The Camper

 *Warning: This post is lengthy! I was so busy writing I didn't realize how long it had gotten!* 

When I found out that mom and Will had rented a camper for Hunter convention this year, I was beyond excited! And then when I found out that it was big enough for both Elizabeth and I to stay in it (along with room for grandma, mom, and Will), my excitement level hit the roof! I sleep terrible in the bunks...and that is not an exaggeration. By the time all the giggling and whispering dies down in the bunks, the snoring begins. And the longer I stay awake listening to the snoring, the more frustrated I get. Yes, I was excited that I would be staying in the quiet camper this convention.

When Aaron and I arrived at Hunter on Friday and found the camper, we were welcomed by Will. He was busy cutting up tomatoes for salsa all the while listening to a crackling AM talk show. After a couple minutes mom, Elizabeth, and grandma joined us in the camper and I remember commenting how nice the TV and stereo in the camper were as I toured around our home for three days.
"You would not believe what happened," Mom started out as she pointed to the stereo. She then proceeded to tell us that the day before, her and Elizabeth were returning to the camper after lunch when they heard "AL QAEDA" and "RUSH LIMBAUGH" coming from loud speakers. The closer they got to our camper, the louder it got. I guess the stereo system on our camper has outside speakers...that Will did not know about...that he accidentally had turned on! 

We all had a good laugh from that as we settled in around the table in the camper to talk about how school was going among random other things. Within ten minutes, my eyes started to water and burn. What the world? I thought to myself. I looked over at Aaron and his face was red and his eyes were just as watery with a couple tears rolling down his cheeks. "I gotta get some air", he managed to say as we both charged out of the booth by the table and opened up the camper door. Will had gotten to the onion portion of his salsa making...and I've learned that campers are a really bad place to cut up onions. We had our second good laugh of the night as we headed off to the evening meeting. 

Returning to the camper that night, I was excited. The bunk beds in the back of the camper were cozy and there was even a door between mom and Wills room and the rest of the camper...so that was good just in case snoring would occur! Little did I know, though, that snoring would be the last thing on my mind that night...
I settled in around 10:45pm after talking to Aaron on the phone. He had driven back to GF for the night and would be back the next morning. Elizabeth and I chatted a little bit and then things got quiet.  It always takes me awhile to fall asleep in a bed that is not my own so it must have been around 1:00am when I was just dozing off to sleep when...
knock, knock, knock, knock, knock "Say Lin?" I heard grandma knocking on mom and Will's door. I then heard some shuffling and the door open. "Say Lin," grandma continued,"it's free-sing in here! Just feel my feet, they are ice cold!" 
"Here, I turned the space heater up on high," mom replied and she brought the heater closer to grandma's bed.
"Why is it so cold in here? Can't you turn the thermostat up? I'm just free-sing!" This went on for about 15 minutes while mom piled up blankets on grandma's bed. Things finally got quieted down but it wasn't long before I heard grandma get up again and use the bathroom. And then...
knock, knock, knock, knock, knock "Linda?" I heard grandma again. I once again heard mom get up.
"I just can't get warmed up! It's just ice cold in here!" I heard grandma say.
"Well mom, I turned the heater on high..."
"It's free-sing in here!"
"Maybe your cold because you're by the window...here, let's move you to the couch, it may be a little warmer..." I then saw the lights go on and felt the camper rock (we had forgotten to put the stabilizers down) as mom made up the couch into a bed and piled all the blankets on it.
"Try this mom, it should be warmer."
"Why is it so cold? Just feel my feet!" Grandma continued as she got into the bed mom had just made. By this time, I was wide awake. I checked my phone...it was 2:15am. 
I laid awake staring at the ceiling and it wasn't long until I heard, for a third time...
knock, knock, knock "Lin?"
I sighed deeply as the conversation that had happened between mom and grandma previously, repeated itself. 
"Elizabeth?" I whispered, not quite sure if she had managed to fall asleep and stay asleep.
"Yes?" she sounded wide awake. I learned that she had yet to fall asleep for the night and when I checked my phone, it was 2:30am. 
"Want to go back to Grand Forks?" I asked her. By then, I didn't even care if we would be getting to Grand Forks at 3:30am...I just knew that I wasn't going to be able to fall asleep. 
I made my way to the front of the camper to let mom and Will know we were leaving when I remembered that neither Elizabeth nor I had a car there. I had ridden to convention with Aaron, and Elizabeth had ridden with Danika and Greg.  
Mom'll let us take the Kia, I thought to myself as I knocked on mom and Will's door. When I slid their door open, the first thing I noticed was the thin blanket mom and Will were huddled under. Mom had donated all their big blankets to grandma's bed! I couldn't help but laugh at our situation.  
Turned out the Kia was unavailable because mom was planning to leave with grandma "first thing in the morning because this was just not working out!" 
Mom continued, "since the Dodge is still connected to the camper, I told Will just to get in the pickup and drive us all home right now!"

Things did end up settling down once grandma got settled and warmed up. Elizabeth gave me some Melatonin sleeping pills and I believe I got at least 2 hours of sleep that night.

Needless to say, I was a companion of Aaron's on his drive back to GF the following night. :)