Memorial Day Camping Adventures
Our little Phoebe turned two months old last week! We started our Memorial Day weekend with her checkup on Friday morning. She’s a very healthy girl! She’s a whopping 12.5 pounds and 23 inches. It’s time for her to start settling into at least a loose bedtime schedule and doing three rounds of tummy time every day. Dave was able to come along to the appointment because he took Friday off, so he stood nearby while Phoebe got her vaccines—three shots in her chubby little legs. She screamed, of course, but fell into a recuperative sleep as soon as we got into the car. The nurse has obviously done a lot of immunizations, because she looked over and said “Are you all right, Mommy?” I was, but I was glad Dave was there to watch instead of me.
We planned to go camping at Angel of Shavano campground with our friends Katie, Todd, and Henry Johnson, so we stopped by their house after Phoebe’s appointment. Todd wasn’t home from work yet, so the Gribble contingent went to get some lunch. The Johnsons met us at Caffe Sole, and we caravaned out toward Salida. It was a beautiful sunny day and very warm in the car. We stopped in Fairplay to get a drink, go to the bathroom, and let Henry stretch his legs. I fed Phoebe, who promptly threw up milk all over me and herself. Thank goodness I’d opted to sit on the sidewalk instead of in the car! Apparently Henry often throws up when he’s too hot, so we weren’t too worried. We figured that if she didn’t do it again, it wasn’t a big deal. Happily, she seemed all right and fell right back to sleep in the car.
We drove for a while longer, but about 20 miles outside Buena Vista, one of Taco’s bells started to bing. We looked over and saw that he was overheating, so we turned on the heater and rolled down the windows. The temperature dropped, but when it shot up again, we pulled over to the side of the road. Todd hopped out and came to look under the hood with Dave. They could see coolant leaking out, so they added several thermoses of water to the coolant reservoir and talked about how to patch a leak. We were hopeful that we could get into Buena Vista, so we decided to keep going and stop if necessary. The temperature gauge stayed high, but didn’t seem to be rising. Then the engine quit. Dave managed to coast into a reasonably sized berm on the side of the road and Todd hopped out again to discuss our options. They pretty much agreed that it must be the water pump, so there wasn’t much chance of waiting and trying to go farther.
It was decided that Todd and Dave would drive the Johnsons’ car into Buena Vista (we were about 15 miles away) to try to find a tow truck. Katie, Henry, Phoebe, and I would sit in Taco and play for a while. Phoebe had a couple of snacks and continued her nap. Henry was awesome. He drew pictures (mostly different colored lines, although he’s branched out into curves as well), listened to a book a couple of times, and ate snacks. After about an hour, Todd returned. Dave was coming with the tow truck driver, so we shuffled some stuff, including Phoebe’s car seat, into the Johnsons’ car. We also put some of their stuff in Taco so that the two carseats would fit better. Henry loves trucks, so it was fun to watch Taco being loaded onto the big yellow tow truck. The guy at Ford’s automotive in Buena Vista said he’d still be around, so he could look at the car when it arrived, even though it was almost 6:30 p.m.
Dave and Katie rode in the tow truck and I joined Todd, Henry, and Phoebe in the car. The automotive guy took a look and agreed that the problem was almost certainly the water pump, which isn’t too expensive of a fix…it’s just a matter of getting the part. We decided that Todd and Dave would go looking for a campsite, because it would be great if we could still go camping. So we moved most of our stuff, except for a small pile, into the Johnsons’ car and they set off. Katie and I held Phoebe and watched Henry go up a step, and down a step. Up a step, and down a step. He played with his new dump truck in the dirt and rocks, and then he and I went running in the parking lot of the automotive shop. Out to the rocks, back to Mama! Out to the rocks, back to Mama! Around 8:30 p.m. or so, Katie and I started to get worried and annoyed. Where were those men? They had both come back once after checking the RV campgrounds, and we had been disappointed to see them both there, as Dave was supposed to be staying with the gear and cooking dinner. They had gone away again to find a nicer campground with trees.
We had dismissed the possibility of another car failure and were worrying about deer when Todd finally showed up, alone. Hooray! We sent him around back to talk to the car guy about the water pump, since the guy had determined that’s what it was. We thought Todd would be better able to convey the information to Dave. We put the babies in the car and Katie squeezed between the carseats…she’s a trooper! We waited. And waited. Finally I went to rescue/retrieve Todd. I had almost decided I was going to find his body hacked into pieces, but he was just talking with the voluable car guy, who had once had his car break down in Nederland, so he rented another guy’s personal car to get to Denver to find the part he needed, and then been allowed to fix his car in that guy’s shop. I mentioned to Todd that Katie was squeezed into the seat between the car seats and Henry was hungry. Not to mention me.
We drove about 12 miles up Cottonwood Pass to Collegiate Peaks Campground, where we found Dave with a fire and boiling water. A couple of hot dogs later, we were all happier.
We went to bed soon after dinner. Phoebe wore socks, pajamas, a giraffe hat, her Mickey snowsuit, and by the middle of the night, a fleece swaddler (she was sound asleep and let me swaddle her arms briefly). We were all warm enough, but Dave and I alternately worried about her all night. Her little hands and face were chilly, but no chillier than her hands get at home if she doesn’t wear mittens. She was in a good mood in the morning.
We got up and Dave made bacon, potatoes, and eggs for breakfast. As soon as we finished eating, the men set out back down the mountain with Katie’s cell phone to try to find a rental car. That way, we’d be able to leave at separate times and fit all the stuff in the car. Henry and Katie went into their tent to nap, and I took Phoebe into ours, hoping for a pleasant snooze. Alas, it was WAY too hot in there, so she napped in the shade while I read a book on the Kindle. Henry never fell asleep, so they came out and he played in the dirt. He loved it! There was dirt everywhere…he looked like a coal miner. But it was great fun and kept his attention for hours.
Katie and I had gotten to the point where we were looking at every car passing by, hoping it was the dads. When their car finally drove up and we saw Dave in the passenger seat, our faces fell. It turned out that the men had gone all the way to Salida to get the phone to work and discovered that a rental car would cost $50 a day before taxes. So no rental car.
We talked about what to do and decided that Katie and I would drive into Buena Vista to call Greg and Emily and see if Dave and I could borrow their second car the next day. We had a really pleasant drive down the mountain…it was nice to leave baby duty to others. (We did have Phoebe, but she was asleep.) Katie bought some Pam so that we could make pizzas while I called Greg on the pay phone outside the grocery store. (It was located right behind a truck running its engine and delivering ice…one guy throwing bags to another guy about five feet from the phone.) I heard Greg, but pay phones take a while to pick up, so I kept saying “Greg, it’s Jess. Hi Greg, Jess here. Greg, it’s Jess.” He didn’t hear me and hung up. I tried again, nervously. What if I couldn’t actually reach him? The second time we both waited long enough and I quickly explained the situation. He said that we could borrow the car. Hooray! Katie and I headed back up the hill, where we found Henry asleep.
Todd had let him go crazy in the tent until he’d sacked out. We built a fire and had pizzas in the pie iron. Then we had s’mores…Henry’s first! Then to bed. It was a much colder night, so we worried about Phoebe more. I added a blanket tucked firmly under the changing pad we were using as a baby Thermarest (great idea, Dave!). I was chilly too. Eventually we had to change Phoebe’s diaper, since she had peed through everything, including Mickey. She got new pajamas and the sheep suit (thanks, Tilley!). We tucked her in between us, and Daddy (aka “heatbox”) kept her warm for the rest of the early morning. While I was stuffing Thermarests into stuff sacks, Phoebe was lying on a blanket in the tent. She was kind of on a slope. She kicked her legs up. Then she tipped them over and was on her side. Then she kicked them back and rolled onto her stomach! She totally startled herself and started to scream. Being a good mommy, I put her on her back before standing up outside the door to announce that she’d rolled over!! (On a slope.)
It didn’t take too long to pack everything up. We’d decided that Dave would put our gear into Taco—the car guy had promised to leave him outside—and wait in Buena Vista for the rest of us to go home. Phoebe and I would come back in the Brinkman’s car. Todd and Dave left yet again for the trip down the mountain. Katie and I waited again. Henry ate cheddar bunnies. Phoebe ate. When the car finally pulled back up, with Dave in the passenger seat, I’m sure we looked totally dejected. Taco was not outside! So we unloaded all of our stuff and loaded the Johnsons’ stuff.Dave would be stuck at the campsite all day, and Katie would be stuck between the carseats all the way home.
We stopped briefly in Buena Vista for Subway sandwiches and then got on the road. Phoebe slept all the way home. Henry woke up and wanted to get out—no surprise!—around Golden. Poor guy. It’s a long trip. The Johnsons drove me over to the Brinkmans’. I fed Phoebe and drank some Sprite. I changed Phoebe, chatted with Greg and Emily, and hung out with John a bit. I admired Thomas once more, and we were on the road again. I stopped for gas in Golden, but otherwise we drove straight back to Daddy. Phoebe slept the whole way, after her little bit of playtime at the Brinkmans’. We found Dave sitting under the tarp, ready to get home. I fed Phoebe as much as she would eat and changed her. She peed all over the camp chair. Nobody cared. We loaded everything up and drove into Buena Vista in search of a hamburger. We found a very busy brew pub and waited for a table. Phoebe was hungry and mad. We walked her around outside and then I finally fed her. But by the time we got a table, she was inconsolable. A long day for a very patient baby! We ended up getting our hamburgers to go and eating them in the car while she screamed. Dave managed to calm her down and she slept the whole way home. We were exhausted when we arrived home around 11:00 p.m., but I had some work to do. Luckily, it didn’t take too long. Dave hauled the stuff in, I fed Phoebe, and he took a shower. Then we gave Phoebe a bath. She was in a great mood! I took a shower, fed her, read her a book, and put her to sleep. She slept from 12:45 a.m. until 5:30 a.m. and peed through her nightgown. Great sleeping, little girl!
This morning we had egg burritos and hung out with Phoebe. Dave played with her. She did some tummy time and practiced rolling over—with a bit of help.
Does this count?
Then she got a tummy ache and we soothed, soothed, soothed. Finally she fell asleep and we packed her up for the coffee shop, where we sit now, catching you up. Taco is supposed to be fixed (including a new timing belt) on Thursday. I’m glad we have a few days before we have to drive back to Buena Vista! And I’m glad we salvaged a pretty fun camping trip, thanks to easy-going and generous good friends. I’m glad Phoebe stayed warm enough. I’m glad we got to eat hot dogs, pizzas, and s’mores. It would’ve been great to hike and spend more time with the daddys, but all in all, I think we’ll definitely go camping again sooner rather than later.
Happy Memorial Day! I know my folks are enjoying the New Straitsville Moonshine Festival. I hope the rest of you, dear readers, are enjoying the day off and the beginning of summer.
