Thursday, July 30, 2009

Count Down to Camping

A moment of clear skies. That's Bella on the blanket.


Last year when I was almost 7 months pregnant we went on a family camping trip. Peter and I hadn't been since 1995BC(before children). We wanted to share our love of the great outdoors with them. We found a nice campsite not too far away. For anyone familiar with our area we were in Plymouth, you know pilgrims, yes that Plymouth. OK, so we have the spot ,all we have to do is pack up everything we own and hit the road.

Smooth, is the word to describe how everything was going. We got there safe and sound, set up in record time. We are real campers, we use a tent! Actually we're poor campers... we would love a camper. but, we are not complainers! Our tent was up, the toys were out, the kids were happy.Something had to give. Momentarily,a very nice "neighbor" came over to our site. I'm thinking, Oh, how nice she's going to introduce herself to us, maybe even invite us over for marshmallows.
Well she was nice, but she came with a warning not an invitation. Basically, take cover, a WHOOPER of a storm is headed this way. Oh, yeah, and what she meant by take cover was get in your car and drive someplace safe, your tent is not going to be enough.(she had a trailer house).
WHAT!!!!!!!!!! OK, no one panic, it can't possibly be as bad as she says it's going to be. No problem, it was supper time anyway. We'll just go into town have something to eat and ride out the storm. We'll probably be able to roast some marshmallows later in the evening. Sounds like a plan , right? WRONG! Yes the storm was as bad as she said. As we were sitting in the restaurant the weather reports kept getting worse and worse. Warnings like, don't go out if you don't have to, severe weather alert, oh, yeah and my personal favorite, tornado sitings in the area. WE DON'T GET TORNADO'S!!!!!!!
This is what we get for trying to share our love of camping with the kids. We stayed in the restaurant for a long as possible, but eventually we had to head back to the campsite. Peter and I were holding our breath....was the tent still standing? Yes she was! YIPPEE!
We thought we had made it through the worst of the storm, but that night , all HE-- broke loose. Needless to say I didn't sleep one minute, the winds were so bad, I just keep waiting for one of the many very tall pine trees that we were surrounded by to come crashing down. The rains were intense and relentless. All I kept thinking was that we were going to be front page news in the morning paper...Family of Six Washed Away in Storm.
Well, morning came, I did a head count, all present and accounted for. Ready for day two...


So, after all that ,you would think we would sell our tent and camping stuff to any bidder. NO, not us. We plan another trip. Now there are 7 of us, and we're going a little further. New Hampshire this year.We leave on the third, please pray for us!

16 comments:

Unknown said...

We have a tent too. Although last year Miss Carly escaped in the early morning hours. We (Paul and I) woke up to her unzipping the tent to come back in. Yep, our hearts skipped a few beats. Lord only knows how long she had been outside and how far she actually went away from our tent. Scared the daylights out of me.
Have a good time. Hope there are no storms. That would have scared me enough, to find a hotel!

Cammie Heflin said...

Still sounds like fun! We love storms around here, tornadoes are a common occurrence!

Kim said...

How scary! We had some bad storms come through when we were camping last year at the beach. We have a pop-up and all I could think was the metal poles that hold it up would snap from the wind and the whole thing would crush us. Needless to say I didn't sleep either!

I hope you have a great safe trip! There is nothing like camping!

Emily said...

Oh my goodness that's quite the story! We have not taken our kids camping in years. In fact, my oldest was a baby the last time we went. (in a tent. We've been camping with my parents RV) I am glad you all survived the experience. Have a fabulous trip!

Sophia said...

Good times right? (not) Well can't wait!

Lacey said...

You'll be fine, just check the weather before you leave :)

Denise said...

What a great story teller you are!! I was completely ingrossed in reading about your adventures. But you didn't clarify, were you in the tent or car once you came back to the camp site? What fun!! I am sure this camping adventure will be perfect....I mean....what could possibly go wrong :)

Unknown said...

Camping is always and adventure! I have yet to set out in a tent with my 3 this year...not brave enough and the O2 need poses an issue. A camping trailer is my kind of camping! :) You'll have lots of great times in the great outdoors! :)

Scrappy quilter said...

Camping is always an adventure especially when we go camping. We have always had a tent too. Until we bought one that leaked. That's the last time we went camping in a tent. The next time we went we rented a motorhome!!!

Great story. Hope you have a wonderful time camping. Can't wait to hear how it all turns out.

The Lehnick Family said...

Oh my...storm troopers! Well, hopefully the weather will be much more accomodating...Love camping...but yeah, much different when you have little ones...still so much fun and great memories! Can't wait to see the pics!

Denise said...

Are you kidding....that would be my dream road trip. I have always wanted to take an cross country road trip. Its just that it takes time and money combined to drive that far. One of these days. My cousin lives in PA and I really want to take my older girls there so we can do NYC with someone who knows it but I said that I can't go to the East Coast without Ella as she has a couple of friends to meet. So, I have to find a way to work it all out someday!!

Kele said...

I grew up camping, some of my most favorite memories are of those times, and even more favorite are the trips where we had disastrous stories to tell afterwards!!
I am so jealous...NEW HAMPSHIRE!!!

Stephanie said...

I like to camp because I like to relax in the shade while thay making breakfast.love bella

Sophia said...

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I can't wait to go camping! I hope we have lots of fun, in Story Land too.

ds.mama said...

Hi Stephanie,
You are the winner of my Summer Giveaway. Stop by for details. :-)

Chris said...

We're tent campers too. Storms are scary when you are in a tent. Once I hear thunder and lightening, I am all for sleeping in the car. Hope you guys have a great trip.