There are things in life which are completely impractical. First and foremost, having children. Dogs, travel and camping, also top the list. They are all expensive, exhausting and unpredictable. Of course that's exactly what makes them all fun and exciting. Making these impracticalities some of the best investments in life. And (and this is an extremely large 'and' here), the most work.
So when we had a two night backpacking adventure planned for Memorial Day weekend on the calendar for months with 2 other families, 8 combined children and 7 dogs, this was the perfect culmination of the leading impracticalities. And no matter what the weatherman predicted, which was rain in this case, we weren't cancelling. No matter how many signs we encountered to the contrary.
And there were a couple.
We got a break in the weather, enough to check on the status of the kids, the dogs and our friends. One of which who was drenched in a leaky old tent. We all pitched in to dry out her sleeping bags by the fire while reconfiguring her tent situation. Just in time to brace for round two. What turned out to be an entire night of rain.
After several Hail Marys throughout the night, that everyone was ok, the next morning we conceded.
Mother Nature had won. We'd give in, pack up and do the practical thing, go home a day early.
Whatever!
What's a little rain?
It's so sunny & beautiful.
What could possibly go wrong?
Screw the weather, we're camping.
In a flash flood area, right next to the river.
Cause gorgeous!
When we arrived at our campsite for the night, sore from hiking in with heavy packs brimming with supplies, the adults performed a little synchronized sunbathing after lunch. The kids and dogs ran free, fishing, throwing Frisbees off the highest ledge and sniffing each others asses. It was then that we discovered Clyde is in fact gay. Which might explain why he is content just cuddling with Bonnie. This was all before unpacking all our diligently packed tents and the work of setting up camp began.
It wasn't long after that it started. First with scattered raindrops here and there. Suddenly it was hail. Thankfully, right before that, I was able to make the rounds and kick off happy hour with the 7 pound box of wine I hiked in with. Impractical? I think not. When you're stuck in your tent with nothing to do.
We got a break in the weather, enough to check on the status of the kids, the dogs and our friends. One of which who was drenched in a leaky old tent. We all pitched in to dry out her sleeping bags by the fire while reconfiguring her tent situation. Just in time to brace for round two. What turned out to be an entire night of rain.
After several Hail Marys throughout the night, that everyone was ok, the next morning we conceded.
Mother Nature had won. We'd give in, pack up and do the practical thing, go home a day early.
Until next time.
3 comments:
Haha you had me at the number of kids and dogs. Sheesh - you guys were game! Good on you for sticking it out for a night!
We all hail your forethought to come armed (or is that packing) the jug of wine!
One of the hazards of camping is Mother Nature. This kind of weather mishap is part of the challenge of the outdoors and the fact that you lasted two full nights says a lot about you and your family's endurance level and guts.
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