Big Fiasco

When I was a child we lived in Wyoming and one of my family's regular summer activities was camping in the Black Hills or Yellowstone.  We had a little pop-out camper.  Often my grandparents from Minnesota would join us for a week or two.  There are many photographs from these days, including this family classic of my brother laying in pine needles with his blanket.   

Since moving to ND in the early 90's we haven't camped much...or at all.  I recall one failed trip to Turtle River where it rained the whole weekend and also a pretty fun girl scout camping experience which also took place at Turtle River.  Other than that, I spent overnight in many tents and campers in my friends' yards and went to We-Fest twice. 

In 2008, my sister suggested that she wanted to camp an tube in Minnesota for her bachelorette party.  Tubing is something we have done quite a bit of, since the resort is located in the town where my mom grew up and where my grandma still lives.  I booked the campsites and it was a blast!  In 2009 and 2010 she organized the same trip where guys were included and it has always been a fun time. 

We headed off to Northern Minnesota on Friday feeling excited for the weekend.  After weeks of hot weather everyone was excited to spend time on the river.  The campground was full of festive people and the delightful smells of campfires and grilling filled the air. 

I love this fire photo!  Usually they don't turn out!

There was rain in the forecast but we hoped for the best.  Well, the lightening started around midnight, the sprinkles of rain started around 2 a.m., and at 4 a.m. the violent thunderstorm with sheets of rain and strong winds hit and water started inflitrating the tents.  I was staying with my cousin and her husband and soon my sister was in our tent saying that theirs had collapsed.  My brother's tent collapsed as well and we all ended up fleeing the campground!  Yikes what a mess!  It was raining very hard and we all were soaked.  Fortunately, we had packed our bags and put them in the vehicles in case the storm materialized.  

When we returned the next day we found that the canopies had blown off the tents and the sheets and mattresses inside were soaked.  If it had been nice out we would have gone tubing anyway but it wasn't!  It was 65 degrees!  After weeks of 90s it was 65 degrees on Saturday!  WHY?  

So...we tried to dry everything and then we started the grill and tried to eat some of the food we had brought.  It was a huge bust!  I headed back to Bismarck. 

Our garden is showing some positive signs...that little stem is actually a very tiny cucumber!  Exciting!