I really truly thought the forecast wouldn't come true. It said three days of rain. But those weather guys are so pessimistic! Surely it will scootch just to the south of us.
Not so.
When we pulled in to the park, it was pouring. So we waited it out in our car and watched the radar.
When there was a window of opportunity, we jumped out and set up camp in record time. It helped that we had three more grown people than usual! Ethan built the fire, Mathew put up the small tent and Mark, Meg and I tackled the big one.
Tootsie was excited to explore the perimeter
And Daphne could not understand why we would intentionally leave our carpeted areas.
Before we knew it, we were dining on our traditional first-night-of-camping tinfoil dinners....by the way, this is the coolest firepit we've had thus far. The grate folded back so you could build your fire and then cook right on top of it. It was nice and long for lots of tinfoil packets.
It was also just the right size for roasting our wet and soggy shoes.
Ethan decided to bunk up in his truck but got kinda lonely and paid us a visit before bed.
We had a rainy night, but the girls slept surprisingly well. When I heard the drippety drops subside, I hustled outside and fired up the camp stove for our second-day-of-camping traditional breakfast burritos. We also learned how to play a new game....Dos! It's like Uno, but quicker and takes more brains. We love it!
Ethan took Everly and Aaron with him to go fishing. And the other kids wandered down to the river to explore. We knew there was another storm rolling in about 11 am, but the campground host came flying around in his golf cart and told us that we only had 30 minutes before it would hit us. Mark drove off to find Ethan and the kids and we started packing things into totes so we wouldn't have ruined food or wet(ter) chairs.
Mark barely made it back with the kids and the sky turned black and a crack of lightning sent us diving into tents, cars and trucks. Mathew, Anna and Everly all went to the small tent, Ethan in his truck, Mark into the van (he was on a conference call!), and Megan, Laney and I went into the big tent.
I'll tell you what. It's been a long while since I've been actually afraid. That lightning was coming fast and close. I hated not having everyone together. We tried to keep our minds off of the storm by playing Dos, but it was hard to care....We prayed hard for protection....then we decided to unbunch all the discarded Dove wrappers and read the sayings...we like this one: "With every storm, there is a rainbow. No matter how long it takes to show up."
The violence of the storm passed, but the rain kept on coming. And soon the tent started dripping and we dug out the beach towels to keep our sleeping bags as dry as possible. The little girls decided to run over and join us, but Mathew stayed put and blasted some tunes...nothing like Irish Pub songs to reassure!
And about an hour later...the rain passed! We were left with an absolute muddy mess of a campsite, but we also got to stick around and see how truly beautiful this place is.
Laney and Anna caught minnow in their hands!
We found a wild strawberry!
We went down to the part of the river where people love to play, and let the kids swim and squeal in the cold water. Even Mark rolled up his jeans and hopped in.
Mathew was so sweet and ferried little kids back and forth so they wouldn't hurt their feet on the sharp rocks.
From a distance, it appeared that the water dropped off into a teeming waterfall of doom. But it was actually a pretty path of rocks that the kids could walk along to get a great view of the the tiered fishing holes downriver. And bonus...dead raccoon to thrill and terrify!
That rest of the night we stoked the fire and made our dinner...skyline and coneys...a first for our camping menu, and definitely a winner. Even Everly gave it a try and liked it. Hunger will drive the pickiest of eaters to feel adventurous. That night passed without even a drop of rain, and I slept like a rock on a slowly deflating air mattress. Mathew and Ethan headed back home early so that Ethan could make it to work by 10 am. We loaded them up with everything we could spare, hoping that the rest would fit in the van.
We had our breakfast and packed up camp. Then we headed back to the same swimming area to get in a little more water and sun. The Flynns and Carlstons had arrived the night before and were camping in a different campground. We all got to play together for a little while before it was time for us to leave.
Sara E, Sara C, me, Mari and Courtney
The youths.
Floating on borrowed vessels.
Everly finally realizing that her shoes are already soaking wet from the rain...she might as well wear them in the river and saver her feet.
We were sad to leave in the middle of the fun on a sunny day, but we had one more important stop to make before heading back to Kansas and our beloved roof....
Short Stop!! The Eberts were game to accompany us!
And believe it or not, even this lovably backwoods establishment was exercising it's obligation to socially distance. We didn't mind. Massive amounts of ice cream is on the other end of that line.
And this just in...they have finally put out the master key to the unknowable....HOW BIG IS THE LARGE???
Sara and all the kids went for the PeeWee...
Mark got the Kids size (still huge) and Andy went all in with the Large!! Look at that smile.
I didn't order ice cream. I know all too well that I will be finishing off the cones of at least 3 of those kids. I readied myself with a cup of rootbeer to turn their remnants into my delicious float.
All in all....it was a wonderful, unforgettable weekend. There is no one I'd rather weather a storm with than these guys. Let the summer fun begin!
