On April 19th 1995, my daughter (Erikka) and I awoke to a beautiful spring like day. Shortly after lunch, I decided that we should take advantage of the nice weather and take off for the great outdoors. This would be our first camping experience. Later I would find out that more preparation should go into a camping excursion.
I went out into the garage to see what kind of camping equipment I could find. I found sleeping bags, a mess kit, coolers, bug spray (which wouldn�t be needed), candles, lanterns, flash lights, a mini shovel and axe, and tent stakes. Yet there was no tent in sight. I didn�t let that discourage me. Erikka and I hopped in my truck and we headed to Target.
Erikka and I spent an hour in Target looking through camping equipment, before we decided on a four person tent that looked easy to put together. I also purchased a portable CD player, batteries, snack food, coloring books, crayons, a Tweety Bird sleeping bag for Erikka, dog food, a new dog chain with a metal stake to connect it to, metal dog bowls, some dog treats and some dog toys.
It didn�t take us long to get back home. I backed the truck into the garage and threw all of my mom�s equipment into the back. I grabbed the cooler and filled it with pop, juice boxes and two packages of hotdogs, then threw it in the back of the truck. I grabbed a pair of pajamas for Erikka, two complete sets of clothes for Erikka, only underwear for me, a hair brush, tooth paste and our tooth brushes.
I let Schotzee, our rottweiler, out to do her business. She could tell that something was going on and was all hyper. She was on top of the world, when I opened up the tailgate for her to jump in. I put Erikka in her car seat and buckled her in. We pulled out of the garage at 3:00pm, one and a half hours after deciding to go camping.
I opened the window separating the cab of the truck from the bed of the truck, so Schotzee could stick her head up front with us. Erikka curled up against the window with her teddy bear and fell asleep. I started to sing along with the radio to occupy myself during the two hour trip.
We pulled into the camp grounds of Wild River State Park a little after 5:00pm. I filled out the registration, bought some wood for our campfire and then proceeded to our designated camp spot. Since it was early in the season, there were no other campers near us.
I put the stake in the ground for Schotzee�s chain, hooked her up, and then proceeded to unload the truck. I placed everything that we would need on the picnic table. I searched through my CD�s and decided on my Eagle�s Greatest Hits CD.
To the tune of Hotel California I proceeded to set up the tent. It ended up being more complicated than I thought, but after twenty minutes I finally mastered its construction. I placed a layer of comforters on the bottom, with the sleeping bags on top and then added our pillows.
Now it was time to start the fire. I placed the wood in a teepee formation inside the fire ring. I found some small twigs that I placed inside. Then I waded up some newspaper and lit it on fire. The paper burned, but the wood would not catch fire. I spent over an hour trying to get the fire lit. By this time Erikka was starting to complain that she was getting cold and I was frustrated that I could not get the fire going.
I put Schotzee on her leash, took Erikka by the hand and we set off to find someone to help. On the other side of the camp grounds we found an elderly couple in an RV. I approached their door and knocked.
�Hello, my name is Carole. My daughter and I are camping on the other side and seem to be having a problem getting our fire started. Is there a trick to it, or something?�
The gentleman chuckled and said, �It just takes practice, why don�t I come and get it started for you?�
�I would really appreciate that�, I replied.
He followed us back to our site and got our fire started in no time. I thanked him and off he went back to the warmth of his RV. I got out the skewers for the hotdogs and marshmallows. We each had two hotdogs and a ton of marshmallows.
We sat by the campfire telling each other stories for a few hours. Around 9:00pm, Erikka stated that she was getting tired. I helped her into her pajamas and then tucked her into her sleeping bag. I kissed her good night and then crawled into my sleeping bag.
I was almost asleep when Schotzee started barking up a storm. I grabbed the flashlight to see what the commotion was about, but couldn�t find anything out of place. I told her to be quiet and crawled back into the tent. As soon as I had zipped the tent back up, she started barking again. I relented and let her in the tent with us.
We woke up early the next morning freezing our butts off! Now I see why there weren�t that many campers in the park. On the trip to the park, I had noticed signs for a casino with a daycare thirty miles north of where we were, so we packed up and headed north.
Before we could reach the town, Schotzee started to whimper and whine. Thinking she had to use the bathroom I pulled over to the side of the road and let her out. That is when I noticed that she not only had diarrhea, but was puking as well. I felt her nose and sure enough it was warm and dry. Great, this was all I needed! Two hundred miles from home and my dog gets sick.
When we got to the town, we drove around until we found a veterinarian. They ran some quick tests on Schotzee, but couldn�t determine what was wrong. They recommended that I take her to their overnight facility and check her in for the night. So, I did and then I checked Erikka and me into a motel. It was then that I wished that I had brought myself a change of clothes and beauty supplies.
We found a general store where I was able to buy soap, shampoo, conditioner, some basic make-up and a sweat shirt. My dirty jeans would have to do. We headed back to the motel, took showers, ordered dinner and then headed to the casino.
When I got there I found that it wasn�t as fun as I thought it would be. It was extremely loud, the only place you could drink alcohol was at the dinky little bar in the back and the drinks were outrageously priced. At least Erikka had a blast.
We went back to the motel and watched TV until we both fell asleep. In the morning I called to check on Schotzee and found out that she had Parvo, a puppy disease that usually was fatal. They informed me that it would be a few days before they would know anything. I told them to do whatever they could.
I did not want to go back home, just to have to come back and pick up Schotzee in a few days, so we decided to head further north to Duluth, which was an hour away. As we neared the city limits, I saw a sign for the zoo and we made that our next destination. We paid our admission and headed in. Within a half hour it started raining. We headed to the gift shop to wait it out, but after thirty minutes we gave up and decided to leave.
By this time I had seen signs stating that Canada was only a few more hours north. I had never been there, so off we went. We got to the border around 9:00pm. Having dealt with border patrol in California, I thought that they would just wave me on through. WRONG! They asked me to park and come in.
They seemed to think it suspicious that a single mother would be traveling alone with her four year old daughter. For the next hour they interrogated the two of us. They kept asking Erikka who and where her father was (he has never been a part of her life). They kept asking her if I was really her mommy. I could tell that she was scared and there were tears in her eyes. I was so mad that I was seeing red, yet didn�t know what to do. I kept envisioning ending up in Canadian prison for kidnapping my own daughter.
They finally let us go and we drove for another half an hour before we found a hotel. By this time it was after 10:00pm and we were starving. I ran Erikka a bath and then ordered Chinese food, which never came. I ended up finding a vending machine and we had chips and candy bars for dinner.
The next morning I called to check on Schotzee, I was told that she was still in critical condition. Then we found a Denny�s and went in to eat breakfast. The waitress was rude and the prices were a lot higher than in the states. We left there and found a mall to do some shopping. Again we encountered rude people and high prices. After an hour of shopping, I had had enough and we started heading back to Minnesota.
We stopped in Duluth where I treated us to three nights at the Regency. We spent the time pampering ourselves with room service and dinner in the revolving restaurant on the top floor. It was an expensive excursion, but after all that we had been through, it was well worth it.
On the morning of the fourth day, I found out that Schotzee was ready to go home. Against all odds, she had pulled through. So, we packed up our things and headed home. Our one or two night camping trip had turned into a six night adventure and we were definitely glad to get home.
