-- What Goes Down, Doesn't Necessary Come Back Up...

Today was a true Supervan adventure.  My dad wanted to take us on a site seeing tour along Highway 12.  I was poised for action.  However, my mom sent me to the back seat so she could take pictures.  Come on.  How many photos do you need for cryin’ out loud? 

Hey look!  That's my dad out there on that big rock!

My mom decided to take the wheel for a while... 

When we came to a fork in the road, my mom opted to go to the right.  You’ll soon find out that women drivers have a bad reputation for a reason...  In this case, she chose the wrong road to explore...  Anyway, the terrain got a little bumpy and we saw a warning sign:

 

To me, it said, “Are you crazy?  Go back now while you still can.”  

My mom is not a good adventure-seeker I have learned.  My dad had to take over at this point.  After saying a few prayers out loud, my mom then started in on her second chorus of “Jesus Loves Me, Yes I Know” before I realized she was really askaird.  I had no idea what there was to be askaird of, because I was stuck in the back of the Supervan and I couldn’t see crap. 

We made it across the stream, but then it got worse-- there was a hill in front of us.  Now, mind you, it was a small hill, but I wondered if the Supervan was agile enough to climb out of the gully and up that hill. 

We tried a few times and the wheels just kept spinning.  My mom finally got out of the Supervan and stuck some rocks under the front wheels cuz my dad said the road was too soft. 

My dad called this "good practice" and my mom rolled her eyes at him.  I think I heard her do the Muttley impression again too.  So my dad got out the winch!  That thing is pretty cool.  Unfortunately for us, there were no trees to hook the winch to-- just dirt and bushes, so we tried this thing called a “pull pal.”  It was no pal to us, cuz it just seemed to plow the soft dirt.  Grr.

Finally, my mom got her way (whiner) and my dad said we could turn around and go back.  Whatever, Mom.  But when we got back to the stream, we found out the hard way that what goes down, doesn’t necessarily come back up. 

We got stuck again, only this time, it was in the water.  So my mom (probably out of guilt for being such a whiner) got out and waded through the water in her new pink socks.  She tried to build up the hole that our tire kept getting stuck in and had to use the “Bob Keeley” levelers (this is a family joke:  Apparently Bob Keeley was known for having gizmos and gadgets galore, and my dad finally commended him when he found these levelers in the motorhome… oh well, I digress…).  She stacked the levelers, then packed them with mud to hold them in place.

And then we made it out of the stream.  Yay!!! 

My mom just wanted to go back to the campsite, cuz she was pretty stressed out.  My dad just kept saying how much my brothers would have liked to be here in a situation like this.  My mom said she never signed up for situations like this--blah, blah, blah-- this whining put me to sleep. 

I woke up when we pulled into the car wash.  The Supervan was filthy and it needed a bath.  My dad hosed it down with a power washer while my mom and I watched. 

The Supervan's tires needed air too, so I sat next to the air hose, trying to get my dad's attention.  Check out this sign:

Then I looked across the parking lot and noticed beautiful, lush grass, just waiting for me to fertilize it.  Then I saw another sign.  This was a real stupid sign and it really ticked me off:

Seriously?  Are you kidding me? 

We got back into the clean Supervan and I started to doze off again as my dad drove back toward town.  My radar beeped in my head when I heard my dad say, “Does Mommy want an ice cream cone?”  Translation:  My dad wants an ice cream cone and he makes it appear as if he is offering it to my mom.  Whatever...  Just get the dang ice cream cone, I say.  

They ate their ice creams in front of me while I grew walrus drools.  When we got back to the campsite, I knew my mom loved me because she saved the best part for me-- the cone!

Happy me!  Happy me! 

I was so tuckered out from the adventure today, that the squirrels will have to wait until tomorrow, but I will chase them in my dreams…