Thwarted

We tried to go camping this weekend, but it was a comedy of errors instead. It started out innocently enough, just a small schedule change. Don forgot the tickets to the D.el M.ar fair at school, and we had tons to run around and procure, so we decided we would skip the fair and go straight to the campground. We left at L's nap time and headed to the Palomar Mountain area to camp at the La Jolla Indian Reservation Campground. This campground is a real gem, it has a stream running through it and has TONS of tent spots. You can rent tubes and float down the stream over and over. Heaven! I mean, there is practically no available fresh water around here (everything is a reservoir) so swimming in a stream is a real treat.

Well, first we took a wrong turn (further justifying my desire for a gps system) and ended up going almost to the top of Palomar Mtn before we decided we went the wrong way. It was so incredibly a) hot, and b) twisty, that by the time we got back to the bottom I felt pretty green. L woke up on the way down but that was to be expected, and, hey, we were almost there! Ha. We checked in to the campground where they politely took our cash. Then we went on the monumental journey of finding a spot. To say it was insanely busy does not do it justice. The stream was crawling with people and both Don and I could only mutter e. coli under our breath. I was happily anticipating our tent site and Don was freaking out. He was never keen on camping in the first place and the atmosphere was frantic with people. When we got to the end of the grounds it was clear that there were no spots left. And our little receipt had a bold "NO REFUNDS" policy outlined. So we left. We figure we will go back on an off-weekend in September. Other campgrounds will suffice during the summer. I was bummed, but what could we do?

On the way in we passed a casino in the middle of nowhere. We figured we could salvage the trip, stay there overnight, and use their pool. Good plan! Logan was being super patient and we headed back toward "town." We pulled up outside the casino, I went in and inquired about a room for the night. Yeah, they were sold out. SOLD OUT?!?! I still don't understand how this is possible. The hotel is huge and there is nothing in that area. So we were thwarted again.

We decided to salvage the day by using our zoo passes by visiting the wild animal park. Logan had fun and at least we got out of the car. It was a long day, with relatively little to show for it. Ah well. We are camping in our backyard this weekend. At least we won't need to pack...