Stopover: Page, Arizona — Finkel Family Adventures

Jun 4

Jun 4 Stopover: Page, Arizona

Our crossover from Utah into Arizona will be memorable for several reasons: It was incredibly hot – around 105 degrees - and we definitely pushed our camper and car to their capacity. Both performed well, although we sacrificed a bag of chocolate chips, which I realized, when left in a pantry in high heat, becomes chocolate sauce.

Our campsite on Lake Powell, an artificial reservoir which, like Lake Mead, helps to manage water delivery to Arizona, Nevada, and California, will also be memorable for the striking contrast of a large body of water in the midst of the desert.

But, mostly, we will forever remember Page, Arizona, as the place where we accidentally created a shit geyser in our RV toilet.

Yes, we committed a cardinal sin of RV travel: While I was in the flushing out the tanks through an external hose connection, Ben used the bathroom and flushed the toilet inside. This action creates a suction effect where all of the dirty toilet water flows, not down the drain pipe, as you want, but up – and out – of the toilet.

And, by flows, what I actually mean to say is explodes! While I was outside, I heard Ben yell, “I think I clogged the toilet.” And, like an out of body experience, I ran back into the trailer already knowing what had happened.

Dearest readers, I can hardly describe what it looked like when I opened that bathroom door. The walls were covered in it. Ben was covered in it. Poop-y water continued to rain from the toilet bowl all over the floor. Ben had knocked two towels off their hooks and they were soaked in it. The bowl itself held a nasty stew of toilet paper and the like, sucked back up from the bottom of the tank. It was truly one of the most disgusting things I had ever seen and, I am not proud, but a solid string of swear words came from my mouth as I realized what this clean up procedure would need to be.

Ever the educator, Eli used this opportunity to explain the difference between a shit show and a shit storm, both of which qualified for this event.

One silver lining was that it happened at a full-service campsite with a water source and laundry on-site. The other silver lining is that RV travel requires you to carry a whole lot of bleach, paper towels, and disposable gloves. So, I basically kicked everyone out and got to work. About an hour later, all was returned to normal, and we just got on with our day. But, I think we are all sufficiently scarred from the experience that none of us will accidentally flush while the tanks are being cleaned.

The next morning, we carried on and visited Horseshoe Bay, which Eli and I found impressive, but Norah thought was “just another hot walk to see a curve in a river.”