Where to start.

I guess I’ll start off by saying that we really did have a nice time camping. My car’s GPS navigation system got us there with no problems and since we left early, traffic was light. I put the tents up with my boys help quite easily by reading the directions, which actually made sense this time, and we settled in. The boys used the smaller tent and I had the larger one all to myself…it was a lot of space and I really was quite comfy; with the potty, my toaster oven, hot pot and little tv (though the cable cord would only reach as far as our picnic table so I couldn’t watch it in the tent) I had all the comforts of home. We were right on the river, under some big old trees and had a pretty view. And then on Saturday night it rained…

The boys came into my tent around 11:00 as their tent floor was getting wet. We didn’t have a tarp down for either tent…drought conditions in Hagerstown and no rain was forecasted when we left. Cade said that he had a bad feeling after saying his prayers and so did I. I settled them down on my nice queen sized air mattress and they quickly fell back asleep. However, after watching so many shows about flashflooding, I continued to watch the river. My tent has a nice awning on it and even though it was raining very heavily I was able to keep the flap open so I could periodically shine the flashlight outside to watch the river. God’s light (lightning) was also helping me keep an eye on it…however, I soon realized that I was watching the wrong river.

The campground was tiered with us being in the corner at the very bottom. The heavy rains soon rushed down the road in a torrent of water that cut a gully under my car, around my tent and flooded out my campsite. I put my foot down on the floor and sunk about a foot as water rushed under our tent. I started packing up and woke the boys up and told them to get their shoes on. Then the fun began. We gathered up all that we could and tried to make our way to the car. I could hear the rushing water but didn’t know where it was coming from though I quickly found out as we trudged through it, up to our knees in it, fighting the current. We had a bit of trouble climbing up onto the gravel pad as it kept giving way. I dropped my cellphone but it was saved due to quick reactions from my twins. Finally we were at the car, soaking wet from head to toe, and I couldn’t push the right button on the keys to open the door! I kept locking it and it kept beeping at me. Finally, I pushed the right one and the boys helped me throw our stuff into the back, while trying to keep out the torrent’s way and I got them safely into the car. I went back 3 more times to collect our stuff, leaving only the tents, camp chairs, potty, air mattress and sleeping bags.

I stopped at the boy scouts camp on the way out…they tried to talk us into staying but we were freezing cold, soaked to the bone and had no dry clothes to change into so I headed on back home, driving through the torrential rains and getting home around 2:00 in the morning.

Quite a camping adventure.

Michael and the boys went back on Sunday morning to bring the rest of our gear home. I know that Michael didn’t quite believe us when the boys and I told him what had happened but after viewing our campsite and talking with our neighbors who heard the water rushing down the hill…he did.

And how was your weekend? *smile*