Camping Part 3

Well the ending to this story of our 5 day camping trip goes like this...

We get back from our near tragic family bike adventure and scarf down some yummy sandwiches. Ya know anything eaten outside in the warm sun can just taste delightful! Jeffrey was in the tent recooping from a very serious bike wreck...thank you Lord for watching over his hard little head...despite the lack of brain usage on his parents part as well! Jacob and Julia were playing around and Marv was in the hammock watching this huge boat, while I was cleaning up from our lunch. I notice the clouds in the sky seem to be getting closer and the wind started to pick up...yet again!... Now all week long we had clouds roll in and roll out along with the wind that never really produced much rain, so I started to just assume that this would be the same way. Each time it seemed like it would rain for the past four days we had to fold up all the chairs, put food in the cab of the truck, close windows on tents, and take down towels off of clothes line. I asked Marv who was still coveting....I mean....watching the boaters loading up their boats onto the trailer from the water , if he could help me put stuff away cause it really seemed like it might be a for real storm moving in this time. Not 5 minutes after getting the last thing put out of the elements the winds pick up fast and furious....oh don't forget the dog!....chunked her into the tent and batten down the hatches.

Now if you have ever experienced a bad thunderstorm in Oklahoma you would know that a tent is not a place that you would want to take shelter from the winds, rain, and hail. This huge, new tent has an entire ceiling made of mesh for great venilation on a warm summer night. The tarp that goes over the top does come down to keep water from coming in...unless the winds are blowing at 60+ and then it just doesn't quite cut it! It didn't take long for us to realize that we were gonna have to grab our kids and Deeds and make a run for the truck...which we did! We sat in the truck for about 1 1/2 hours waiting for the storm to slow down finally we decided on going to get some diesel to make good use of our time.

When we got back to camp Marv and I went to the tent to survey the damage and found several places where the water dripped in and got our beds, pillows, etc... wet. At one point Marv asks me if we should just pack up and head home...now have you ever had a wet soggy tent, sleeping bags, kitchen gear, etc.? The only thing worse than having to pack up all your camping stuff to go home, is having to pack it all up wet cause then stuff can get mildewed! So we just decided to tough it out. That night was one of the dampest, coldest, and longest nights! We were able to spread everything out the next day to let it dry out before sweeping off all the mud and trying to re-bungy cord everything back into the truck!

What a blast we had now that I'm sitting here in my nice, warm, dry home. I'm so thankful for the time period that we were born in. There is nothing like bonding as a family in the great outdoors though. I'd do it again in a heart beat, but could we consider a trailer hon?