Sometimes I really think we erred in getting the Ford and shouldda wouldda couldda kept the Westy.  Before we’d settled on the trailer/van combination, I put serious consideration (and argument) towards bringing both the Westy and the Van (VW, 1985).  I figured we’d have lots of room; could split he kids up between the two vans and we’d pretty much be able to go anywhere.  Boy, I am really regretting that I didn’t put more effort into that argument.  I can’t fault the AmeriCamp for a second; I love the roominess and ability to bring everything including the kitchen sink, but we are REALLY limited in our ability to move freely.  Yesterday I was barfing (Sissy made it a point (ad nauseum) to inform Tata that I had "her" (Tata’s) sickness) so Jamie decided to take the kids out of the trailer.  The kids always freak when I barf (maybe they think mommybarf=new baby?) and become more needy than humanly possible.  :)   so, off he headed, into the vastness of sand, scrub and garbage (yes, the entire desert is treated as a gigantic trash bin) with the kids. 

When I’m at the point that I’m simply dizzy; not barfing, and decide to make clam chowder with the yummy clams (though I must admit that I really have NO stomach for clams - they really do not appeal to me at all, but dried mussels…in Puerto Montt (south of Santiago) in Chile (it is pretty much the last city before the endless archipelago and Coyaquie (I know I spelled that wrong) (and yes, I’m going for a record on tangents and parentheses) you go to the market and everywhere you look you can find a string (much like a string of garlic or chiles) of dried mussels and they are simply YUMMY and boy oh boy could I go for some RIGHT now).  Hmmm…I just might be lost in thought for a while here - go on without me; I’m back in Puerto Montt…

So.  Kiki (the campground owner) timidly knocks on the trailer door and says that there is a call for me at his house from someone; that Jamie is stuck in the desert.  I head over and find that Dusty McPeak (what a RICH name!) had found Jamie and the kids in the desert and Jamie asked him to call me.  Dunno WHAT I’m supposed to do.  I figure that the van has broken down cause if it were simply stuck, Jamie would have asked Mr. McPeak to help him out (since Mr. McPeak was obviously able to get out of wherever Jamie was).  So, just in case, I round up digging-out implements and towing-out implements and off we head; Dad in his 4WD ELEMENT (tada!!!), Jesse in his 02 Ford E250 SuperCab 4WD (with posi-traction, TADA!!!) and me.  I brought a shovel (and OF COURSE, the camera!  TADA!!).  We find Mr. McPeak at his campground and he leads us off into the desert to the rescue (here we come to save the daaaayyyy!!).  I speculate to Jesse (not my son; but a fellow campground resident) that either the van has had a mechanical breakdown or Jamie forgot he was in the Ford and thought he was in one of our (real) vans.  You know; the beloved VW’s that we left in Cali (as the Midwesterners call CALIFORNIA) (see, I can bring this back around to make a connection).

Jesse hooks a chain to his truck and the other to our van and without even so much as a wimper or increase in RPM’s or the slightest inclination that there was a 7500lb anchor at the end of the chain, the super truck pulls the van out of the 17ft hole it had fallen into.  Like butter.  Like there was nothing more than a tiny little red wagon at the end of the chain.  That truck was magnificent. 
Jamie, after digging for five hours, with cactus spines up to the bones in his fingers (so he reported) drove the van back to the campground and immediately began relieving his stress with wine (thanks SO MUCH Dad!).  So that is why he is sleeping it off (or maybe he has "Tata’s disease").

Anyway, today we’re cleaning up (after being in Jesse’s gorgeously clean truck, I am determined to clean up the van) and maybe later we’ll head for town and buy crap we don’t need.  It is overcast today and we’re freezing in shorts.  Someone feel sorry for us.  Please?

Yes, the pictures liberally sprinkled throughout this post have absolutely nothing to do with the post.  I have a picture of the stuck Ford, but need to get it off the camera and onto the net.  Manana.