Well, here we are (sigh!), back in the trailer park that we first landed in four months ago. The same sort of grim, barren trailer park - I mean RV Resort and Mobile Home Park. But it's free for a week, so ya gotta love that! It's their compensation for us after the power surge fiasco caused by their gardeners that blew out our tv and converter (which they did replace, pronto) and cost us serious buckage to replace the tv and have it reinstalled. We accept. Gratefully. But it isn't exactly what we had in mind when, in our heartfelt prayers, we asked God to let us "go back."
Four months and two days ago, Don and I were taking our last drive (for a while) in our little jeep along the highway toward the airport in Kahului, Maui. Our hearts, of course, were pretty much in pieces, but we could see God's hand all over it. We talked about how we had told the Lord that we wanted an "adventure", to which my beloved said to me, "well, next time, let's be SPECIFIC!!" So true, but it seems that we forgot to clarify once again.
It started last week when Don went in to reserve another month at the nice RV park by Kyle and Kristin. He came back with a buncha not-good news and some good news, which helped out the not-good. Seems that the park was not available for the next 29 days. W could pay for a few days at a time, but that becomes prohibitively expensive, but thanks to a couple of concerts (thanks a whole lot, Alan Jackson and Will Farrell), every weekend was sold out through August 28. BUT! On the way back from the office, bearing the burden of bad news he would have to tell to his wife, Don got a voicemail from the manager here at Golden Village offering the free week. God's timing. God's sense of humor.
We opted to stay in the parking lot for four nights - for free - then come out here to Hemet - for free - then back to the parking lot - for free. Do you detect a theme? Yes, free is good. Unfortunately, however, free usually comes with some drawbacks - which is generally why they are free.
Our first night was Thursday, and nice and quiet in an all but empty lot. This parking lot is next to the RV park, and across two large parking lots from Pechanga Casino, and is often the spot for RVers looking for a free spot for the night (or four) and long haul truckers looking for a respite from the road. Thursday night had only us, plus a couple of random cars whose owners needed a parking spot for...?? So, it was so nice and quiet. Then we turned on our generator and that took care of that whole quiet thing. But, we needed power for our tv and satellite and microwave and all. They may call it dry camping, but it bears as much resemblance to actual camping as a chihuahua does to a Saint Bernard - both are dogs, but there the similarities end. So, there we were in our metaphorical Saint Bernard, shutting it all down late at night and sleeping oh-so-late the next day. Hey, this may not be so bad.
We got some work done Friday morning, then headed out for a movie ("The Help" - GO SEE IT). This was Friday. We returned to our parking lot and were reminded. This was F-R-I-D-A-Y. There was a sign before we even got there that told employees to park all around that Winnebago over there. Okay. So the sign didn't exactly say that, but it might as well have. We asked one of the many shuttle drivers scooting around the lot picking up and dropping off if there was anything special going on this very busy night. he laughed and pointed out, "It's Friday." Okay, so maybe living in Maui has made us forget the magic of Friday since days seem to blend into one another in island time. But then he said something even more ominous, "But tomorrow there's some kinda comedy show at the outdoor stage." DUH-DUH-DUUUUUUUH!! (that's scary music in case you didn't recognize the tune).
Friday night was pretty noisy, with employees getting into their vehicles and driving off in a loud hurry, so we didn't feel exactly refreshed Saturday morning. These weekend days are pretty rough for me anyway, and boredom goes off the charts. It's almost impossible to do anything that does not cost some severe buckage or have half a million people involved or both. But we did figure out something to do. We went to the library to donate books, the grocery store, and Starbucks. Okay, so maybe we spent more at Starbucks than we should, but, c'mon! Starbucks!! We returned to find almost nooooooooo parking. We ended up parking quite a ways away, but at least we were on pavement. The last of the RVers had to park on dirt, as well as the latecomers to either work, the concert, or general festivizing-and-money-losing at the casino. Don and I took our nightly walk around what used to be our rv park, and then watched the traffic cops keep people from running into each other as the concert ended. We figured that the cars in the parking lot would eventually leave, and they did. The 6p.m.-2a.m. shift was done, and these good, hard-working people went to their cars and headed for home, calling all kinds of well wishes to one another...with loud enthusiasm. The 8p.m.-4a.m. shift ended, and the whole thing from two hours earlier was repeated, with the added entertainment of somebody needing a jump - two car spaces from us. The rest of the night - brief though it was - ended in relative quiet. We managed to stay awake through church, thanks to anther on-fire and on-point message, and then spent the afternoon with Kyle, Kristin, and the grandkiddies watching golf (WOW! Whadda finish!!), doing laundry, then babysitting so Mommy and Daddy could go see a movie like actual grown-ups.
We were looking forward to a return to the quiet parking lot of the first night, only to find that the lot had not one, two, or three big rigs, but SEVEN - including one right next to us and so close I half expected to find him in our bathroom. Resigned to the snugness of the situation, and the prospect of an early morning diesel start-up mere inches from our ears. We contemplated not using our generator, given the close quarters, but then we realized that these truckers are used to all kinds of noise, so we fired that bad boy up - only to find it was less of Bad Boy than it was an old man with emphysema. It coughed, sputtered, and quit. Oh no. No microwave. No satellite. NO TELEVISION!!! Now we were roughing it. Well, at least in our minds. My husband took his distraught spouse on our nightly walk, both of us playing with the idea of pulling into the park for just a one night stay, or even driving out to Hemet to pull in waaaay early. But it was almost 11:00 at night, and it would be even crazier than our usual level of crazy. So, we walked back to our quiet, powerless motorhome, parked next to a big rig. As we approached our coach, two things struck us: all these huge trucks with their trailers of goods behind them looked straight out of "Cars". We seriously thought they looked like they were going to start chatting with one another. Who knows, but maybe they did when we were not around??? I told you!! We were sleep deprived!! The other thing was as we got to our door, we heard the satisfied and comfortable snoring of the driver of the rig next to us. It reminded me of who was out there moving products around the country so we have full grocery shelves. hmmmm... We quietly retired and added these good people to our prayers. In the morning - very early - all but two of the trucks left, one after the other. But instead of letting their powerful diesels idle and warm up, they each left right away and as quietly as is possible for behemoths like these. Thanks, guys - and no sarcasm in my voice.
So, here we are. Back in the desert. I have found myself thinking of the wandering Israelites, and wondering if ever the women were harping at their husbands to pull over and ask for directions. Can't you hear it?? "Hey, hubby, isn't this the same rock we passed two days ago? Look! It still has our boy's 'Shelimelech was here' on it!" But they had to wait for their directions from God, and so do we.
But we are being much more specific in our prayers...
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