Okay, so I took Bill to the airport on August 1, went home, and finalized all the preparations for the camping trip, one activity being making baked beans and potato salad. I packed the car all myself which was a tiring feat since I have arthritic knees and there were a couple of steps to contend with every time I went in and out of the garage. But I got it all in there except for my pillows, my sleep apnea machine, the food, and the cooler which needed filled with all the icecubes I could muster out of my refrigerator. You wouldn't believe how full that car was packed. Picture a little white Dodge Neon packed to the gills. Well, I had to leave a spot on the back seat for some of Amy's things.

I spent the night alone in my house which wasn't as bad as in times past. It was tempting to drive up to Columbus and spend the night there but I wanted one more night in my comfortable bed before hitting the hardness of the ground in a tent. I don't give it a second thought about being alone at night while Bill is here or if I'm staying at the Muckheads but let me be completely alone and the creepy crawlies start settling in my mind. The windows seem to bulge in as if there are burglars at every window. But this time it wasn't like that. I guess I feel pretty safe in this house even though it's got windows on every wall. I slept very well and awoke early and refreshed and got the rest of the stuff in the car and took off north to Columbus.

Still it was noon before I reached the Muckhead's house in Grandview. Amy was up and waiting for me. Kip had just woken up, thankfully because he can be so hard to wake up and get going. Todd was awake, too, and in the bathroom. Amy had been watching the Weather Channel to see what the weather would be and came across a breaking news story in Columbus. A former Columbus police officer had shot and killed his wife early in the morning, taken the kids in the house to his SUV, and then led the police on a chase up the I-71 freeway. The man had gotten off at the Marion exit, fired shots in a convenience store, told the clerks to call 9-1-1, and when the cops got there he somehow commandeered one of their police vans and took off to go further up the freeway. Spike strips finally stopped him but he still didn't surrender. He pulled the car over to the side of the freeway, got out, and ran into the woods. Police followed and shots being fired were heard. They wounded the man and later the news film crew in the hovering helicopter showed the guy being hauled out of the woods on a paramedic's gurney and dashed away to a hospital.

Amy had thought that we were going to traverse I-71 to get to our designated camping spot--Indian Lake. We sat a bit and looked at maps. Fortunately, the route to Indian Lake was up Rt. 33 and not I-71 since there was traffic quite backed up on there now because of the incident. Amy heated up some homemade chicken enchiladas for lunch for her and me. Then it was time to spring to action. Todd loaded a few things in my car since Amy and I were going on ahead. He and Kip were going to work for half a day and then come on up with the rest of the gear. And, finally, Amy and I were off.

I was in high spirits and as we drove the hour to Indian Lake Amy and I talked nonstop about various things. Easily enough, we found our way to Indian Lake. As we pulled in, my spirits flagged a little. Every camping spot looked taken. Stopping at the registration office, what we saw was confirmed. There were four spots left. She wrote them down and we hurriedly went out to look at them. Three were in full sun, one was looked sorta shaded. Amy looked around. It was hot and dusty and crowded. "Mom, I'm sorry but I really don't like it here. It doesn't look like I remember it. I don't have a good feeling about staying here."

My mind raced to shift gears. Given the time factor and given that this was about 2:00 in the afternoon on a Friday, what were our chances of getting to another state camping ground and finding any spot in the shade? Pretty slim. My crest started to fall. All that packing and for what?

"So, this is what camping in a state park is like, Mom?" Amy asked me.

"Yep," I answered. "Just exactly like I remember it."

"No wonder Todd and I haven't been in a state park for awhile. It's just not pretty."

"It depends on where you go. That's why we liked Blue Rock so well. It's surrounded by trees and is so cool in there."

"Yeh, we liked it until we noticed that the rednecks had taken over." We laughed. Then launched into some of the more memorable happenings there. But we cut it short because we had a decision to make.

"Mom, I know of a really pretty spot but it's a private campground. Todd and I were just there last weekend when his mom had a family campout." I had a look on my face.

"I know, you don't like private campgrounds that well but I think you'll like this place. It's called Dogwood Valley. It's got lots of trees and a lake to swim in."

"Yeh, they usually do," I replied. I wasn't that keen on it but I started driving away from Indian Lake. It was going to be a hot weekend and we didn't need any more unpleasantness than was necessary. If Amy wasn't happy with the place there was a good reason. She got the map out and we planned our route across the middle of the state to get to Dogwood Valley.

Now, it's a funny thing about maps. They sure look very well mapped out and understandable but...when you get to a fork in the road that looks like it's going to be a shorter cut to take than the marked state road it's really hard to pass it up. We didn't pass it up. Then we came to another fork in the road that didn't look to be on the map. We chose left. Then another fork. Left again, we chose. Then another and by this time we weren't sure which part of the map we were on. Amy chose to go right this time and although I was leaning left again I had reached the end of my good guessing and decided it was time to trust hers. And, finally, at the next fork in the road, we had stumbled upon a main highway again. One that would take us east where we were headed. We figured we didn't do so bad after all.

And then we came upon a Dairy Treat. In some obscure town. Like an oasis in the middle of the desert. Welcoming. Flagging us in. But really there was a phone booth outside it that we needed to use for Amy to call Todd and tell him of the change of plans. First, the ice cream, then the phone call. We know our priorities. It was good stuff too. The chocolate ice cream was more chocolatey tasting than at Dairy Queen. There was a special on banana splits that caught Amy's eye so she ordered one of those plus an ice cream cone. We split the banana treat. We laughed and giggled, "Two fat ladies at a dairy bar."

Todd was working at their friend David's place. Amy didn't want to call collect there so we went ahead and used my calling card even though I didn't know the PIN number. As I figured, it didn't work. So Amy called the calling card operator and tried to get her to give us the PIN number. And why do we call it PIN number anyway when the letter 'N' stands for number?

Operator: "I'm sorry but we don't give the PIN number out over the phone for security reasons. We can only send a message to your home phone number. Do you have an answering machine there that you can retrieve messages from?"

Amy: "Yes." Then to me who is sitting in the car with the door open not wanting to stand directly out in the hot sun she asks, "Mom, do you know the password for your answering machine?"

Mom: "Nope."

Amy, after giving me that look: "Didn't you change the password after you got the phone?"

Mom: "Nope. I never call home when I'm away to get messages. Not that many people call me ever."

Amy to the Operator: "Well, that isn't going to work. She can't get messages off her answering machine when she's away."

Operator: "I'm sorry but I am not allowed to give the PIN number over the phone. I can only call the home phone and leave it on the answering machine there."

Amy to me: "Mom, she can't give it to me."

I get out of the car since I've finished my ice cream cone and won't have dripping problems and hold my hand out for the phone.

Mom to Operator: "Hi, I'm the owner of the card. My daughter was just on the phone with you. Isn't there any way I can get that PIN number? See, we're way out in nowhere miles from my house and we need to get a message to her husband to meet us at a different place than we had originally told him. There's no way I can drive home from here in time to retrieve such a message. I can tell you my social security number and my husband's if that would help."

Operator: "That's all I can do. For security reasons, I can't give out the number over the phone. You could be anybody. But I can leave a message on your answering machine at your home."

Mom: "Yeh, I understand. I appreciate your need to protect me." Big sigh. "But that sure ain't going to help me in this situation." Think, think, think but there's nothing left to think about. She's not going to budge. She can't. "Okay, okay. I guess it's a good idea to leave that message anyway so I'll have it for the next time."

Operator: "Okay, I will do that. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Mom: "Sure, you see I've got this problem, I need the PIN number for my calling card since I've forgotten what it is and I need desperately to make this one phone call to my son-in-law..."

Operator who nearly gave out a laugh: "I'm sorry but..."

Mom, with a little chuckle: "Yeh, I know, I was just trying. Okay, well, that's it then. Thanks for your help."

Mom to Amy after hanging up the phone: "Well, now what? Can't you just collect call David's house and then pay for it later?"

Amy: "No, they're at David's parent's office."

Mom: "Hmmm. Well, let's get going. It's getting later and later. We'll have to think of something by the time we get to Dogwood Valley."