Get Out The Map!

4 hours and 10 minutes into our camping road trip…. after we acknowledge the Christmas themed trailer park and how long it actually took us to arrive….we head inside to claim our site.

Per usual we are giddy, mostly from exhaustion and amazement we actually found find this place in the woods with a complete lack of signage. So smiling and giggling we head into the office and are met by the not-so-happy camp mistress and her friendly assistant. I figure the camp mistress was upset because I let Hapa wonder the mini-camp store like a 5 yr old out of her cage for the first time.

I politely pay the assistant because she had a cute smile and immediately loose points with the camp mistress. Apparently she didn’t take the class that allows her to touch the money yet. I quickly locate Hapa circling the 2 isle store/room. I refuse her suggestion to buy the camp mistress’ dinner for our own and lead her back to the car with yet another map in hand. Looks really easy doesn’t it?



WRONG!!!! What we have here is an obvious case of artistic liberty with reality.

We follow all the rules by moving no faster than 5 mph, which translates to 0 mph to Brenda (my car). We go Left, then Right and pass all the campers, or should I say residents. Yes I said residents. Their trailers covered with holiday lights decorations as if Santa was coming tonight. And what does this mean? It means at 10pm in complete darkness we are too spooked to ask anyone if they know where our site is.

Shore: Wow these people go all out.

Hapa: They look like they have been here all summer.

Shore: Yeah look, they have porches and actual yards carved out at their site. Look that one has refrigerator on their porch.

Hapa: Oh my god…..

Shore: It is like summer homes for high class trailer trash.

Hapa: OK, where is our site? We should have passed the showers by now.

Shore: You mean the outhouse? There it is.

Hapa: What, how did we end up over here? According to the map we are on the Left side of the lake.

Shore: I don’t know navigator…..how did we end up over here? Did we even pass a lake?

Hapa: Excuse me, you made a wrong turn.

Shore: WHAT?!?! You are the navigator….whatever….just tell me which way to go now.

Hapa: OK turn around and go that way. (pointing to a downward slopping road leading into darkness)

Shore: I don’t like the way that road looks, it looks like a boat ramp. Where is the lake again?

Hapa: No look there is another car, it is fine.

Shore: OK…..here we go tent sites. 3T, 4T, 5T….7T, dead end, what the…where is this site? According to the map this should be 6T…next to that should be 9T… who drew this damn thing?

Hapa: You are asking me?

Shore: This map sucks.

Hapa: I’ll find it. (Jumping out of the car w/ flashlight in hand)

Hapa walked through all the adjacent campsites while the “residents” snarled at the 2 girls from outa town. Then from down a small hill by a row of bushes I hear “Found it”. There stood Hapa lighting up the small 9T sign that looked like it was 5 miles from the road. My Hero!!

So, it took us 20 min to find our site and another 15 to set up. After all of that, the chocolate chip cookie dinner Hapa proved actually tasted good. However, I spent most of the night wishing we had a camp fire because that map would have been a great fire starter.