Vacation a bust, but came with a learning experience

So our vacation that we had so been looking forward to turned out to be the biggest disaster in all of vacation history. 

Our truck made it to Delano, CA then decided that it had enough of the heat and through a rocker arm, causing the engine to fail on us. We were lucky enough to break down right in front of Delano Family Motors. They inspected the truck and saw that the repair work would be about $4000! They let us keep the truck and the trailer there until we could get it towed at no charge!
Luckily, we had my mom and Rick, her husband, following us just in case we needed any help along the way. We were hoping that we would just be with them for company but turned out we went up the rest of the way to Kings Canyon in their truck. Our limited camping supplies piled in there trailer, leaving our 5th wheel and Truck behind in Delano. 

We were devastated that what we had been looking forward to for months now, had been so short lived. All of the months of driving the truck up and down the mountain, pulling the trailer from Santa Ana, going to Burbank had not been enough to see if our big white truck would make it. 

We finally arrived to Hume Lake Campgrounds, and our campsite was less than appealing. Right next to the bathrooms, PU!!! Everyone walked through it and the table and bear box were really spread out. Already, not a great start to a vacation. 

The next day we went to the lake for a much needed swim and fun filled day, but short lived as it was. Kona, our dog, swam so much she sprained her tail. Leaving her very much exhausted and hurting the rest of the day.

The next day with Kona still not 100% we headed back down to the lake. All went well, and we just hung out most of the day. Meanwhile, not having many camping supplies I am having to go to everyone's campsite at least 3-6x a day getting pans, can openers, just to make basic camping meals. Which I had planned around having a stove!! 

The third day of the trip as we were settling in nicely, finally, I was sitting in a beach chair while Zion was asleep in my arms and a bee walked under my heel and stung me. Now mind you, I had been stung on the same foot a month before. My foot swelled up to about 4x its normal size. I couldn't put any pressure on it whatsoever. So now I have Zion who is crawling like crazy, a very tired husband, and foot that is no longer working. 

Day 4 I awake to so much pain in my foot it is crazy. By the afternoon, of just hanging out in the campground I am feeling quite sad and sorry for myself when I realize that Zion feels very warm. As I had suspected a fever of 102.2. His cousin had given him Impentigo, a very contagious skin rash that has to have antibiotics or it just gets worse!!!

Travis and I decided we had had enough and would have to get a ride down the mountain and see if our friends in Bakersfield would come and get us. Overall, we felt like a huge burden to my family and just defeated by camping. I have never had an experience that I couldn't see the positive, but this one had me stumped. 

Day 5-Day 14 We stayed in Bakersfield, waiting to get home. Our friends Mike and Cheryl were gracious enough to let us stay with them for 10 days!! We slept on an air mattress in their sons room and had a wonderful time catching up with them. It was a long time to impose on a family with 2 kids of their own, but we all made it out alive. After giving there son the contagious skin rash, we feel very blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives.
Travis' mom found a truck to pull our trailer home and Travis' Brother drove our Honda up so that we could all get home. All in all that was the most tiring 14 days of my entire life. To top it off when we got home we realized that Kona was not as upbeat as usual. She had gotten Chlorine Poisoning over the weekend, and was suffering from ulcers all over her throat. So we have been nursing her back to health since we have been parked back in the driveway in Crestline.
Lessons learned: 1: People care more about us and our journey then we could have ever thought possible.
2: Things will disappoint you, but we haven't lost sight of our dream.
3: Staying positive is only possible by staying completely in the moment!
4: I will never look so forward to something that I am in a rush to miss my present life.
5: Dreams do come true, they just might look a little different then first imagined.

I need a vacation!!!!