Wheeling, WV

We were ready for another road trip! I had rented a pop-up camper and we felt like we were going in style. Being able to sleep in an almost real bed and under a roof of sorts!! This pop-up extended out to sleep about six. We were eight and did very well in there. It even had a little hidden stove fueled with propane, which was fantastic. I packed a lot in our ice chest and took canned goods. We had beef stew in a can and ravoli and such! With peanut butter and jelly we had it made.

Our car had been giving us trouble and needed a new clutch put in so our neighbor, Tracy and Dad worked practically into the late night to get that done. We wanted to have as much time as possible to have fun. Well, they got the gears in backwards but figured it would run fine anyway, which it did!!

We got to the campground near Wheeling and got our spot and Dad took the kids around so they would know where everything was. We decided to go to Wheeling (about 15 minutes away) and get our tickets for the Jamboree. The older kids wanted to stay with the camper. We figured they would be fine for a short period of time but we never figured on getting in a traffic jam! We waited and waited but finally Dad and I both decided we better go back and get the rest of the kids as we didn't want to leave them for that long. We went across the grass medium and went back the other way. We got the kids and took off for Wheeling again. We had to fill up with gas and as we stopped there the horn started to blow and finally Dad had to disconnect it to make it stop. I don't remember why it did that but it was upsetting to say the least. We got our tickets and spent time at the campground and when it was time for the show we headed into Wheeling again.

The show was headed by Charlie Pride. He was so good. The auditorium was just a big room with folding chairs and a stage at the end. But it was exciting to see the show in person that we listened to each week on the radio.

We headed home and on the way the car wouldn't change gears for us. It stayed in second gear until we could finally get off at a place where they had a gas station. We took it to the garage and asked them to fix it up. Worried all the while what it would cost. Well, it was just a pin had come out and the mechanic looked back at Dad and said "Did you know the gears are in backwards?" and Dad said "how about that". The mechanic asked him if he should fix it and Dad said go ahead. Well, it cost us about $5.00 so we were happy campers and laughing all the way about the mechanic asking if we knew the gears were in backwards!