Stupid Rain in Vernon

Since Emil learned to speak, he has been all about trucks and trailers. When he was 18 months old we'd take walks around the neighborhood and he would stop at every truck to look at the tires. Obsessed! Then he was introduced to camper trailers and he hasn't stopped talking about trucks and trailers since. Brian's brother Kyle has a camper trailer, which makes him Emil's favorite human. One night Emil was telling me he might have bad dreams (we'd just watched one of the Star Wars movies). I told him to think of things that make him happy like trucks. Emil: "And Uncle Kyle's trailer." In conclusion, we had to take Uncle Kyle's trailer camping before Emil BUSTED. We chose our weekend poorly. First, we left after Bridget's choir concert on Thursday night so it was dark when we were trying to find an obscure dirt road in Vernon, Utah. Second, it rained the whole time. Friday morning was the first time we saw where we'd camped.

As we drove around in the pitch black, Bridget said nervously, "Dad, I don't see a campground." That's because we were the only ones there! Anywhere!

As I was trying to sleep in the frigid bed, I imagined that we were stuck. It was a real possibility. We went through one puddle that was so deep and splashy that Brian had to get out and clean off the headlights so we could see where we were. Once the sun was up, Brian could see what direction we needed to go.

First we had to get Grandpa's Four Wheeler out of the truck. (That was the other thing Emil never stopped talking about.) The kids were very helpful because we were living their dream. Except Colin. He could take or leave most situations, including this one. He was content to do whatever we were doing while Emil was PASSIONATE about what he wanted every minute.

Can you see the storm coming? It came with hail as well. We ate lunch in the trailer and waited for it to pass, which ended up being a long time.

So we ate chips and drank pop and played a hundred games of Paw Patrol Go Fish. I would have given almost anything to have downloaded one movie on my Kindle. ONE STINKIN' MOVIE. Just to take the edge off. The kids were wrestling and teasing each other relentlessly after a few hours of being stuck in the trailer.

That's a little on-the-nose.

We had a beautiful evening, though, and I'd made hamburger soup before we left for our dinner. It was the perfect meal for a cold, wet day.

It was really quiet where we were and it smelled amazing with all the sage brush everywhere.

Emil loved being in the top bunk. I found some little notepads in my backpack and the kids wrote down their hopes and dreams before going to sleep. (Emil's was full of numbers. Probably counting the days until we go camping again.)

 It was cold and rainy again the second morning, but Brian took the kids on rides anyway. I mostly stayed in the trailer because it was Mud City out there. Colin and Emil used their big sticks to have a light saber fight (nothing could go wrong there!) while they waited for their ride on the four-wheeler. The above is a photo of Emil's face every time he wasn't doing something that was his idea. Even if it was something he wanted to do, if he hadn't suggested it, we get this 'tude. SIGH.

Well! We are all set for a while with camping. It took Brian hours to get the mud off the trailer and then it took me hours to clean the inside of the trailer. And the poor truck! (Sarcasm.) Emil is already packing for our next trip, though. More sighing.