Camping in the Rain (Day One)
We stopped to appreciate the view on the way to join my brother and family to celebrate his birthday. The beam of light is rain pouring into the campground where we were supposed to join them.
We planned to camp at the River Rest Resort in the little town of Washington for the weekend but storm clouds blew in crazy rain that kept us home. Still, we were determined to visit for the day on Saturday. We packed our umbrellas, clipped the leash on the dog, and piled into the car. We saw this beam of sunshine-illuminated rain dumping right into the canyon, right over where we were supposed to camp. Good thing we decided to go home to warm beds that night!
We quickly changed our minds once we saw the campsite. The river rushed past. My brother's family and friend had Easy Ups and propane heaters. And tons of food! How could we leave that? Well, we had to leave to pick up our tent and sleeping bags (and warm clothing)!
We brought Bertie Bots, no, that's my name that the kids tell me is wrong, wrong, wrong. Beanboozled, where you pick a green Jelly Belly and decide whether it's "Lime" or "Fresh Cut Grass." A white one could be coconut or baby wipes. Ugh! Who dreams these up!? The kids loved it!
The best way to start a fire in the rain, perhaps to start a fire in nice weather too, is with a blowtorch.
How modern kids camp. The campsite had power so they were lucky to keep charged up. Don't worry, they played plenty in the rain and along the river too.
We gave Paul a Bigfoot Research Kit for his birthday. The bigfoot connection goes aways back. Their car, which was rear-ended, but sounds much better as a Bigfoot Research Vehicle (maybe even smashed by bigfoot). We thought he might be able to research on the camping trip but it was way too wet out. The footprints washed away too quick.
Next camping trip!
The first camping trip for the puppies. Bambi and Dancer were adopted in February, and Chewie and Jojo are about seven months old. They weren't quite sure about these crazy human staying outside past dark, but they also loved it! Mud and friends and wild air, hurrah!
Last light on the river. I kept going for Photowalks because every few minutes I'd say, "The light! The colors! I'll be back in a minute. Chewie needs a walk." :)
Our traditional camp meal is Packets, which is a collection of goodies wrapped in foil and steamed to perfection. We add meat, potatoes, orange bell pepper, broccoli. Tucker hadn't been camping with us before. He was understandably skeptical as everyone started making their meals.
We were the only tent campers in the whole place. I can't imagine why :). And we weren't jealous of the solid RVs and campers at all. Not even when they burned all their wood at once instead of conserving to last through the night.
"Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world." ~John Muir
Camping is the rain is epic and amazing and not-nearly-as-awful-as-we-expected. Day two is coming soon
