A Series of Mis- Adventures

by Karissa Schneider (United States of America)

A leap into the unknown USA

This story starts with a young couple, both about to start their first summer break of college. They were both seeking independence from their parents and a chance for their first romantic vacation together. In 2 days they decided they were going to take a road trip to Kings Canyon which was an 8 hour drive away. In haste they packed any camping materials they could and raided their parents pantry for camping food. They rapidly googled campgrounds and were off on the long haul in the boyfriend’s 1998 Dodge Neon. This trip was taken during a 100 degree summer, on the 6th hour, the car began to stall. Knowing we still had two hours, we decided to trust it and keep driving. As we arrived up the mountain where a long line met us as we entered the National Park, the car decided to completely halt. I’m a rush we pulled into the only parking lot we saw, once we were parked and had to pour coolant in the car, a park ranger came up to us stating that this parking lot was restricted! As much as we tried to leave, the car would not start and we had to beg the guy to let us go with a warning. We finally got the car to start but didn’t want to take the chance if found too far into the mountain, so we decided at the first campground we saw, which was called the High Sierra. It was named that because it sat on a surface of cold, slippery rock with no running water. The Neon had trouble getting up there but at least it was cold enough for the car to cool down. Cool enough is an understatement out first night there was below 15 degrees Fahrenheit! During the start of summer, we only packed stuff for hot weather, we were freezing and in an effort to stay warm used Space Warmers to cover the mesh windows of our tent. We had a long night ahead us. As the morning arose we were starting our day with a huge steak breakfast burrito due to overpacking our food. We then started our first hike which was into Kings Canyon and a 13 mile stretch! We had no idea half of it was uphill and the girlfriend was majorly struggling. The hike took twice as long due to the breaks taken. They did finish eventually, and it was about to be nightfall, so they had to hurry to their campsite to make a campfire. That night was freezing again, the space blankets did not help and we couldn’t go back in the car because the heater didn’t work. We were awake most of the night because we couldn’t get warm enough to fall asleep. So after that restless night they decided they would go home in the morning. As they packed up, it was the girlfriends turn to pay for gas. However due to inactivity, her debit card didn’t work and cell phones were dead. They had to use a pay phone to call their parents to transfer money because they were stuck with no money and no gas! After 3 hours of waiting the card was reactivated and they were back on the road! Surprisingly the 1998 Dodge Neon was doing okay, until hour 6, the car completely shut down on a empty highway in Lancaster. Mind you, phones were now at 20% almost dying and we called our parents who told us to call TripleA. After 30 minutes they finally arrived and took us to a Motel 6, which was one of the only hotels around. Excited for a shower finally after 4 days of camping, the hotel didn’t turn on the water for the room, so the shower was a trickle. We were young so calling hotel management was out of the question. We finally made it to morning and laughed about everything we had been through in such a short week. Our relationship was tested! With all these misfortunes we could have fought but instead we embraced it together and now we are married because everyday is an adventure together!