July 3: I Did Not Just Do That! Did I?

Today is dedicated to the twins, Sam and Ben Hirsch. They are a lot of work if you are their parent or their teacher :0) but they are also really great kids. Super athletic, but also intelligent and inquisitive. I truly enjoyed being their teacher.

To all my students - "Always remember that the world is a better place with you in it." Also, "It's not about being the BEST, it's about being better than you were yesterday." Laurie Dieppa

I started out today by going to the Irish Capital of America, Notre Dame. Home of the Fighting Irish and the Touchdown Jesus, which made me think of the twins. The dogs and I took a bike ride all around the campus, which was challenging, but also fun. Jean-Luc kept trying to stop to pee and Bobby kept trying to jump out of the basket. We could have worked, but it's a big campus and I was tired, having not had any caffeine yet today. We spent a hour or more because this was basically our only stop for the day. The rest was on the road trying to get to Charlevoix.

Now, I'm a pretty smart person, but why I kept wondering why my car was the only one kicking up dust never made me think that something might be wrong, I don't know. At about 6:00 I pulled into Uhrick's RV Park, such as it was. NO FULL HOOK UPS. I am the only one here. Uhrick tells me to pick whatever place I like and "the others" will be here later. (Now that I am typing this, I can tell you that no one else ever showed up on the busiest weekend of the year.) The For Sale sign in the office window might have something to do with that. There was supposed to be restrooms and a laundry, but I never found them and Uhrick gave me the creeps, so I just stayed to myself and hoped that I didn't need to empty the gray and black water before I left. Anyway, I began to unhitch the trailer from the car and remembered that my gloves were inside the camper. When I opened the camper door, I found it full of smoke and it smelled as if something was still burning. I checked all the electrical - nothing burning, as well as the propane - nothing burning. I opened all the windows and the door to air it out. So, I proceeded to finish unhitching the camper. I removed the stablizing bars. Plugged in the electric and water, turned on the air conditioner and the bathroom fan to air out the place some more. Then I needed to level the camper for living. I always start at the right rear. Well there was the problem and yes this is a real true problem. My leaf spring was completely broken in half, So the camper was sitting directly on the wheel and the wheel had been made completely bald by the friction of rubbing the inside of the wheel well. That is what caused the burning smell and the smoke (not dust) from behind my vehicle, (and no one else's.) Ha! So, today is Saturday, July 3rd - 4th of July weekend - no one is open to call for help. I am surprisingly calm. As I look at the damage I believe I may have also tweaked the axle. So I decided to have a margarita. I mean somehow by the grace of God I avoided a real bad situation. - I could have had a blow out and then a potentially fatal accident. Or, I could have heard the leaf spring break, pulled over and been stuck on the side of the road. So at this point I am happy to be alive and a margarita seemed like the right thing to do. There's a song by Chris Jansen that goes, "I can't fix that, but I can fix a drink." Yeah, can't do anything about the busted camper until Monday. So drinking and thinking about the situation seemed like the best option. I've made a decision. I always feel better after I've made a decision. On Monday. I will call the RV dealership in Petoskey and explain my situation. I'll have the camper towed there. If they can fix it within a week, I'll get a hotel room and go lay on the beach of Lake Michigan. If they can't I'll trade it in for another one and hit the road. Okay- have another margarita and go to bed.