I used to go to the lake a lot. I’d gone a few years without a boat, and missed the experience. A couple of years ago, I decided to buy a ski boat to reconnect. I bought the boat in the middle of summer, and used it five or six times that year. I might have gotten out on the lake a half dozen times the next year, and didn’t even see the lake last year. I love going to the lake but, even with the new boat, my time out there had dwindled to nothing.
This year, I decided I wanted to get back to the lake. What better time is there to get back to the lake than the annual celebration of the birth of our great nation? Originally, our family hadn’t planned much for the Fourth because Blair had a week-long dance competition in Branson, Mo., she had to leave for on the 5th. We’d decided to just hang out in Little Rock. Since we weren’t going to go out on the Fourth, we decided to get out last week. It was on my way to the lake that I came up with the idea of camping for the holiday.
The problem with camping is that Patti has outgrown the need to sleep with the biting flies and the other little “nasties” that live out there at night. Not to mention that, since we don’t camp much, our inventory of the needed supplies is pretty low. The only way it would work is for me to find somewhere for her to stay at night, and I could camp by myself or with the boys and then pick Patti up in the morning. After “Googling” the local resorts and finding them to be full, I tried a resort that had recently undergone a makeover.. The woman that answered the phone was very happy to rent me space for my family.
The weird thing was she was really intent on warning me that our children could not be loud and that we needed a reservation to eat at night. This all sounded strange; I knew they’d made changes, but I hadn’t believed they’d changed that much. I told her all I needed was clean sheets and an air conditioner. She told me that she could handle that, and even had a spa available should the need arise. I called Patti and told her what I’d done, and she seemed quite impressed that I’d found something at such a late date. I told her I was just that good.
Fast forward to Wednesday, July 2nd. Patti checks the resort website and notes that the website for the resort was describing something a lot different from where I told her we were going. She calls me, and I tell her that I will confirm the reservation and get some specifics on what we can expect. It was almost time for court, so I had a law clerk call for me while I prepared for my hearing. A couple of minutes later, she comes to my office and tells me that the resort claims no knowledge of me or my reservation. I get on the phone and the lady from the resort tells me the same. I follow up with some questions and realize that I have made a reservation somewhere else.
I immediately went to check the history on my iPhone to see where I had called. What I found is that I inadvertently called some place in Oklahoma. I was using voice recognition on my phone to navigate my search. I called the number and got the same lady. I told her that I wouldn’t be coming to Oklahoma. I explained what happened and she was kind enough to waive the minimum one night cancellation penalty. That left me with having to tell Patti what I’d done. Ultimately, she took it pretty well.
Luckily, I was able to find her a room in a hotel a little farther from the lake. It was a nice hotel and it met all our needs. I got to camp on an island in the middle of the lake, and she got to sleep in a controlled environment with air conditioning with the kids. We spent three days at the lake. It was a great time with the family, and we only messed up two props on the boat and one tube during that time. Our personal fireworks show went well, and I was only concerned that someone was going to get injured three or four times.
It was good to get back to nature. It was good to celebrate the birth of our nation. I’m glad we did something as a family. As the children get older, it’s already getting harder and harder to get everyone together for these kind of events. I’m really glad my reservation mistake worked itself out. Maybe, one day, I should go to the place in Oklahoma. It did sound nice.
The summer is half over. Don’t blink; it’ll be gone before you know it. That’s true for everybody, not just those of us way up in the CHEAP SEATS!
Bill James is a co-founder of the James Law Firm with offices in Little Rock, Conway and Fayetteville, Arkansas. His primary area of practice is criminal defense. He can be contacted at Bill@JamesFirm.com