Moving 120 miles north east from Poteau, OK to outside Rogers, AR turned out to be a very pleasant 2 hour scenic drive.
The trouble began after we arrived at our campground for the next week--Prairie Creek Park at Beaver Dam and Lake, a Corp of Engineers park.
We discovered that the site we reserved online was not level by any stretch of the imagine.
After 1/2 hour of painstaking maneuvering, Duane finally managed to get into the site, but when he released the straps on the bike we found out just how slanted the site is!
We attached one of the straps and with Duane lifting and me ratcheting like mad we managed to set the bike upright again,this time leaning on the kickstand.
Next problem--unloading. We used our leveling blocks to build a ramp then unhitched and leveled the rig,
but neglected to make sure the back door was clear of the concrete pad holding the electric post.
More blocks fixed that, but made another problem: with the front tire on the ramp and the back tire on the ground, Duane had no way to keep the bike from tilting downhill again.
Down it went! When he knew it was lost, he kicked off, did an arms up midair 1/2 twist, hit the ground in a full body roll
and stopped face down halfway down the hill. Fortunately he landed on a six inch cushion of leaves.
He ended up with only a bump and some abrasions on his head and a sore shoulder, and it only took me a minute to find his glasses before we stepped on them. Whew!
Ratcheting worked before, and it worked again. With me pushing and holding the wheel straight and Duane ratcheting, we were up again. He rode across the hill, up on the road and parked.
Next problem--with the house level, the front step was two feet above the ground and the back step three feet up, and we were out of blocks.
Solution--with the house lifted that high, the wheels were left hanging. We moved the ramp to the front step and set a step stool at the back.
Set up time--2 1/2 hours!
Note to self--in future, ask the ranger about Corps of Engineer sites before reserving.
Down for the night.
Louise and Duane
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