsy didn't have a generator, John brought one of the ones from his work so we would have power in the event we couldn't find a camping spot with hookups. (I now know how very naïve it was to even consider the remote possibility... some people got there weeks in advance to be assured a hookup camping spot)
We had plenty of propane, the generator, plenty of food and we were all set. Upon arriving though.. omg. It was an Oklahoma version of Mardi Gras, with lots of sand and big tires and vehicles all decked out for the event thrown in the mix.
We were lucky enough to find an empty spot on the side of the sandy road at the very end of the long 2 or 3 mile drive to anywhere near the camping spots and dune access. And we were happy to have it. It left plenty of room for the people joining us later.
Little sis and her friend showed up with their gear, they were going to be tenting it, I was told. Okay.. but.. There was sand.. lots of sand. And with sand, comes.. yeah, stickers. LOTS of stickers. But hey, I wasn't going to argue. At least not with little sis's friend Louise. When she set her mind to something you wasn't going to change it. So I didn't. And they set about making up their camp there in the sand and stickers. :( Louise did have a brilliant plan, at least, in that they were going to set their air mattress up off the ground on one of those popup mattress holders. Like how a popup chair works, but just for air mattresses. I thought it was a great idea, at least no sleeping on the ground. I did catch a few looks thrown my way from little sis, as she was struggling to get the tent and such put up. Did she know I was sorta peeking from the window inside my warm little RV?
So little sis's other friends showed up and we hung out that evening (since there wasn't really any chance of riding the dunes with the huge crowd there). It wasn't so bad, we sat our chairs by the road and the people going up and down the road was like a huge parade. Vehicles were done up. Awesome rigs and buggy's drove by for inspection and bragging rights. And when I say it was Mardi Gras'ish, I mean complete with beads for boobie flashing and all. Yep.
It turned colder in the evening which meant it was going to be a pretty cold night. I wasn't worried. The small little propane heater that was mounted in the wall worked so well I usually had to turn it down or off at night. Our bed was warm and comfy, all the comforts of home. Life was good.
Until the next morning. It was pretty chilly out, so I just decided to hang out in my little camper. John decided to start the generator so I'd have power to make some coffee in the electric coffee maker and to power up the TV if I wanted it. There I was snug as a bug in a rug, sitting at the dinette sipping hot coffee, movie playing, reading something, window curtains open and enjoying the going on's that were transpiring around us. And then I saw it.. a head. The head of my sister specifically. It poked out of the tent and stared straight at my camper, I could see her saying something. I think the noise of the generator woke her up, oops. That, or it signaled that I was awake to vent her wrath upon, I am not sure.
I saw little sis struggle with the zipper to the tent, saw her mouth moving again because I knew she was cursing, zip the damn thing back up after she extracted herself from it, then come tromping over to my camper. I am kinda afraid at this point. I'm sitting there trying to be as calm as I can when she rips the door open. Not a word is said as she slams the door, turns around, grabs some covers and proceeds to curl up in a ball at the back of the couch and facing me gives me the biggest GO TO HELL look I have ever had in my entire life.
I couldn't help it, I started laughing. I couldn't stop for the life of me. I swear I think she would have probably killed me if she wasn't so mind numbing cold and trying to get life back into her limbs. I am embarrassed to admit, I laughed for quite a while. I'm sorry for laughing sis!!!
I later found out, after she was de-iced, that in the middle of the night the damn air mattress decided to spring a leak. Couldn't be all of those stickers out there, noooo. And leaked so much that the stupid 'brilliant' popup air mattress holder could be felt. But not just in a good way, in a way where those joints meet at a peak of the popup contraption and dug into your body. She told me she tried all night to try to get her body bent around them in a way to not have one poke in her that she wound up sleeping like a pretzel. And the cold, omg the cold! To add insult to injury, after a freezing, unrestful, miserable night.. someone had the NERVE to start the motherfuckin loud ass generator bright and early that morning. So when she poked her head out of the tent, it was 'Fuck you!' she was yelling at me. But she was laughing telling me this after she had warmed up. I'm sorry Becky.. even though I am laughing writing this. Love you!!
I tried to make it up to everyone around the camp for the generator noise by cooking everyone breakfast. My camper was tiny, but I managed to cook quite a bit. There was a lineup to come in, make a plate and get back out, cause I didn't have much space to sit everyone. They seemed happy to have a hot breakfast.
Oh man.. good time, good times. But, we never seemed to make it to the Snake Hunt again.
#Camping #Stories #RV
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