Camping with the Stomach Bug

Over the years, almost all our camping trips have been filled with fun and adventure. There have been, however, glaring exceptions.

For Easter weekend several years ago, we went camping with a large group of friends from church and our neighborhood. I can't even remember how many families went, but there were throngs of children. (and, no, they were not all mine!)

For some unknown reason, the campsite we were assigned was far removed from the rest of the group. Since the park was full, there was no remedy. It was like we were already quarantined. How did they know?

We arrived and got our pop-up camper all set up. That is, all set up except for the electricity and water. We had arrived later than we hoped and as soon as we "landed", we went down to see all our friends. That part was just fine. 


They were all visiting and finishing setting up their campsites. Everyone was enjoying settling in and looking forward to our holiday weekend extravaganza. 

Little did we know . . .


It started getting dark, and then the fun really began. Elizabeth, who was only a toddler, started throwing up. I snatched her up and started carrying her up to our campsite, which was now 17 miles away, it seemed. On the way, she left a nice little "deposit" in each of our friends' campsites.


When I finally arrived at our pop-up, no electricity or water. EEEEEKKKKKK! 


Whoever invented wet wipes has my undying gratitude. Since that was all I had available to me, that's what I used. When Kregg finally finished visiting and returned to our trailer, I was not happy. I think he thought I would clean her up and return. He was thinking she wasn't actually sick, but just got choked or something. She did have an extremely sensitive gag reflex. But, I was assuming it was a bug and didn't want to expose anyone else. 


Anyway, when he arrived I told him I wanted to pack up and go home. He convinced me to wait it out and see if maybe it was a fluke. 

So we stayed.


It wasn't a fluke. She was sick for the first 24 hours, or so, but we stayed and I just kept her away from everyone. After that first day, it seemed it was over. She ate and kept everything down. We thought we were home free. 

Enjoying the rest of the weekend, we had no idea that Round 2 was just around the corner.


The last day of our trip, we had lunch, packed up and headed home. We dropped the trailer at the house and then headed to Golden Corral to grab dinner. Getting all the kids through the line, we finally found a table that would seat us all. The restaurant was packed. Of course. Elizabeth was sitting in a booster seat across the table from me. I had just sat down when, you guessed it didn't you, she let loose! All over the table! To the horror of everyone around us who had, up until that moment, been peacefully enjoying their dinner.


My instant mom reflex had her scooped up and out the door before she could let go again. I called back over my shoulder, "I'll be back in a few minutes." 


I drove home, put her in the bathtub, put her clothes in the washer, got her out and dried off, then dressed again. We drove back to Golden Corral where I poked my head in the door to tell Kregg I was there.


Did you know Golden Corral will let you take a to-go box from their buffet?


They will when they really don't want you to come back inside their restaurant.