How the Princess Broke Her Tooth

   Our trip was incredible, but we had the one, I think important, point of contention.  And I want to write up a nifty essay of how great our week was, but the one thing is just so much its own story, that I am writing a post for it alone.  The story of Sun Lakes, and how my daughter lost a chunk of her tooth.

   There are two things I learned on this trip.  One, my tiny house is HUGE after a week in a car with three kids, a dog, and a grumpy hubby.  Two, while I tend to not be a huge fan of Oregon in general, I have to hand it to them, from what I saw on this trip, they take AMAZING care of their state parks… where Washington isn’t the worst out there, but has much work to do in this area. 

   Sun Lakes State Park is located in a surprisingly beautiful part of the state.  The Geology to the area is fascinating.  Near the foot of Dry Falls, it’s set inside a canyon and at the edge of Blue Lake.  It is hot and dry, very low humidity and very desert like.  Trees are few and far in between, and shade is a precious commodity.  Our campsite had morning shade, but for most of the day, there was no hiding from the sun and the 98+ degree temperatures, except to go for a drive in the AC or to go for a swim.  It sounds awful, but with careful planning, it’s well worth it.  It’s a popular area for dropping in a boat and going out for fishing or water skiing, and there is a variety of other things to do…. But that’s not the point to this story.  The point is, it’s a great area, well worth having a park located, but it’s sadly wasted by the management of the park itself. 

   The first day we arrived, it looked impressive.  The lady at the counter was kind and helpful.  We saw nothing out of the ordinary.  We saw the many sites full to the limit with campers, nearly every site with a truck hauling a boat, and the tables full of coolers…. We knew we were in for a campground of young folks, boats, and beer.  Next to us, on both sides, however, the sites were empty.  We left that evening for Grand Coulee City to check out the laser show on the dam.  (SOOOOO worth camping out for, BTW.)  When we came home, we still had one empty neighbor site.  We were rolling in well past quiet hours, so we made every effort to keep it quiet for the newbies.

   Two sites down on the other side was a large family, headed up by a guy named Mike.  They were Indian, and looked nearly Hispanic from the first glance.  (Sadly, that point is important later.)  Halfway across the park was several sites all packed with a huge group of, what we believe are, Russians of various ages, partying hard.  They partied loudly through the wee hours of the morning, and even when they finally quit, there were two voices loud as can be right next to us, at a bench in front of the ladies room, going through strange cycles of conversation, all in a foreign language.  It started with a booming yell, that startled me awake, and a following argument… cycled into a lecturing sounding conversation, worked into laughing, then crying, and back to yelling, and just kept doing this until 5 am.  No one around us got sleep, and later talking to other campers, we all had the same thoughts… this day and age, they confronting them was either a) going to drag someone else into the mess, or b) you just never know what the drunken idiots were carrying.  We also all agreed; none of us got any sleep.  And not once did a ranger come by to try to silence either ordeal. 

   The next morning, after I cooked up breakfast over a camp fire, I decided it was time to take the Princess and get our butts into the shower.  It is also important to note, there was only one shower, but no line.  All morning long, there was very minimal traffic to the shower, as in this heat and setting, most the girls were showering in the evening and hitting the lakes during the day, so the shower was wide open all morning long. 

   In Washington State Parks, showers cost 50 cents for 3 minutes.  (Oregon, showers were free…. Just sayin’.)  So we got our clothes at the ready in the dressing corner (supposed to be a dry area to keep your things) and lined up our toiletries.  It quickly became evident after depositing our coins, that the drain was clogged.  In fact, by the time our three minutes were up, the entire bathroom, including the 4 or 5 toilet papered, nasty, filthy toilet stalls were flooded by our one single shower… at least an inch deep.  I took the Princess over where there should have been dry land to try to get her dressed and get us out of there, embarrassed that we’d flooded the bathroom, and grossed out that even in shower shoes, we were standing in the lovely water. 

   So there we are, standing in a mucky swamp, nekkid except for our shower shoes, and I’m trying to figure out how to get a diaper and clothes on the Princess without drenching all of it as well, when she makes a move, slips on the slick floor, and goes face first into the bench.  It was immediately clear she’d broken a tooth and sunk it deep into her lip.  It wasn’t as bloody and terrifying in appearance as when the Littlest Prince had his incident, but was clearly not good either.  So there I am, trying to figure out how to now comfort a screaming three year old, AND get clothes on the both of us, while standing on slick tiles in a flooded bathroom, to get her out and to the site so I could get to the first aid kit.  I still don’t even know how I did it.  I just remember finally getting the clothes on, leaving all of our stuff behind, and as soon as I got to the door, yelling for the Hubby to get the first aid kit, NOW.  And later I learned that he stood there in a stunned and confused daze, but the Eldest Son caught on and did get the ball rolling.

   I got the Princess into a camp seat, and we learned that the instant ice pack in the first aid kit was a dud.  SO, we double bagged some of the dirty ice from the cooler.  (gotta do what you have to do, right?)  Eldest did a fantastic job keeping the Princess calm, snuggled with her, read books to her, and kept her comfortable for about an hour.  Once she was set, I went back and retrieved our items, and tried to track down the maintenance crew that kept rolling by in little John Deere carts… but were impossible to catch.  I finally gave up and walked my angry butt down to the front booth.

   The same young lady was working the registration desk, and was apparently the only person on duty with a brain in their heads.  She was quick to get on it.  She radioed the maintenance crew, who apparently didn’t know I could hear them object to having to go get work done, but she demanded they get to the booth immediately and speak to her.  When they arrived and saw me there, and were briefed, their answer was, “Oh we’ve known about that for a while now, but the shower was busy so we just decided to worry about it later”  (Remembering that I was camping directly across from the restrooms and was already fully aware that this is a false statement… there was very little traffic to the shower.)  As we spoke to other campers later, we learned they had been filing complaints about this same shower for days…. It took my daughter getting injured to finally get it fixed, and it was fixed in 10 minutes.

   Then the gal at the booth radioed the ranger on duty.  Apparently they have one ranger on duty between several parks, and he was on his way to Steamboat Rock Park, 20 minutes away.  She told me that Ranger Fulton (I believe that was the name) would need to get in touch with us and fill out a safety/incident report.  I let her know we weren’t going far, just to the visitor’s center, 5 minutes away, to see Dry Falls, and to the swimming part of the lake, right in front of her booth.  And true to that, we were at our site most of the entire day.  We saw the ranger drive by repeatedly, but never stopped to get the report.

   We did learn; however… remember the Indian family two sites down?  They had been fast asleep by the time we’d come back from the laser show, and were awakened by the partying and arguing just like the rest of us… but they got the tickets for it.  6 people all ticketed $150 each because the folks who complained heard foreign languages, saw a family that looked Mexican, and pointed their fingers at them.  The ranger, who couldn’t be bothered to make night rounds and resolve the issue right away, merely came by and issued tickets in the afternoon, but couldn’t find the time to get the safety report done.  It was a full 24 hours before we left the park for home, and never did get that report done.

   I wanted the documentation, because if her tooth turns out to be a bigger problem, I’m sending the bill to the state for their faulty maintenance…. But also to cover my ass if someone was to start asking questions of me.  For their own liability, the Ranger should have filled it out, copy to me or not, as there was an injury in, and cause by, their facilities.  Understanding the serious need for this report, before we left for home, I walked back down to the booth to find it closed.  Three ranger vehicles out front (all outfitted with stickers bragging that they are outfitted with Sirius Satellite Radio services) and voices inside, but a sign saying they will open at 2:30, and another one saying they’ll be back at 3pm.  (Check out is at 1.)  The Eldest, being an eager 8 year old, started pounding on the door, but the folks inside refused to answer.  This is frightening when you consider there is big red lettering outside the booth stating the AED is located inside…. And if it was needed, it wasn’t going to be available with staff ignoring someone pounding on the door, because apparently the state can pay for Sirius, but not for staff to be on duty.

   So in the long run, we left with no report being filed, ½ less of a tooth, and me, pissed off and spending most of today trying, still to no avail, to figure out who I need to reach to file a complaint.  We loved the area, loved the park for location, view, and activities, but are not sure if we’ll ever be returning, as I heard several other families there say, because the park appears to be run so horribly.