The Goonies

Remember the movie. Well, the story you about to read is not about the movie.

The phone rang yesterday and I, being the only one capable of finding the handset and answering, answered the phone with my usual cheerful voice proclaiming the name of the campground. A man's voice asked, "Is this the camp?" I assured him that this was indeed a campground. He wanted to know the rates .... not his words. I asked what his camping needs were and he pondered this with his wife before telling me they decided they were tent camping. I gave him the rates with and without electric.

This resulted in him telling me to hold on while he asked his wife what they should do. I was privy to the discussion and not all that thrilled about it. After choosing the electric option, I was very careful to tell him that my rates covered two adults and up to two children. They had two extra adults and when I told him that would be $3 per person per night. "So, it is $25 for me and my wife and the two kids and we got two other people, so how much would it be?"

The wife and some other female were trying to do the math in the background and I was tempted to see how long it would take, but I went ahead and told him the answer. This resulted in another "hang on while I talk with my wife" and I did.

After the long discussion that ensued, I was then asked where our campground is. I told him my standard "exit 170 on Interstate 70 on the north side of the highway". I knew this would only confuse the issue, but I did it anyway. He said they were somewhere I had never heard of and I told him so. We ended the conversation and I turned the program we had been watching back on.

In less than 30 minutes they arrived. Now, let me backtrack a bit here and let you know that we were closed for the evening when the call came in. I heard them try to enter the store and looked over at He Who was impatiently waiting for me to hit the unpause button on the TV. "I am not going out there." I said. He sighed deeply and rose to go greet our guests.

I heard them in the office as he helped them with the registration process and was dismayed to hear that they were staying two nights. I have a sixth sense about these things. I heard them gasp in delight when they spied Martha, the boy cat. One of them proclaimed that she has eight cats and she just might take my cat home with her. I muttered, "no, you're not" to myself.

Thinking there would be no more interruptions, I hit the unpause button again. We settled in again and were becoming reacquainted with the plot. This lasted a whopping 20 minutes before the phone rang again. The man again. He was confused. He could not find the electrical outlet. I didn't even try to tell him where to look, I just sighed and told him someone (NOT ME) would be there soon. He Who does all things electric was already putting his shoes on. We gave up on the movie and I prepared the canine contingent for bedtime while He Who electrified the campers.

I carefully put the store phone out of earshot and was brushing my teeth when the text from He Who came in telling me that our guests were "dumb as doors". I texted back that I knew and was hoping they wouldn't be able to find us.

To be continued tomorrow. A little teaser ..... there will be a bathroom story.