It’s been a while so I guess I’m due. I was really pumped for our first Circle the Wagons event. I decided to take all Friday off instead of a half day. I reasoned that if I left early I could beat Guitar and Too Tall-Two Timing to the campsite and maybe get in some “communing with nature” before they got there.
Got up at my usual 6am, had a leisurely breakfast and then set out to gas up and get a few supplies from the grocery store. I tried to get gas first but the morning workaday slobs had all the pumps tied up. I’m not going to let that bother me and I figured I’d just get the groceries first. I didn’t have much to get so was to the cashier pretty soon. For some reason they couldn’t find the price for the store brand coffee and since it was still early it took some time to get the price….I’m starting to feel that “uh oh” sensation.
“Don’t let it bother you“, I say, think about the great weekend coming up. OK, back for gas. I do all the preliminaries at the pump, put my credit card in and the pump won’t take the card….”See the cashier” the screen says. “The heck with this”, says I, “There’s plenty of other gas stations.” I drive to the next one on the way to get the trailer, start to pull in and realize I can’t get to the pumps because a bunch of big trucks have the road blocked. *&%$#! I’m really starting to get that Joe Btfsplk feeling now. I finally get gas and make it to the trailer lot. As I get out of the car to start hooking Bivouac up, I realize that I have forgotten the keys to the trailer…can’t hook up without keys!
Back to the house, get the keys, get the trailer and pull it to the house to load. “Joe, you better get gone”, I say. “I intend to have a great time today and I’m not letting you get your hooks into me.”
Finally, things seem to be settling down and I get the trailer loaded without incident. I decide to take a shower before I leave and have some lunch. That’s a good way to change the mood and it seems to work.
It’s not too far to Golden Gate State Park and it is a nice day so I’m enjoying the trip. Guitar made the campsite reservations and emailed me the spots. This is a real popular time at this state park because it’s close to the Denver Metro area and the leaves are close to peak color. We couldn’t get 3 campsites next to each other but because of the circumstances we were happy just to be able to get in.
Being the nice guy that I am, and knowing that this is Too Tall-Two Timing’s first trip with his new trailer, I decide to cruise the sites first and leave the biggest, easiest backing one for him. As I cruise the campground I find that two of the three sites already have an RV in them! The third has a reserved sign…but the name is not the right one!
A trip to the office confirms that Joe Btfsplk has somehow snuck along with me. No reservations in the name of Guitar. If Guitar cannot come up with a reservation number or proof of payment we are homeless! In Guitar’s defense this is the first time had as used Reserve America online to reserve a campsite. Those readers who camp will know how…how…how screwed up Reserve America is.
To make a long story a little shorter, we were homeless. The very helpful and sympathetic man working at the office suggested a commercial campsite a few miles away from the state park. It was now almost 3pm so there really wasn’t any choice. We had to find three campsites and fast.
I drove to the campsite and it sure didn’t hold a candle to the state park campsite but I got 3 sites and unhooked Bivouac. Cell phone reception was really bad but I managed to get thru to Guitar to let him know what the plans were. He advised that they were on the way…..kind of. Seems there is some type of snag and as of 5 pm they hadn’t left yet.
Stay tuned for more.
Thanks for visiting.
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