Ever since my son was a couple of years old, we’ve been attending the annual “fathers and sons” outing.  Some years it has been held in the mountains, sometimes in the desert and this year, at Rockport Reservoir.  The campground was nice and clean, the outhouses were clean but smelled.  Some years we had a camper, some we had a camp trailer or a tent trailer, but this year we just had a tent.

            We didn’t get an early start and didn’t feel like cooking, so we decided to stop and buy a burger before making the drive.  We sat and visited while we ate.  The burgers were big but a little greasy and we ate too much.  We had to stop and get some ice so we stopped at the local Maverik for that.  Dinner was too much for Ben and he headed for the restroom where he tossed his cookies.  Feeling much better, we made the drive to the camp ground. 

The years when we had a camper, we would bake chocolate chip cookies and eat them hot with cold milk before retiring.  Since we didn’t have the means to cook them, we bought cookies and just had cold ones with milk before we went to bed.  In fact, we brought way too many snacks, most of which went unopened.

            After an evening of activities and watching the stars, we finally retired for the night.  We weren’t as prepared as we should have been, because it got cold.  We both got cold in the night, but especially Ben did.  At around 5:00 AM, Ben got up, watered a tree and came back to bed.  He borrowed my extra cover and was trying to sleep.  Nature was calling me, so at 5:30 I decided to get up.  I dressed and threw the extra sleeping bag on Ben to help him get warm.  I used the smelly outhouse, and then trying to be really quiet, I went to the truck to get a drink and    to get some paper to help starting a fire with.

            Living in the vicinity of some retail spaces and across the street from a church, I have sometimes been annoyed by people who inadvertently have set off their car alarms.  It seems that sometimes they don’t realize that it is their car, so it keeps on honking for quite some time.  In fact, I’ve accidently pressed the button on my key while our car was in our garage, disturbing my family.  In the dark, I’ve pressed the button, while using Nan’s car, being unfamiliar with her key.

            I’ve been driving my truck for two years and have never had an experience quit like this one.  There was a tent about twenty yards in front of the truck, and not wanting to wake the people in that tent with my truck lights, I decided to unlock the truck with the key instead of the keyless entry.  To my surprise, the truck started making little quick horn sounds so I pushed the red button on my key to quiet the honking.  It didn’t stop so I quickly closed the door.  When the door closed, the truck went into full alarm.  There I was, trying to be nice and quiet, fumbling with the keys in the dark with the lights on the truck blinking as the horn was honking on and off in a campground full of tents and campers.  Finally, I found the red button…I’ve never been so grateful for silence.

            I decided to blame it on Ben if anyone asked, but ultimately took the blame upon myself.

            Embarrassed as I was, at least no one got up or yelled at me.  If I hadn’t said anything, perhaps I could have gotten away with it.  I did apologize to the ones in the nearest tent.

            I gathered a little wood in the dark, started a fire and enjoyed a while of peace and quiet before anyone got up.

            As I sat there, I watched a herd of deer work its way down the hill and cross the road about 50 yards away.  What a peaceful way to start the morning…after such a noisy blunder just an hour or so before.

            After a nice breakfast of French toast and bacon, juice, milk and chocolate milk, we sat and visited, enjoyed the sunrise over the hills, and broke camp.  With much to do, we departed and pointed the truck in the direction of home.

            Home safe at last, everyone at home was happy for the snacks that we didn’t eat. 

            As for me, I have a new appreciation for the way the alarm system works on my truck.  I’m sure some of the other campers appreciated the fact that we didn’t stay another night.