We planned it out all so well. My mom made grocery and packing lists, bought all the food and put it in the cooler, made the lodging reservations, and my dad planned out the activities. We left the house a little late on Monday afternoon, but still stayed on schedule. However, things unfolded within the first ten minutes on the road. My dad realized he left his phone charger at home, so we turned around to retrieve it. Halfway into the trip, my mom remembered she left half our food supply sitting in the garage, so we ventured to a Stater Brother's and repurchased half our stock. We arrived at the lodge and discovered we also left my gluten-free food for that night at home, leaving me to eat salad for the second meal in a row.
The next day held more unplanned circumstances. My brother selected an easy grade hike which should have suited both the hiking and non-hiking enthusiasts of our crew. However, the trail took some sharp downhills and rocks scattered the path, forcing my sister-in-law to return to the trail entrance with my niece. My family hoped to see some waterfalls — those, of course, remained dry during this scorching summer — as well as "heart rock," which was nothing very exciting. The hike was not terrible, but the trail also didn't last as long as expected. I contracted a painful stomach ache and fatigue that evening and only slept about a solid five hours since I continually woke up about every two hours throughout the night.
Wednesday turned out more enjoyable, but the unexpected events continued. My stomach ache developed into intestinal cramps after eating lunch, leaving me on the couch in pain for two hours. My older sister-in-law hoped to visit the village shops, but her baby became fussy and she had to stay at home for the afternoon. The boys in our family visited the Apline Slide, but my younger brother suffers from motion sickness and remained nauseous after he returned hope, so he missed dinner. Despite these downfalls, we enjoyed a nice family meal and game of Apples to Apples that evening.
Thursday morning actually flowed smoothly until my dad decided he wanted a huge family photo in front of Lake Arrowhead. A five-minute picture session morphed into a half-hour long time of frustration as we dealt with lighting issues and asked about five different people to keep retaking our photo.
Our family still enjoyed our vacation in Lake Arrowhea, even though we encountered these roadblocks.
