Whatever You Want Honey

After much deliberation (and my wife’s suggestions) I decided to borrow my mom’s tent to go camping in. It wasn’t Heather’s comment about sleeping with my wife, although that would mean I’d get the air mattress all to myself, that made me decide to get the big tent. It was the fact that my brother never checked to see if our tent poles were in his shed. I wanted to set the tent up and let it air out before we went to a campsite.

Last evening I left around six to travel thirty-nine miles across the river to pick up my mom’s tent from her storage unit out in the Boonies. Becki convinced me to take along our son.

When I got to the car, I buckled in our son. I hopped in the front seat, put the key in the ignition and nothing. Thinking I must not have turned the key in the right direction, I tried it again. Nothing. No battery power.

The pastor that has his church right around the corner happened to be out so I flagged him down. He pulled his truck over and jumped the battery. It took almost two minutes of charging to get my car to turn over. But it finally started.

After about 7 minutes of driving, my little backseat driver told me he was thirsty. I pulled into a gas station, backed the car in, shut off the engine and prayed. I turned the key and it started up. I felt a wave of relief.

We went in the convenience store and I said, pick out a drink and let’s get rolling. Well, you know kids, each drink had to be compared to the next. The flavors were plentiful and the decision must have been difficult. It took several minutes of deliberation before he chose an Orange Gatorade. I already had a 20 oz. water in hand and headed to the checkout counter. When I turned around to have him put his drink on the counter, he was nowhere to be seen.

I guess I know my son pretty well (actually most any kid would have done the same thing) I went straight to the candy isle. Yup. He was picking out what candy he wanted. I am such a sucker. After grabbing a bag of gummi sharks and toting his drink we paid and got back in the car.

You guessed it, the car wouldn’t start. The clock was on so it had juice, just not enough to get ignition. Another round of begging to get a jump. (I realized that when people see you have a child in the car, their attitudes change from annoyed to compassionate.) Thankfully, I took him along.

Off we go, again. On the road we talked about the complexities of relationships, mauling bears and rhinos, octopuses, starfish and sponges as they relate to my son’s favorite show, Sponge Bob Square Pants. The conversation went from cartoons to camping after thirty minutes. Then we discussed how soon we would be at our destination. The last part of the conversation repeated itself about twenty to twenty-five times with the age old question, “How much longer, Dad?”

We did arrive at the storage unit and found the camping gear. The tent was not rolled up, so stuffing it in the trunk was the only way to go. (By the way, I left the car running just in case.) On the way back, I stopped for gas and had no problem starting the car back up again.

After eating dinner and putting the little man to bed, I set up the tent. It took me nearly forty-five minutes! Granted, I had no instructions. I am a man. I need no instructions… Ok, instructions would have been a world of help. This thing is huge!

It has three wings off the main chamber. Does that sound big? You could COMFORTABLY sleep ten men in this thing. Of course, you wouldn’t want to. Can you imagine the noise? Anyway, it is set up and airing out. Becki sprayed it with an air freshener to help with the musty smell.

So, I suppose that we will have six people and one dog sleeping in a mansion in the woods in a few more days. I cannot wait!

- D