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| Devil's Doorway |
It was about 25 minutes into our journey that we encountered a little problemo. While approaching some traffic, I braked and immediately felt a strange jerk. As I attempted to accelerate, the tugging persisted and we knew something was wrong. We pulled over to the side of the road and Ryan got out to take a better look. He felt the bearings, which were cool, double checked the hitch, which was secure, so we hit the road. We got about 20 feet before feeling the jerks again. Ryan could tell it was the trailer brakes and decided to cut the connection to the brakes from our tow vehicle. A little bit of background might be in order: The night before our trip, Ryan decided to try and "fix" the old trailer brakes in hopes of making our towing experience safer. He connected the tow vehicle wiring to the old trailer brake wiring and thought that was all there was to it. However, it turns out that really old brakes may be rusty and unreliable causing them not to work. So Ryan cut the power to the brakes thinking that this would fix the problem. Tah Dah!
We got as far as the Devil's Lake State Park entrance before we realized that something was very wrong. Ryan had turned into the wrong entrance and I got out to guide him backwards, when I heard squeaking, clicking, and smelled a strong odor. Ryan got out to feel the wheels and they were burning hot. At this point we were only five miles from our final destination so we decided to take it slow and get there safely. Thank God we did, but at this point it was pitch black, we didn't know where our campsite was, and the ranger station was closed. We went into survival mode. As a mother, my instincts became overloaded with meeting our basic needs of food, shelter and water. I was on the verge of tears and Ryan was starting to lose his patience. It was a trying moment in our family history. The dog has begun panting his hideous breath profusely, the children are screaming with pangs of hunger, Ryan has gone silent, and I have started the blame game: "This is all your fault, we never should have gotten this camper." etc etc. Shameful words were said. In addition to this lovely moment, the baby seems to be coming down with a cold. We knew we had to come up with a plan and fast.
1. Find our campsite
2. Make dinner
3. Get some rest before we find a frick'n trailer repair shop in the morning. Oi Ve!
We executed the plan without further stress and survived what seemed like a hopeless, dark, and dismal situation.
In spite of a sleepless night next to my restless, teeth grinder, violent sleeper of a three year old, and Ryan's night of spooning with our wheaten terrier on the floor, we were able to get up and make some coffee to get the day started. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and the trees were bursting with fall colors. This truly was the perfect leaf-peeping location. Things seemed to be getting better already.
We walked down to the park headquarters, checked in, and got a number for a repair shop. They were not available to take us that day, so we made the most of the great weather. The girls enjoyed playing on the beach by Devil's Lake while I made us some lunch. We picnicked and played for most of the afternoon and then took a pleasant stroll along the Tumbled Rocks trail. The baby fell asleep in the backpack while the girls practiced their rock climbing skills and the grown ups enjoyed the view. It was very relaxing hike after a stressful night.
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| Strolling along Tumbled Rocks Trail |
That evening we ate an early dinner, had a campfire, looked at the stars, and told funny stories from our camping trips past. This is really what it is all about, being together as a family and loving the adventure. Everyone slept well that night.
The next morning we woke up and knew that the first order of business was to drop off Landshark at Jackson's Auto shop in Baraboo, WI, ten minutes from the campsite. We decided to leave it in the hands of the experts and enjoy another nice day in the park. And so we did! Again the weather was warm, gorgeous and clear. We ate a picnic on the south shore of Devil's Lake before heading over to the CCC parking lot and trailhead. Ryan had read that we should definitely do the Potholes hike. It was only 0.3 miles and a 500 foot elevation gain. This past summer we had just done a 2.0 mile hike with a 1000 foot elevation gain, so we didn't think this would be a problem for us or the girls. Little did we know, that those 500 feet were 100% vertical. It was essentially a stairway up to Devil's Doorway. Fortunately, our little ones love climbing on rocks and aren't afraid of anything, so we scaled to the top in no time. The member of our hiking party that had the most trouble was Seamus the Dog. Although agile, his eagerness to get down the cliff nearly killed me.
It was all worth it. The views were fantastic, Devil's Doorway was very impressive as a natural rock formation from the Ice Age, and the quilt-work of trees colored in red, green and yellow were everywhere that you looked. The lake was sparking, the breeze was warm, and there was a general sense of peace and tranquility in the air, autumn in all its glory. Now just had to find a way down the mountain.
Ryan and I have a pet-peeve of never double backing, so we took the Balanced Rock trail back down the mountain. That is the more popular trail up to East Bluff as it was quite busy. We were met with strange looks as people let us go by with our baby on our backs, two little tikes and a dog. I will admit, it was a little crazy. The descent was VERY steep with no railing and poor markings. We had no idea how long it would take or where it would lead to, but the sun was setting and we needed to go pick up the camper before Jackson's closed! So we picked up the pace and thank God, survived yet another crazy adventure.
We got to Jackson's just before it closed, only for them to tell us that they couldn't fix the camper. They gave us the number of another trailer place in town that we would have to go to the next day. We had another fun night of dinner, campfires, stories and stars.
The next morning, we got up, took the camper to Big O's Trailer Shop outside of Baraboo. They agreed to take the trailer and are going to fix it later this week. I guess that means we have one more Wisconsin leaf-peeping weekend in the works.
Things we learned this trip:
1. Don't arrive to your campsite after dark;
2. Never try to repair something that you have never fixed before, especially the night before you leave for a trip;
3. Don't let your children's blood sugar drop so low that they start becoming wild badgers (Wisconsin has enough of those already);
4. Any trip can be a success when you work as a team of horses and pull together; and
5. Soak up the little moments that make you smile because these are memories that will last forever.
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