Oh the many uses for Duct Tape..

Why? Why do I get myself in these messes? Have I not learned something from the first 100 times? Apparently not! Hold on tight...this is gonna be a good one.


Everyone who knows me, knows that I am just CRAZY in the head for camping! I LOVE to camp! Now, I would love it even more if I had a nice cozy lite up, off the ground sort of deal. I could camp longer if I had a few amenities. Thinking of the boys ( of course) and of Christian's needs...I thought it would be best to look for a pop up camper...and if I found something even better..well, even better!



SOO, my hunting on craigslists and ebay led me to a few good deals. One in particular was a pop up in Bowling Green KY that was selling for around..say $1500. Looked to be in good shape and the old man would even come down on the price. Sweet! I could take some money out of savings...but driving to KY (8 hr's round trip) not something I really wanted to do. So, when my friend told me of a pop up in Searcy AR ( very familiar with this here lovely town since I lived there) I thought EVEN BETTER :) I could see some old friends, get a deal since this is a pop up that her friend owns..yeah, GREAT DEAL!!



Ok, so when I called this here friend of a friend, she started explaining what it had ie, shower, stove, fridge..what? a pop up with that? Pop up? This ain't no pop up...it's a camper trailer, around 19 ft selling for $500...COOL!!!!!!!!! WOW! I felt like I just won the lottery!! She sent me pictures and said that it needed a little work to replace a hole in the front, not a big hole..but something that my husband could do with little effort. This should have been my first clue, but NOOO...I was still stuck on $ 500 for a camper with toilet, stove, fridge ...



Well, after looking at the pictures and convincing Charles that it's a deal of a lifetime he agreed to check it out. Not only was I checking it out...I sent the check! hmmm, mistake number 2.



Got to Searcy around 10:30 yesterday morning...funny how I could barely sit still..I was like a kid at Christmas!! We pulled up at the house, I was still stuck on the $500 for a camper with stove, fridge, and toilet... I forgot to really pay attention to the gaping hole in the front. Mistake number 3.. Well, now luckily, Charles was paying attention. He saw the gaping hole, decided he could fix it with no problems. Walked inside...outdated..ummm yes, but it might do. After stepping back outside, I wasn't as excited as I had been. I started thinking this may not be a deal of a lifetime and was doubting my find. Charles on the other hand, was inspecting and figuring and doing all the guy stuff. If anyone can make this thing work..it would be him. After talking it through for a minute, we decided it was worth the risk and he could fix the hole and sell it for more. Ok, I could go with that. Yep, you guessed it..Mistake number 4.


Here we are..out on the road headed about 15 miles down on the freeway and I had to ask..." How would you know if we had a flat?" not more than 5 minutes went by and we got the signal....



Now, at this point in the trip, I was SERIOUSLY wanting to throw in the towel.. and leave it there and get our money back. Charles gets out, lights up a cigar and just stands there inspecting.. Ok, you know it's bad that he lite up his cigar on the side of the freeway. He started this smoking thing when we first decided to move to TN, it's a stress reliever for him. This was not a good sign. Wishing I had my camera so that I could document... off we went, with a thumpty thumpty thump down the road...



Luckily, we were within a few miles from a RV place that just happened to be open. This nice young man, took a look at us, and decided he would change our spare, offer a couple of " used" one's ( but looked about as bad as the 4 we already had) and grease everything down all for no charge as he, and I quote "thought we looked like we needed all the help we could get." I had to ask..." Did we get a good deal?" Yet again..mistake number 5.. expecting... I'm saying don't bother changing the tires, just un hook it and pray it doesn't find you...forget the money, quite while you're ahead! His actual response .." Yeah, you got a GREAT deal..." Of course that was enough for Charles. He wasn't done, he had this whole thing remolded inside his head by now.



So, off we go to a tire shop...in Bald Knob. Yeah, you heard me right, we are stuck in Bald Knob. NEVER a good place to be. It's like the butt crack of America! By this time, the boys and I are hungry, wanting something to eat..what is there to eat in the BK??? Micky D's. As we pull up in the driveway, he let's us off to " go park". Little did I know that after ordering the food, Keaton started yelling..." Daddy left us!"...Surly not! I have no phone, I am stuck at the Micky D's in BALD KNOB with two kids...apparently like everyone else ( except my pants were pulled up OVER my butt crack). So, there we were...stranded at the MD. I finish eating and I start getting a sickening feeling of the HUGE mistake that we have just made.


Here he comes walking up the road. What? Where is the hunk of junk?? He found a shop, the owner took pity on him and is replacing all 4 tires with " gently used" ones. Nice. Saved again. Well, do you think we should abandon this thing and call the one who sold it to us and get our $ back?? " Nah, It will be fine". Famous last words.

Headed out again...only to get about 15 miles or less and we look in the rear view mirror to see, the gaping hole now the size of Texas! You can clearly see the whole inside as the panel is about to come off. Great. On the side of the road again,however we make it to the Dollar General parking lot. Out he comes with a yellow bag full of duct tape and rope. I'm still good with the " leave it and run" plan...apparently, he was not. Once again..mistake number 6.


You can hear the tape now...riiiiiippppppp rrrrriiiippppppp! Oh yah, a WHOLE roll of duct tape and a WHOLE thing of rope. Embarrassed and quite ill at myself, I decided to retreat into the car..you know, hide myself and guess what I found??? Yep, the camera! Oh buddy, you are on film now! I only wish I had the shot of Charles standing by the side of the freeway inspecting and smoking his cigar. Yep, that would have made this here blog on the news for the number of visits just to check out Charles !





Not the best in showing the GAPING hole...we already had to put it back together before applying the duct tape...





Notice the cigar...STRESS...






First application of the rope...


And we continue...journey forth (I say without the darn thing) but none the less we are cruising at a speed of 55 ETA 7:00 pm. Anyone who knows where Searcy Arkansas is...it doesn't take from 11:00am to 7:00pm to make the journey...I should have just gone to Bowling Green! My biggest fear was hitting the guard rails crossing the Mighty Mississip and losing half my find.. I even managed to laugh a little about the thought of it. Charles agreed that if that happend, we would just carry on..like it wasn't us...just keep on going like nothing happend...you can see it now, us pulling in the driveway with only a part of the camper..LOL!




Funny, you are probably wondering " what about the boys?" HUGE MISTAKE NUMBER 7.. Well, they were the icing on the cake for this trip. Oh yes, we had many things "thrown" in and around the car, screaming because they are hungry, tired and someone looked out the other's window...hot, cold, a FLY is on me...ummm I have to pee and I have to pee again, roll up the music dad, and NO.. TURN IT DOWN... a few more items thrown.. and then ...OH AND THEN... here it is.... I UNBUCKLE!! Not so pretty when I have to do that! Lucky for me I was wearing flip flops that is my back up paddle. No, didn't have to use it, the un-clicking of my seat belt did the trick.


So...here we are home with a hunk o junk in our driveway..I am sure we are the talk of the neighborhood. Iam hiding indoors today...and ugh...everyday, til it magically dissappears! Biggest misake yet..it's in my driveway!!!


With the pressure of the wind from driving..this hole becomes much larger!

This morning's reality...notice the cigar...