Wet vacations turn into new business
My wife and I are making plans to start a new business. It should be of particular interest to farmers and drought-stricken communities. Our plan is simple. For a nominal fee, we will camp on the property of the client, thus assuring abundant rainfall for the contracted period. Based upon our experiences over the past two years, we are so confident of our ability to deliver rain, we will guarantee our “work.”
The idea hit us as we returned from a camping trip last week. Two weeks ago we piled our three sons, our Golden Retriever, and our camping gear into the van and headed for the Colorado Rockies. There, we met a family with whom we’ve been friends for years. Together (four adults, six kids and two dogs) we camped, canoed, hiked, biked, cooked out and played the “world championships” of several card games. It was fun and relaxing. We enjoyed the scenery and each other.
The vacation provided opportunities to learn about some of the wondrous things around us, things like eating habits of Rocky Mountain mosquitoes, the great sense of humor Mother Nature has, and torque, a force that must be present in order for an engine to propel a van toward its intended destination.
Nine hours into the trip westward, at a very lonely locale on the eastern Colorado plains, we had transmission trouble. The bad news was that the van would not drive in reverse. The good news was that our destination was in front of us, not behind us. The other bad news was that we were about three hours from the area where our friends lived. But the other good news was that we pulled into a dealership that could fix the problem, and they were within a few miles of our friends’ home. Still more bad news, parts had to be ordered, and we’d be without the van for five days. Yet more good news, the odometer read 39,627 — just another 374 miles and our warranty would have been expired!
During each of the days we were in Colorado it rained (which is a rarity for them, but not for us when we camp). Each evening, we planned adventures for the following day. And each evening, clouds rolled in to threaten all hope of dry outdoor fun. But each morning we saw sunny blue skies that raised expectations. And each day as we hiked, biked or canoed, we were forced to seek cover from a sudden rainstorm.
We frequently got wet, but seldom were spirits dampened much. Of course, we’d all have preferred clear skies, but none of us failed to have fun. Some people didn’t handle it so well, however. By the time we left Colorado the governor had declared a disaster in the area — because of the rain, not because of anything we did.
