Adventures in Drosche Land: Campy

Monday, August 05, 2013

Campy

We bought a camper!

Shut up!

Yes, we did!

So, that's pretty much how July began. But I'll back up a bit and run you through the whole story.

Picture it, late June. We made plans to take the kids and dogs out to Lake Livingston for 2 nights and 3 days of camping fun. Amy and I love camping. Needless to say, it's been a while since we've been. What with having a baby and all in the last year. But we decided it was high time we went. Stella had obviously never been and the boys hadn't been but a scant amount of times. So we booked it.

The weather, up until then of course, had been quite nice. Warm, yes, it is Texas after all; but not too bad. All that changed the week we headed out. As the end of June neared the temperatures began to rise. Crap. But we proceeded out anyway. The Lake is not too far away, about an hour and a half, pretty much one movie (yes, that's how we measure car trip times here). We got there and got everything set up.

Then we realized just how hot it was. The dogs were unhappy. Rex had never been camping and he is so timid and scared of everything the entire event was enough to send him into a panting, shedding frenzy.

Stella got fussy. And red. And sweaty. Did I mention she was fussy? But we proceeded with our day. However, as the time passed Amy and I began to question our decision to camp. Was it wise? Would we survive? What have we done?!

A campfire was made and hot dogs were roasted. We were all hot and exhausted. Stella was a mess and the boys were getting a little whiny. Things started going downhill. Fast. So we surrendered. We packed up and headed home, cutting our trip short. Very short.

We still love camping, but not the heat. I mean, who does? On the ride home Amy and I joked with the idea of getting a camper. That would allow us the ability to camp, but with some temperature control. It wasn't long before it wasn't a joke anymore. The next day was spent researching campers on the Internet. Long story short (too late), we bought a camper.

Not a huge one. A small pop-up. But we love it and the boys do as well. The best thing? We have an air conditioner. Ahhhh. The hardest part was backing it up into our garage. This wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the ridiculously steep incline of our driveway' but we finally managed to get it in.

However, since our purchase our attempts to camp have been slightly unsuccessful. A week after purchase we headed out on the camper's inaugural run. However, the first night was beyond peaceful for Amy and I as Stella fussed the entire night. She was running fever and was not a happy camper (pun intended). The next day Amy took her into town to the doctor (we were again near home luckily) and she had some crazy throat infection. So, Amy took her home while the boys and I remained at the campsite for the next night. Then, this past week we intended to head out to Galveston to camp at the beach, something we were all excited about. But on the morning before our trip both boys awoke complaining of stomach aches and spent the entire day down and out. We cancelled the trip thinking the heat of the beach would not be a great way to follow a day of sickness. So that trip was rescheduled for October, although we did make it to the beach for a day trip by the week's end.

So, there you have it. A somewhat long story about the purchase of our first RV. In true Drosche style it was an adventure from start to finish. We haven't gotten to use it as much as we'd originally intended but we have big plans for our little pop-up. 2 upcoming trips are scheduled, a Spring Break trip, and we will be taking it to Disney next summer (post forthcoming). So we are sure to become experienced RV campers sooner or later. Despite the initial craziness surrounding the camper we are still super excited and very pleased with it. It's a lot of fun thinking about all of the great family times we will share in it and the memories we will make with the kids that they will be able to share with their families when they grow up.

All is well, happy campers in fact, in Drosche Land.