This weekend Craig & I were supposed to go camping with some people from work, whom we really don't know all that well, but seem friendly enough. Although they may not realize that we're mo's & then it could go South once we got there. Nonetheless, we decided to go anyway.
The first thing that should have tipped me off was that they had already reserved a shelter at Meridian State Park. I don't really care for this area of Texas anyway because there are hardly any trees, the landscape is flat, & just not very visually appealing. I tried to make a reservation, but since the park is small & it was also Spring Break weekend, they were full & I was out of luck. That's when I thought too quickly & came up with the alternative plan of camping at Lake Whitney State Park, which I had heard had a pretty decent lake. I figured we could camp there & go visit the others during the weekend. The plan is already getting too complicated, but we are still full steam ahead.
Normally, we go camping in our pop-up camper, which is already fully stocked with plenty of equipment for cooking, lighting, etc... This weekend we decided to take out our new boat for it's maiden voyage, which meant we had to tent camp. This is the best time of year for tent camping, due to the fact that soon the temperature will be 100 degrees plus. Anyway, I spent all last week gathering & organizing stuff to take on this tenting trip. This was a nightmare in itself. Thursday night I pack the Hummer with all this equipment. The car was so full I could barely close the doors. I also wanted to take Konichiwawa with us, so on Friday Craig drove the Hummer & boat to work & I drove the Element. I left a bit early so I could get Ms. Wawa, ice, the cold food, etc, and then rushed back to swap cars & pickup Craig. Finally at around 4pm we are ready to head out directly into Dallas rush hour traffic. It took over an hour just to get out of town, then another 2 hours to get to the park.
We finally get to Lake Whitney and it's packed with people. There were 2 ladies working the check-in office, one of which was training on her first day, making the process extremely tedious. She tells us that even though we have a reservation, the sites are limited & points out available sites on the map. Having never been there I didn't know where to choose, so we selected site 108. When we arrive at the site it is AWFUL! Flat, no trees, and the sites are all jammed together. There is a large family directly across from us taking up 3 campsites and there must have been about 15 screaming kids. I knew then I should have retreated back home, but didn't.
It was getting dark, so we start putting up the tent, which we are not used to. We finally get it together & now it's very dark. I go to get the extension cord to hook up some lights & inflate the air mattress & realize that the cord I brought was only 2 pronged, not the grounded 3 prong that I need. Fuck! So I decide I'll go to the nearest store & buy another cord. The bustling town of Whitney apparently shuts down at 5pm everyday. I look everywhere & the only open store is a Brookshires. They have no extension cords. I ask a girl where I might be able to buy one. She tells me the only place would be Wal-Mart. I ask where it is & she explains that then nearest one is about 20 miles away in Hillsboro. Whatever! I drive all the way there & get the cord. When I finally get back to camp, Craig is pissed & is hating the campground severely. Besides the screaming heathens across the way, there is the stench of rotting fish permeating the area. After exploring our site a bit further, there are fish carcasses just laying around the ground & in the fire pit which caused the rancid fish smell to turn into charred rotting fish odor. We finally get the electricity going & decide to minimally unpack because we're probably going to head home in the morning.
The next morning we get up, shower, & drive around the park. We found a site that was much nicer & decide to move there. We go back up to the office & wait behind this family who is checking in. They are asking question after question, and wanting to look at every t-shirt, and map, & any other crappy items that the park may be selling. The also have 2 huge dogs that they have hanging out right at the entry door. After 20 minutes of waiting for these fucks to get out of the way, we finally get our site changed & head back to start breaking everything down.
We get everything together as quickly as possible & threw it all in the car & boat. We finish hitching the boat to the car, which is running, and then go to get in. THE FUCKING DOORS ARE LOCKED!!!! Konichiwawa had stepped on the door lock while looking out the window. Both sets of keys are inside. We both immediately were thankful for OnStar, or so we thought. We pulled out our cell phones & both were dead. I keep trying to get Konichiwawa to step on the unlock button, but she just wasn't getting it. Craig went over to a neighbor, explained the situation, and asked to borrow their phone. He finally got connected to OnStar & couldn't remember his PIN number. He finally got verified & explained that the dog is stuck in the car while it's running. The OnStar rep kept asking Craig if she needed to get the police involved. Craig says that we don't need the police, just open the damn door. She explains that it could be several minutes before it unlocks. He thanks her & gives the phone back to it's owner. We go back to the car & wait. And wait. And wait. Still no unlocked door. About this time, Konichiwawa steps on the passenger side panel & rolls down the window. I couldn't believe she locked us out & then rescued us too. We get in & start driving to the other site, during which we finally here the click of the doors unlocking from OnStar.
We finally get setup at the other site, which is not great, but immensely better than the previous one. We spent the rest of the day on the boat, which was very nice. We explored the entire lake, and also located a geocache on an island. After all that had happened, I never even made it to visit the people from work. I'll have to explain the situation to them later today. All I can say about the weekend now is that I've been to Lake Whitney State Park, I will NEVER go back, and I also have this sad story to tell.
Here are some pics of the only actual good a part of the trip.
