You know you're a true camper when...

[Eeyore'sthebest]

your house is being surrounded by flood waters and your husband is putting the golf cart on the trailer to hook up to the RV to drive to safety. Who cares about everything else that's in the way of the water, the cart and camper need to get to higher ground!!

Oh yeah, and DH replaced the hot water heater last night and we showered by lantern light (no electricity). Told DD to pretend we were in a crappy campground and make it fast to get back to the RV!

Anybody else have any crazy stories? I could really use some about now!

 

[We4mickey]

Oh Allison, I hope everything is okay. Be safe!

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Oh Allison, I hope everything is okay. Be safe!

Thanks. We'll be okay but it looked really weird to be living in the Wal-Mart lot for a few days with our golf cart. Back on the property now and the cart is safely back in the yard. I was so afraid someone would mess with it in the parking lot!

 

[BigDaddyRog]

What an adventure!!!! Youll look back at this time and laugh real soon Allison!! Or cry like a baby....either way...this WILL eventually pass, and I hope you guys pull through without losing anything. Whats causing the flooding? Nearby rivers from a year of WAY TOO MUCH SNOW?

 

[LORNADUCK]

Hope everything is ok.
That's one of the reasons I love our RV, we always have someplace to go if needed. When the house looses electric, we turn on the generator and go to the rv, have ac and tv.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

We had way too much rain this weekend in NJ. We don't live far from a river so with all the snow that melted in the last 2 weeks, and all the rain on Saturday and Sunday - probably around 5 inches in 24 hours, it flooded like crazy!

The hubby didn't get arrested, which was a good thing. They wanted to turn off our power. The sump pump was still pumping out the basement and he didn't want them to touch it so he stood in front of the meter. He finally backed down but it took 13 cops, 4 power guys and 1 fire marshall before he did. All this for one unarmed, disabled, frustrated homeowner. All I kept thinking was "how is this going to play in the news media"? Hmmm...

 

[BRDof3]

Hope it all comes out OK for you, Allison. We've been sweating flooding in the Midwest, so far so good. We'll keep some good thoughts on the burner for you.

 

[Just Beachy]

Oh no, Allison!!! I feel for ya! We got that nasty storm, too. Fortunately, we only lost one of those canvas sheds. We lost power for about 13 hours so we started up the camper generator and plugged our house fridge into it! It could have been MUCH worse!!

 

[PolynesianPixie]

We had way too much rain this weekend in NJ. We don't live far from a river so with all the snow that melted in the last 2 weeks, and all the rain on Saturday and Sunday - probably around 5 inches in 24 hours, it flooded like crazy!

The hubby didn't get arrested, which was a good thing. They wanted to turn off our power. The sump pump was still pumping out the basement and he didn't want them to touch it so he stood in front of the meter. He finally backed down but it took 13 cops, 4 power guys and 1 fire marshall before he did. All this for one unarmed, disabled, frustrated homeowner. All I kept thinking was "how is this going to play in the news media"? Hmmm...

Yep.....memories!

I hope you all get dried out soon!

I'm trying my hardest to think of a funny camping story......can't right now, but I may go pop mine up! You and this great sunny day have inspired me!

 

[Lil' Lisa]

I hope everything turns out ok Allison. I've lived through a flood myself and it is definitely no fun at all. We're here for you!

 

[mamaloya]

This isn't a funny story, but shows how true of campers we are. When we were planning a disney trip last year (that got cancelled anyway), we found an off site 3 bedroom condo with LCD TVs in every room, 2 bathroom, giant jacuzzi tub, washer/dryer in kitchen, etc for less than the fort. I told the kids about it and asked them if they would rather that or FW in a tent (towing the camper and full site was gonna be waaaay more). They unanimously shouted "TENT!" How many kids would choose a tent over a condo?

Oooh, I just remembered a funny story. We were tent camping one weekend with our 65lb sharpai/lab. He was loving him some coons. I put the kids to bed in the tent and put him in there with them. I was sitting outside alone enjoying the solitude. All of a sudden I hear him growling at a raccoon that was heading to our cooler on the side of our tent. All of a sudden I see his form lunging out the side of the tent. I just knew the tent was gonna collapse. It held and he kinda sat back stunned. I guess I staked the tent down pretty good. LOL

Oh, then there was the time we were camping at FW in our popup when I was pregnant. I woke up about 1am having to potty real bad. It was storming horrifically. (I really wanted to smack dh for not getting the one with a portapotty.) Do you know how horrible it is to have to pee when you are listening to the rain hit the canvas? I normally love that sound. By 3am, I was eyeing the sink (don't judge me!!!). Luckily before I got desperate enough to use the sink, the rain cleared. I never ran so fast pregnant in my life. And, sorry if this is TMI, but going never felt sooooo good.

 

[AuburnJen92]

Just one question, was there beer involved?

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

This isn't a funny story, but shows how true of campers we are. When we were planning a disney trip last year (that got cancelled anyway), we found an off site 3 bedroom condo with LCD TVs in every room, 2 bathroom, giant jacuzzi tub, washer/dryer in kitchen, etc for less than the fort. I told the kids about it and asked them if they would rather that or FW in a tent (towing the camper and full site was gonna be waaaay more). They unanimously shouted "TENT!" How many kids would choose a tent over a condo?

Oooh, I just remembered a funny story. We were tent camping one weekend with our 65lb sharpai/lab. He was loving him some coons. I put the kids to bed in the tent and put him in there with them. I was sitting outside alone enjoying the solitude. All of a sudden I hear him growling at a raccoon that was heading to our cooler on the side of our tent. All of a sudden I see his form lunging out the side of the tent. I just knew the tent was gonna collapse. It held and he kinda sat back stunned. I guess I staked the tent down pretty good. LOL

Oh, then there was the time we were camping at FW in our popup when I was pregnant. I woke up about 1am having to potty real bad. It was storming horrifically. (I really wanted to smack dh for not getting the one with a portapotty.) Do you know how horrible it is to have to pee when you are listening to the rain hit the canvas? I normally love that sound. By 3am, I was eyeing the sink (don't judge me!!!). Luckily before I got desperate enough to use the sink, the rain cleared. I never ran so fast pregnant in my life. And, sorry if this is TMI, but going never felt sooooo good.

OMG - The pee story is hysterical. I would never judge you for that! We have one bathroom in the house and there are times that the bathtub looks inviting when I can't get someone off the potty. And I'm not even pregnant!!

The RV is still winterized so when it came time to use the potty the rules were - No number 2 in the RV. If you need to poop, walk over to Wal-Mart and use their potty. We would make family trips over to use the bathroom. "Alright everyone, time to go poop!"

Just one question, was there beer involved?

No beer but DH is on some serious pain meds. They were definitely playing into the situation!

The other night he just realized that the DVR is not recording all his favorite TV shows (somewhat of an addict). He just sputtered and said "If I had realized that I would be missing new episodes of House, they wouldn't have gotten to the meter box. I would have gone down in cuffs first!" He is so strange.

Thanks for the good thoughts. The insurance guy is coming today. Last time we had "Claims Adjuster Barbie". Let's hope this guy is better!

 

[MandMLUVMMandDVC]

Sandi that was funny. I have a very similar story. When I was a teenager my family was camping at Elkmont in the Smokies. In the middle of the night a baby bear somehow got stuck under our camper and in trying to get out he kept rocking the camper (pop-up) & woke everyone up. Momma bear was closeby and grunting at the baby and circling the camper. Nearby campers thought they'd be helpful & yell at the bears & hit sticks against pans to make them go away. All this did was make momma bear madder and scare baby bear even more. My sweet mother decided that this would be the best time to have to go potty! Now how she thought she was going to leave the camper to get to the bathroom I don't know. After complaining for quite awhile she gave in when she eyed the old-fashioned crank-style ice cream maker. Sure she felt better but to this day whenever we go to make ice cream everyone gives her crap that she can't use the maker. lol

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Sandi that was funny. I have a very similar story. When I was a teenager my family was camping at Elkmont in the Smokies. In the middle of the night a baby bear somehow got stuck under our camper and in trying to get out he kept rocking the camper (pop-up) & woke everyone up. Momma bear was closeby and grunting at the baby and circling the camper. Nearby campers thought they'd be helpful & yell at the bears & hit sticks against pans to make them go away. All this did was make momma bear madder and scare baby bear even more. My sweet mother decided that this would be the best time to have to go potty! Now how she thought she was going to leave the camper to get to the bathroom I don't know. After complaining for quite awhile she gave in when she eyed the old-fashioned crank-style ice cream maker. Sure she felt better but to this day whenever we go to make ice cream everyone gives her crap that she can't use the maker. lol

This is why we always went to the ME coast. Biggest animal we ever saw was the lobster that dad bought from the store!

So I need to know, did you buy a new ice cream maker or just sanitize the old one??

 

[disney4dan]

When we were kids, my parents would take us on long road trips and camping wherever the time and money allowed. No real planning back then, and they really had the wanderlust bug.

One summer, they packed us all up in the truck (remember the days before seat belt laws?), hooked up the pop-up camper and headed out. My father was in the home building business, but took one look at my brother and I (elementary school age) and turned over the 5 house projects he was supposed to do to one of his competitors and we headed out for a 3 month journey across 21 states.

I still remember the bears trying to climb in the back of the truck with my brother and I in Yellowstone to get the food. We had a cap on the truck, but we had the back open to see the sites. Got stuck in the traffic at a "bear jam" and could not get the window down fast enough.

I also remember being somewhere in the Pacific Northwest cooking our "umpteenth" meal of canned ravioli over the Coleman stove all huddled in the back of the truck out of the rain (did not bother setting up the pop-up because it was coming down so hard). My dad was watching a young couple on the next site trying to light a fire to cook supper in the pouring rain, so he heated up an extra can and ran over to them in the downpour.

I still remember coming home after that trip and my grandmother had all of our photos together; my parents would drop the film in a pre-paid mailer and have the processed photos sent to her house. She said she couldn't wait to get the mail that summer, wondering when the pictures were coming in and where we had been. Now we can "blog" live from wherever we are using a cell phone and two minutes of time. AND get better photos from a cell phone than we could from a Kodak 110 point and shoot.

 

[MandMLUVMMandDVC]

:So I need to know, did you buy a new ice cream maker or just sanitize the old one??

I think they threw it out. At least I hope so! lol

 

[Tigger1966]

Glad things worked out
Our first two homes were in the floodplane so I know all about the castle with a moat feeling. After we moved from the first house it flooded up to the windows.
Our second house had a finnished basement in the flood area had to stay home a few times to man the pump so we didn't have an indoor pool.
Got smart this time and bought a house on a hill
Noah will be building a new boat before we get wet again

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

When we were kids, my parents would take us on long road trips and camping wherever the time and money allowed. No real planning back then, and they really had the wanderlust bug.

One summer, they packed us all up in the truck (remember the days before seat belt laws?), hooked up the pop-up camper and headed out. My father was in the home building business, but took one look at my brother and I (elementary school age) and turned over the 5 house projects he was supposed to do to one of his competitors and we headed out for a 3 month journey across 21 states.

I still remember the bears trying to climb in the back of the truck with my brother and I in Yellowstone to get the food. We had a cap on the truck, but we had the back open to see the sites. Got stuck in the traffic at a "bear jam" and could not get the window down fast enough.

I also remember being somewhere in the Pacific Northwest cooking our "umpteenth" meal of canned ravioli over the Coleman stove all huddled in the back of the truck out of the rain (did not bother setting up the pop-up because it was coming down so hard). My dad was watching a young couple on the next site trying to light a fire to cook supper in the pouring rain, so he heated up an extra can and ran over to them in the downpour.

I still remember coming home after that trip and my grandmother had all of our photos together; my parents would drop the film in a pre-paid mailer and have the processed photos sent to her house. She said she couldn't wait to get the mail that summer, wondering when the pictures were coming in and where we had been. Now we can "blog" live from wherever we are using a cell phone and two minutes of time. AND get better photos from a cell phone than we could from a Kodak 110 point and shoot.

That sounds like an amazing trip and definitely something on my agenda. Unfortunately, unless I hit the lottery this is not something that I can do until I retire. The office couldn't stop calling me when I took 3 days out to drain the house of water.

I think they threw it out. At least I hope so! lol

Thank goodness!!

Glad things worked out
Our first two homes were in the floodplane so I know all about the castle with a moat feeling. After we moved from the first house it flooded up to the windows.
Our second house had a finnished basement in the flood area had to stay home a few times to man the pump so we didn't have an indoor pool.
Got smart this time and bought a house on a hill
Noah will be building a new boat before we get wet again

As soon as FEMA buys us out (cause no one in their right mind will buy it) our plan is to move to a mountain top!! I'm hoping that they will get tired of paying us out. I swear, with this flood, they will have paid me over six figures in insurance payments.

 

[kampfirekim]

Pee story is hilarious! You know you're a true camper/Fort Fiend when... you're traveling pregnant with a 1 yr old and DS1 screams nonstop for the first 200 miles for no apparent reason. When the screaming stops, DH says "Look in your mirror and see if everything is OK." I look in the mirror and yell "There's fire coming out of the back!" DH pulls over to find that the bike rack had come loose and we had been dragging the bikes down the interstate for an undetermined length of time causing huge sparks (the bikes were not useable that trip). Mild mannered Clark Kent type DH threw a Donald Duck fit right there on the side of the road, kicking gravel, throwing the bike rack, the whole works. As we come into downtown Orlando, in the center lane of course, I look back to check on DS1. I see that he has something all over his face, hands, hair. I ask DH "Did you give him chocolate at the last stop?" Then the aroma suddenly answered that question. There was no way to pull over so we had to press on. With windows down and our gag reflexes being challenged to the extreme, we made it to the Fort where we were given a site that was too small for our TT. We did finally get DS clean, threw his onesie away, and got a site large enough for the TT. Turned out to be one of our greatest trips and gave us memories we can never forget!... (No matter how hard we've tried!)