It ended up being a pretty busy weekend; people and vehicles were everywhere. So we were grateful we planned ahead and had our spot marked out.
Bojangles and its occupants was the first to crest the hill into camp, followed by Mom & Dad, and Ian & Crystal. We started having a really good time right off the bat. I'm not sure camp was entirely set up for these folks in the caravan when the alcohol was already broken out.
Dad and Ian took the wheelers for a ride up the Pinchot trail and Crystal and my two older girls went with. Russ and Sue showed up and were getting their trailer positioned in the trees while, Mom and Linda started cooking burgers making a joke that the others could eat later. Just then Dad crested the hill and stomped on the brakes. I thought, that was strange, course it is hard to tell which hill is camp. But then he came around the motor-home and did it again. Abriana and Kayla went flying forward and Abriana jumps off screaming, "Ian wrecked and his head is bleeding!"
I looked at Dad and asked how bad, he said pretty bad. The tone in his voice and the look on his face sure sobered folks up. I ran to Jason and asked him if he could take the jeep up to Ian. Linda agreed to watch my girls while I jumped on the wheeler with Dad.
We got there, 6.6 miles from camp, and Ian and Crystal were sitting (well, Ian was laying) on the side of the road. They had climbed up the 30 foot slope hoping it would be warmer out of the trees. Some other vehicles had stopped when they saw people sitting on the side of the road and they helped load the wounded into the back of the jeep. Then Jason and Mom flew down the canyon to the hospital.
Dad took me back to camp since it was getting dark and there was no way of getting the other wheeler out until morning. My wonderful other mom (she's too awesome to be called mother-in-law) had fed the two little ones and layed them down to sleep (Abriana went with Mom and Jason to the hospital). Eric and Leslie had arrived in the meantime.
Not too long after, Jason came back with news. Crystal was bruised up, in fact her words were, "I'm just jello. Too much cushion for the pushin, I just bounced on my fat." It was good to hear her spirits were still high. Ian skinned the top of his head, bruised at least one kidney and broke his leg. What a fun way to start off the weekend!
What happened: They went up the trail and had a wonderful time; saw beautiful scenery and at least a dozen deer. When they hit the main road they knew they had been gone a while and were hurrying back to camp to tell us all about their experience, as well as get some food. They were riding tandem and came to a sharp corner. Going way too fast for the turn Ian wasn't able to slow down fast enough and turn hard enough; off the side of the road they went. Abriana heard Ian scream, "OH SHIT!" and turned to see them go off. She yelled, "IAN IAN! Grandpa they fell!" Dad didn't understand what she was trying to say, when he looked behind him all he saw was a dust trail following him and another one going off the side of the road.
Ian and Crystal saw they weren't making the turn and bailed off the wheeler. They tumbled down about 30-40 feet landing in trees and rock. Crystal said when she looked up after she stopped rolling, the bike was coming straight at her. She bit her lip and tried to scoot out of the way when a tree caught the bike and stopped it.
Stacey and Matt and the kids made it to camp shortly after Jason came back from the hospital. It was getting late and some folks were ready for bed, but not everyone was back yet. Finally about 1 in the morning, they arrived. The burgers had been put in the cooler for another night, and tuna sandwich's were made.
In the morning, we set off to recover the wheeler. Dad had a portable winch he hadn't used yet, now was the time to see what it could do. It was awesome, just what he needed! It pulled that wheeler up without a problem. Of course, the wheeler wouldn't start, but with a little TLC and some cleaning of filters, it later fired right up. All the damage was cosmetic and unimportant compared to the lives that were involved.
Most of the group went up to Deep Lake to try some fishing after the wheeler was back at camp. John and Shiree even came up for the day. It was a beautiful day to be up there. Then we went back to camp to sing Happy Birthday to Hailey and enjoy some poppy seed cake. It was a nice birthday party for her with all her family there.
Early the next morning, Jason, I, our kids, and Uncle Eric went up to Town Reservoir to do some more fishing. It was a beautiful morning and we did catch a few fish.
Other than the first night of chaos, it was a wonderful weekend and we can't wait for next year to do it again!
