A Tale of Four Elements Pt. 1

It was the wettest of times, and it was the fairest of times. The times for water pumps to fail, and duct tape to come into play. It was a trip of desperation, and yet success waited for us, there, at the end. You look back on these memories as challenges. Well, we did not go there to meet a challenge. Just the opposite. At least I think so.
So it took three days for us to get our act together as we had not been family camping for a while. We were going to Lk. Livingston S.P. for a supposed four-night stay in a shelter there. We had only about a two-hour drive, but we had two cars, and we kept losing the second vehicle every five minutes. That was supposed to be our backup vehicle as our main car was on it's last axles. It was muggy and our only savior was the strong wind that accompanied a front that was coming through on the morrow from the NW. Now, to my dad, a vacation means work. We were going there to relax from three long years of the school, work, chores, etc. Not so. It took dad so long to wind down was just beginning to as we left.
It took an hour for us to move in, and take a cursory look around. We noticed that every body of water on our trip up was full to overfulling and Lk. Livingston was no exception. My brothers decided to run into town, which was Livingston, to see what was there and dad left sometime after to bring in dinner. Meanwhile, mom and I walked the family dog, Sara. After surveying the outside, we went in and I went up to the loft to get my bedding ready. By the time I was time was done with that, I was exhausted. You see, my neurologist had started me on a new dose of old medicines that began this week. The side effects of those taken during the day were, primarily, sleepiness. This campout was planned way in advance of that, so I was not letting the meds have the satisfaction of ruining the campout for me. I may be there in spirit only, but that's better than not being there at all, true?
Dad brought back What-A-Burger, and I barely made it through my sandwhich before it was back up to the loft with me for good that night. Another item: wherever I go, my daypack follows. So naturally I had already taken it up to the loft, and when I got up there to sleep, I didn't have it secured at my feet. Sara found that out the hard way as she was sleeping on the first floor directly underneath the loft. It's safe to say that she wouldn't return to bed, and curled up at my dad's feet. I slept fitfully, probably borrowing too many equipment slipcovers, but the one I love most is an old buckwheat shell pillow I got seven years ago