May 1,2010

Here's a laugh: a couple mornings ago, I was camped at William Heise County Park near Julian, CA (east of San Diego). I had a wonderful drive there, just gorgeous countryside, no hurries, great little place to stay for the night. Had a great little meal, watching a family of deer outside my window, and a flock of turkeys rooting about. Next morning, when I flushed the toilet, the hose at the back of the toilet broke free and spewed about a gallon of water all over the bathroom. I panicked for a moment, not knowing if this was clean or dirty water. Tthen I thought suddenly to turn off the water pump. that certainly helped mitigate the spewage. I was unable to reattach the hose because a piece mysteriously broke off. So I was without toilet for 24 hours. Another crappy thing happened, too, but i'll spare you. I was out walking off my frustration when I encountered a park ranger who told me where I could get help with the repairs. It was a gorgeous 50-mile drive on a country road, straight to the repair place, on the way to my nephew's home in Escondido. The repairman was so kindly and so thrilled about my adventure (he had "camped" America in the 80s and never had a better time in his life). He only charged me 1/2 price for the labor, just to be a nice guy. see what I mean?