This post will be a tad different than the others as I think I will just summarize the event as a whole. Country Thunder is something .we have been attending for quite a few years now, so it has become sort of a tradition. In the words of Hank Williams Jr, it is a Family Tradition!
For those that don’t know Country Thunder is a 4 day country music festival. We camp out and stay the entire time. We arrive Wednesday morning shortly after the gates open and get our camp all set up and stay until Monday morning very early after most of the crazies have left.
This year was no different but still different. Does that make sense? Tracey flew to Texas and helped Rachel along with Norah drive their trailer to Arizona to attend Country Thunder. Chris had to work and Lilah had school so they would be flying out Wednesday night to join us all. So Tracey, Rachel and Norah had a fun adventure in their two day drive from New Braunfels to Chandler.
We were packed and ready to hit the road by 10am on Wednesday morning and started out of our driveway with a caravan. Tracey would lead the way in our RV. Since this would be Rachel’s first time pulling their trailer I rode with her. We were followed by Tracey’s brother and sister in law in their RV and our good friend Robert pulling his trailer. The drive was busy between Chandler and Florence where the festival is held but all in all not too bad. This year was different because we received our wristbands and our camping stickers in the mail. I have to say it sure made checking in and getting through the gate much quicker than in previous years.
Once through the gates we turned to the right and headed to our campground, I think they are up to 10 or even more different campgrounds this year. We have had the same 10 spots for the past several years so we are familiar with where to go and find our spots rather quickly. Well except Tracey couldn’t tell the difference between a 55 and a 53 so there was some discussion happening about the spots not being aligned properly. Once I pointed out he was a little blinder than he thought we were good to go. The guys decided how each rig should be set up and Robert began painting the lines of our sites. He was doing just fine until the OCD in Scott Kerri and Tracey came out and they began telling him how to paint the lines. So Robert ran across the grass painting in a snake pattern LOL. Once everyone had a good laugh they finished the paint and parking all the rigs. Robert and Tracey helped Rachel get their trailer level and all set up before taking on their own. I got to work leveling our rig and getting everything inside all put away and ready to enjoy the weekend. Tracey handled everything outside. It was pretty warm once we were all done and we were hungry. I made sandwiches and we invited Robert in to eat with us. He was pretty tired from setting up and playing with Norah. She sure loves her Uncle Bobby 🙂 After lunch Robert headed back to Chandler to pick up his wife and daughter and they would all return the following day.
There are no concerts on Wednesday, it is just an available day to get your camp set up. About 6:30pm we are packing up and getting ready to head over to one of the other campgrounds where we have family and friends camped. Yesterday was my brother in law Larry’s birthday and we are celebrating with cake and ice cream tonight here at country thunder. We all load in Rachel’s Explorer and head out. As we are exiting our campground we see friend Bob and Gail pulling in. They flag us down and ask if we will take the ice cream with us as they still need to get all set up so they don’t want the ice cream to melt.
We have a very enjoyable time grilling hot dogs, having cake and ice cream, and visiting with my sister Leslie and her husband Larry, and friends Tracy and Brian. We are eventually joined by Bob and Gail, and right before we head back to our camp, Jake and Amy arrive. Just love getting to hang with these people. It isn’t too much later we need to head back as it is way passed Norah’s bedtime especially with the two hour time difference. As we hug and say our goodnights and turn to walk back to the car, Scott doesn’t see a tether string to the awning and ends up flat out on his face on the ground. Not sure which was worse, the pain or the embarrassment, but it didn’t seem to be any serious damage. Rachel is suddenly not feeling well, so is glad we are headed back now. We arrive back at our camp and everyone is getting out and grabbing bags of stuff, when I realize Rachel is gone and Kerri is holding Norah. I am a bit confused but tell Norah to come on and I walk her to her trailer. I let her inside, then go put something by my RV door and return to Norah talking to me from inside their trailer. I open the door and ask her where her mommy is, to which she replies “mommy has her head in the toilet” I ask her is mommy is sick and she shrugs her shoulders and adds “and I really gotta go potty Mommom”. I scoop her up in my arms and carry her over to our place and take her inside to use our bathroom. Once she is done I scoop her up to carry her back to her trailer, she has no shoes on, and Rachel is looking out the door for her. Rachel thinks it was something she ate but she feels better now. She and Norah call it a night and head to bed. Scott, Kerri, Tracey and I grab a drink and sit outside enjoying the nice cool weather and the company. Personally I am waiting for Chris and Lilah to arrive 🙂
Chris and Lilah make it to the campground with a bit of time to spare, we were sure they would make it since their plane didn’t land until 8:30 and the gates close for the night at 10pm. Lilah is happy to see us all but very tired and wants to head to bed. Chris gets her all tucked in and comes back out for a few minutes to visit before we all call it a night and head to bed.
to be continued…………..