We tried...

This weekend was our first official camping trip with Scouts. All of the kids agreed to go, and so I spent the day yesterday getting ready for it. We were only going for last night and today, and were going to leave to head back home this evening.

However, Mother Nature had other plans for us.

Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous. It was in the mid 80s during the day. The kids wore shorts and loved every minute of it. We checked the weather for last night and tonight, and of course it wasn't going to be as wonderful but it still wasn't going to be bad. It was to be in the 40s overnight and the 50s today. Perfect for hiking and fishing and running around and having fun, right?

Wrong. Dead wrong.

We drove about 45 miles to where we were camping and got the campsite set up and ready to go. Then we sat around the fire and had s'mores and sent the kids to their sleeping bags around 10pm. The adults sat up until about midnight. The temperature had dropped significantly but it was still tolerable. I crawled into our tent, curled up on the cot, and ......... laid there wide awake.

I was cold. And I had to go to the bathroom. I waited as long as possible and finally gave up and drove the 1/2 mile or so to the lavishly furnished bathroom glorified outhouse to take care of business and then drove back to the campsite. By this time it was about 2am and the wind was starting to rustle things around a bit. I could hear Sarah shivering so I got off of the cot and laid down beside her so that we could snuggle and keep each other warm.

The wind got stronger. Sarah had to go to the bathroom. Back to the van, back up the hill to the facilities, back to the tent.

More wind. Loud wind. Really really strong wind.

The next thing we knew, the tent started to cave in on us. We got back up, went outside and anchored the tie down rope tighter - meanwhile the other 4 kids were sound asleep, oblivious to our shouting back and forth to each other. We got back in the tent and tried to sleep.

It got worse as time progressed, and soon the entire side of the tent gave way and caved in on us. By this time both girls were awake and they pulled the boys to the side of the tent that was still semi-upright, and then the Scout leader came to our rescue. He gave us his tent (which was NOT designed for 6 people) and he crawled into his vehicle. I think it was about 5am by this time.

Needless to say, I didn't sleep. Once it was light outside, I crawled out of the tent and was about knocked off of my feet by the wind (the lack of sleep didn't help). The big canopy thing that we had set up last night had been lifted, rotated, and slammed into a tree by the wind - but luckily only one leg was damaged.

We tried to set things back up again so that we could stay and enjoy the day - but no one was prepared (see the irony there?) for the weather so we all gave up and started packing things up to go home. The wind continued to be brutal and there was no way that we could have done the things that we had planned on doing today. The kids were disappointed (so was I) but it was really the best thing to do.

We drove back home and got here around 10:30am. After the van was unloaded and I started some laundry I was able to take about an hour-long power nap....but I'm sitting here yawning as I type. Wonder why....

Anyway....some pictures....

Part of the drive to the camping area.
We drove so far that we found hills.....

.....and buffalo.

Lots of buffalo.

Hey look.....more buffalo.

Random scenery along the road.

S'mores

Fun with fire.

What was left of our tent this morning. The smooshed part isn't just
laying there - it's being pushed down that flat by the wind.

 

The white canopy stated out over top of the picnic table last
night - but had moved slightly by this morning.

While it didn't turn out quite as fun as we had planned, it still could have been so much worse. It didn't rain, nothing was damaged beyond repair, and no one got hurt.

Best part of the whole thing? I got to snuggle in really really tightly with kids who don't always think that it's cool to snuggle with Mom anymore. I'll take it however I can get it.