A Camping Story

Last Friday, for the Memorial Day weekend, we packed up to go camping for two nights with some of our ward friends. Just as we were packing the van, we got a call saying the intended camp area was full so we were hoping our friends could find a backup site. Luckily they did, so we headed out! Our previous camping experience in Moab last year wasn't too good, so we were ready to prove that camping can work.

We went to Middle Canyon in Tooele, found our friends, set up camp, and let Nolan loose in the dirt. He was so happy up there with his friends Ella, Cole, and Carter (aka "Cartig"). When we settled in for bed at 9:45 or so, the trailer 75 yards from us decided to fire up their generator. We figured it would only be on for a few minutes, but a few minutes lasted until sometime around 11:30 p.m. Next, they turned on their outside light which shone brightly onto our tent until sometime around 3 a.m. This light was so bright, in fact, that Justin woke up to go to the bathroom at midnight and said to me, "I think I'm the first one up." I said, "There is no way it's morning? Do you feel well rested?!" He thought it was time to get up.

Soon after that, Nolan got a little cold and so we brought him into our double sleeping bag. I was in and out of sleep, but wasn't feeling too uncomfortable considering that I'm trying to camp at 8 months pregnant. Well, at 4 a.m. the back pain started in. I said a little prayer asking that I could doze back off soon. Little did I know that the back pain was nothing in comparison to what was coming.

I no sooner finished this prayer than Nolan kicked me in the back and started in crying and screaming nonsense words. He was tossing around yelling things like, "Mommy bed!", "Cookie!", and "Close it!" It was total chaos and wouldn't you know, by now, that that dang trailer light was finally off. I found the lantern and tried to bring him out of his disoriented fit, even shoving a cookie in his mouth at one point (which didn't work). We counted 1, 2, 3 and nothing would help! Finally Justin grabbed Nolan and the van keys and headed for time out in the car seat. At least it's soundproof for the other campers. We felt so bad disturbing everyone. I settled down and figured they'd be back in a few minutes after Nolan was calm.

Just then, I heard a car alarm go off. It was loud, trust me. Someone nearby yelled, "Shut it off!" When it wouldn't turn off, I figured that the boys had activated our friend's alarm and they hadn't turned it off yet. I crawled out of the tent and saw (to my horror) that it was our van and Nolan and Justin were inside, obviously unable to turn it off. They started slowly driving down the hill, honking all the way, as it echoed throughout the canyon. So much for a soundproof time out! I watched the van come to a stop down the road and finally stop honking. I immediately realized that I did not want to be around when all of our friends woke up the next morning. Oh the shame! We had to get out of there.

I went to the tent, grabbed my pillow and Nolan's puppy and blanket (the essentials), and headed down the highway road in darkness. I got about 200 yards down the road, turned on the flashlight to look for the van, and I couldn't see it. I decided that they may have gone home without me so I decided to turn back. At a nearby campsite a dog started barking near a still-raging fire. His owner told him to shut up and shone his flashlight on me as I walked back up the highway holding my pillow and puppy. It was a low moment. Luckily Justin drove up in the van soon after. I opened the door and said, "Take me home." That's where we headed and enjoyed some wonderful rest until 8 a.m.

Here's what happened to Justin: When he took Nolan to the van, they quickly climbed inside, he locked the doors with the keychain button, and then proceeded to strap Nolan into his seat. Since it was cold, he decided to turn the car on. As soon as he put the key in the ignition, the security system went off. He had no idea why and luckily the car gave him enough power to roll down the hill so that it was quieter for our friends (not the other campsites, though). He was frantically thumbing through the manual when it shut itself off after exactly two minutes of honking. Turns out this is a feature on our new van. Apparantly you cannot lock the car with the keychain and then start the ignition. We don't know why anyone would want this "feature."

We managed to show our faces at camp the next day and apologize to everyone. They were so nice about it. We found that another family had already left at 1 a.m. and another family left an hour after us. Apparantly there were crazy drunk people driving back and forth soon after we headed out. What a night! Our day there was beautiful though, complete with a 3 hour nap for Nolan and me. We're glad the Rustads invited us and that they and the Andersons and Nelsons put up with our noise. We had a good time, but our next camping trip will be Justin and Nolan in the backyard for a dress rehearsal.

And no, we didn't stay that second night.