I think it’s Part 3 . . this is the last part.  This contains the air conditioner story and why the owners were very happy to see us go!

First, I love roasted marshmallows.  I love them a whole lot and that’s really the only reason I go out into the wilderness with my family.  Huh?  Who said staying in an air conditioned cabin isn’t “wilderness”?  Wait til you hear the rest of the story.

Back to the marshmallows . . every night, I said “Can we build a fire tonight?”  The first three nights Vince was too tired to deal with building a fire.   I grumbled a bit but didn’t hold a grudge .  . not for long anyway.

On the fourth night, despite my best efforts to be a patient wife, I was about to become impatient.  Yes, I could have gone out and built a fire myself (or at least I like to think I could have) but I figured since Vince knew I wanted him to do it, he’d get aggravated if I did it and I was getting aggrvated that he wasn’t doing it so . . he built a fire.

We ended up with great coals for roasting marshmallows and I was very happy.  He actually built a fire the next night too so I was very, very happy!

While we were outside sitting around the fire, look who’s sitting on the back of the chair watching.

Can you see that little framed sign on the wall?  I have no idea what it said but it was obviously important enough to have been printed with ink jet ink, framed and screwed into the wall.  Why can’t I read it?  Because in May, 2008, there was a flood.

This bridge was down the road from our cabin and during the flood, the water was up over the bridge!  The locals told us the water rose 40′ which meant the water was about 7′ inside our cabin!  We didn’t know that when we made the reservations.  The ink on the sign on the wall ran during the flood but I find it strange that the owners didn’t take the sign down.   But . . I think that’s just one indication of how the owners of this cabin run their business.

About the air conditioner . . the cabin was advertised as “air conditioned”.  What would you think?  Something that actually puts out cold air??  Wrong!  According to them . . there’s an air conditioner in the window (upstairs I might add).  The fact that it doesn’t work doesn’t mean the cabin isn’t air conditioned . . according to Bubba!  There’s an air conditioner in the cabin so the cabin is air conditioned.

Remember, we had no screens on the windows.  We kept the windows open with no screens til about Wednesday and then we had an ivasion of red wasps.  And, the temps were about 85 degrees . . inside and outside.  I killed a few of the wasps; made sure my epi-pen was handy and then . . I’d had enough!  Vince and Chad were gone with the car so I walked down to the office and I explained to them that (1) the cabin was advertised as air conditioned; (2) we had no screens and wasps were coming in and (3) I was HOT and I wanted something done about it NOW!  The guy walked out; the girl just looked at me and I walked out.  I had decided that when Vince got back, we were leaving.  I didn’t know where we were going but we weren’t staying there, even though we’d already paid for the whole week.  I figured we’d take that up with the credit card company when we got home.

By the time I got back to the cabin, the guy was there with another window unit, which he stuck in the downstairs window (which in the pictures of the cabin on the internet, there is an a/c there already!)  I should have taken pictures.  It looked like something he’d found at the dump.  The little things you move to make the air blow one way or another fell out when he moved them; the knobs fell off when you touched them.  Off might be “high cool” one time and “low fan” the next time.  And, when he turned it on, it smelled like dead fish.  I looked at him and said “It smells like dead fish!”  He left.  He came back with Lysol and left it for me.  I was furious.

The air conditioner blew cool air for maybe 5 minutes, then it blew just plain air.  I went back to the office and I said “That one isn’t working either!”  That’s when they told me “it’s an air conditioner!”  At that point, I knew it was the best I was going to get.

Vince offered to go to Wal-Mart and buy our own window unit and stick in the window.  No way!  We had 2 nights left at that point and the last night, it was supposed to get cooler.

The cabin was not inexpensive!  I’m sorry they had a flood last year.  In fact, they had the first flood, which was considered the “100 year flood” and everyone started rebuilding, and before the month was over, the same exact thing happened again.  It was bad for that entire area . . everything along the river was flooded with lots and lots of water . . not just a little water.  But, dang it, if you’re open for business, you ought to be ready to offer what you say you offer.

We will not be going back to those cabins though I still love Mountain View, Arkansas.  VInce and Chad caught lots of fish and that’s what really matters, right?  Now . . where’s my “Good Wife Award”?