RE: FICTION: The Trip to the Lake

[AustinBoston]

 
The Trip to the Lake
 
 Everything started out like any other trip to the lake.  That is, we decided we could take the pop-up up to the lake for the weekend.  After that, everything changed.
 
 First, I got a call from Angie on Friday afternoon.  " Hon, how come the water in the sink is pink?"
 " The water in the sink is pink?  Which sink?"
 " In the pop-up."
 Oh, no! we forgot to de-winterize the fresh water plumbing on the pop-up!  That would hold up our departure for a few hours!  We needed the water system, because there was no drinking water at the lake.
 " I guess I forgot to de-winterize the water system.  I ll have to do it when I get home.  It will be fine."
 
 Angie was just finishing closing up the camper when I got home.  I explained that it had to be open to flush & sanitize the water system.  So we put it back up and got to work.  When the whole process was done, we drained the tank and filled it with fresh water.  I put a bottle of lemon juice in to counteract any traces of chlorine, then we popped it down so we would be ready to go.
 
 It was just getting dark when we got it hooked up and were ready to go.  I checked all the tail lights and one of the running lights was out.  Luckily I had a spare one and was able to change it in a few minutes, but there was one more thing holding us up.
 
 When we were ready to go, I went to pull forward, and nothing happened.  I checked the emergency brake, and that was ok.  Finally, I found that the passenger side chocks were still in place.  I m glad I checked, because one of the stabilizers was still down.  OK, so we were finally on our way.
 
 " Honey, wat does  og  mean?"
 " What?"
 " On the brake thingy.  It says  og ."
 
 Now I m not sure exactly what  og  or  0g  or whatever actually stands for, but I just then discovered what it really means.  You see, at that exact moment the light changed, and I had to stop.  Or, should I say, had to try to stop.  I think " og"  really stands for the " OOOOOOooog!"  sound you make as you slide through the red light beacuse the trailer brakes aren t working.  There were sounds of skids behind us, but no metallic thuds.  We stopped, and there was no one there who had crashed.
 
 I tried to figure out what was wrong, but couldn t.  The booklet for the brake controller was on the kitchen table where I put it down instead of in the pickup.  So we found a place to turn around and s-l-o-w-l-y drove the ten minutes back to the house so I could figure out what was wrong.  So it says " 0g"  means " no ground."   What the heck is a ground?  I figured it must be some kind of loose connection, so I went back out (bringing the booklet with me) and started poking around.  First, I made sure all the wires on the box looked tight.  Then I looked over all the wires I could see on the trailer, including the ones near the wheels.  I figured that s where the brakes are, so that must be it.  But everything looked OK.  Finally, I disconnected & re-connected that round plug thing with all the flat pins and the one round one in the middle.  I thought that might be the ground.
 
 " Oh, no!  Now it doesn t say anything!  There s just two little red dots."
 " Oh, that s OK.  That s what it s supposed to say."   I didn t tell her that there was only one red dot last time.
 
 So we are off again.  This time, I take the little booklet with us.  After a half mile, I figured I should test the brakes to make sure everything is OK.  I tapped the brakes, and there was this awful screech from skidding wheels and we both got thrown against the seatbelts.  I was unsure which was worse, not enough brakes or too much brakes.  When the " 0g"  first showed up, I fiddled with the knob, lever, and button trying to make it go away.  I must have goofed up some setting or other.  We stopped again, which was real easy to do with the brakes like that, and I tried to read the part about adjusting the knob, button, and lever.  The more I tried to follow their instructions, the more confused I got.  I finally decided to try different things to see if I could figure it out.  I finally got it so it wasn t jolting us around too bad, and we headed off again.
 
 Now it was really starting to get late.  But we had no more trouble driving to the lake.  We found our usual spot and set up the camper.  Angie usually sets up the inside stuff, and I do the outside stuff.  I got the trailer unhooked, raised the roof, and pulled out the bunks.  Angie worked on the door and the poles inside.
 
 It was late, so we both crawled into the back bunk to sleep.
 
 " Hon, is the trailer moving?"
 
 Just then, I got a sinking feeling.  At first, I thought it was because I forgot something, but then I realized the bunk really was moving down.  It stopped with a thud, at a steep angle.  Angie rolled over on top of me.  Now normally, I would have considered that a good thing, but I really didn t think she rolled on top of me because she was in the mood.  Besides, the bunk was at too much of an angle for that to be much fun.
 
 At that moment, we both started scrambling to figure out what was wrong.  As soon as we were out of the bunk, it started moving again, and again it stopped with a thud.  The trailer was back upright.
 
 " Hon, what do you think caused that?"  she said with a mix of wonder and annoyance in her voice.
 
 I slipped out in my pink pajamas to crank down the stabilizers.  After that, we got a good night s sleep.
 
 The next morning, I got up, did the usual, and started to make coffee.  I filled the pot with water, and noticed that it was foamy and white.  I thought how that was odd, but went ahead anyway.  Maybe the water was still all shook up from the drive.  I strolled down to the lake while it finished brewing.
 
 Some time later, Angie came down to the beach with two cups of coffee.  Just what I wanted.
 
 " Hon, why does the coffee taste so bad?"
 
 It tasted terrible.
 
 " Maybe it has something to do with the water."
 " What about the water?"
 " It was foamy and white this morning."
 " You don t suppose it was because of the baking soda, do you?"
 " Baking soda?"
 " Yes.  I poured a box full of it down the water spout before we filled the tank.  I thought it would make the water taste fresh.  It works for the freezer."
 " I guess you re not supposed to put both baking soda and lemon juice in the fresh water tank."
 
 I suggested that we should go into town to get drinking water.  Maybe we could find a place for breakfast as well.  We would only use the water in the tank for washing.
 
 We hopped in the pickup and headed to town.  Well, that was the plan.  We got about one foot before there was this awful noise, the truck lurched, and the whole pop-up shifted.
 
 " Hon, what was that?"
 " I don t know."
 
 It was a lie.  I hopped out of the truck and ran back to confirm that the chains were still attached.  So I unhooked them and we headed into town.  We had a gread breakfast and came back with more bottled water than I thought we would ever need.
 
 All weekend, we used the water in the tank for washing dishes, but decided to use bottled water for the final rinse because the tank water left a white chalky film on everything.
 
 When the weekend was over, we carefully packed things up, put them away, hooked up the trailer, and headed home.  Everything was going fine until I noticed the trailer pulling to one side.
 
 " Hon, how come the tire appears to be flapping around?"
 
 Sure enough, it was flat.  I looked in the book for instructions on changing a flat.  There weren t any.  So I decided I would have to figure it out on my own.  I couldn t find a jack for the trailer, so I tried to use the truck jack, but I couldn t figure out how to do it with the trailer.  Then I got an idea.  I ll call AAA!  I pulled out my phone, and the connection was so bad I m not sure if I gave them directions or ordered Chineese take-out.
 
 About two hours later, a tow truck shows up.  He takes one look at the flat and says in a gruff voice " AAA don t do trailers.  It ll cost you."
 
 He told me how much it would cost, and, well, I didn t have too many other options, so I told him to go ahead.  he put the spare on, which was low on air, so he pumped it up with a hose from his truck. I paid him, and he dissapeared.
 
 We were soon back on our way.
 
 " Hon, I think that tire is going flat again."
 
 I stopped to check, and sure enough, it was.  It seemed like a slow leak, so I thought I could pump it up, drive for a while, pump it up some more, drive some more, and eventually we d get home.  I had a bicycle pump and went to work.  Tem minutes later, the tire looked OK.  Twenty minutes after that, I was pumping again.  This time, I was tired, so it took about fifteen minutes.  And was flat again in fifteen.  We continued like this, with it taking longer and longer to pump up the tire and being able to drive less and less time on it, until eventually we were home.  I thought about calling AAA again, but then I thought waiting for Mr. Gruff Voice and having to give him more money for AAA services, and so I kept at it.
 
 We got the trailer put away, we both showered, and fell into bed.
 
 " Hon, I think we should sell the trailer and use the money for a down payment on a timeshare."
 " That s the best thing I ve heard you say all weekend."
 
 
 
 Copyright ? 2003 by AustinBoston
 
 The preceeding was fiction, not true, made up...
 
 Austin

[birol]

 AustinBoston
Arrrggghhhhhh,
 
 Darned good story but the ending had a shocking twist !!!!!!
 
 AB, keep them coming !!!!!!!!

[AustinBoston]

 birol

ORIGINAL:  birol
 
 Arrrggghhhhhh,
 
 Darned good story but the ending had a shocking twist !!!!!!
 
 AB, keep them coming !!!!!!!!
 

 This one has only had 13 readers so far.  I dunno.
 
 Austin

[birol]

 AustinBoston
People are camping and stuff !
 
 I am addicted you can y do this ! You can t get me addicted and make me go thru withdrawal so quick ! I will make you pay for it  if you do !
 
 
 [8D][8D][8D]

[Viking99]

 AustinBoston
That has to be one of the best ones yet[].
 
 I wonder how true that may be to some people[&:]

[AustinBoston]

 Viking99

ORIGINAL:  Viking99
 I wonder how true that may be to some people[&:]
 

 Based on the number of clearly abandoned trailers I have seen in back yards & such, I think quitting pop-upping without bothering to sell the trailer is fairly common.[]
 
 Austin

[Surfcal]

 AustinBoston
I like it.  Keep it coming.
 
 Surfcal

[Popupnut]

 AustinBoston
Ab - this was great!  It reminded me of the brake problem DH and I had once - we chirped all the way down the driveway!!!!
 
 Thanks for the entertainment!