A Taste of Civilization
Me here, checking in from the road. And how can I do that whilst on the 3-week Tent Camping Road Trip from Hell (formerly known as our Fun Family Vacation)? It’s all thanks to Mother Nature, a hotel, and free wi-fi.
Our trip started off well enough. We left the house on time Monday, hitting the road by 11 a.m. as per what we’ve come to call The Plan (which is uttered such that the capital T and P are clearly distinct).
Then we came back.
After getting a spare key for the car — a lessoned learned on last year’s Road Trip from Hell — we left again, happily adhering to The Plan.
Then we came back. Again.
Once we’d picked up the cell phone chargers and the dog’s bark collar, we were finally off… a good hour behind schedule but still on the road.
Three hours and change later we pulled into the Big Sioux Recreation Area in South Dakota early enough to set up camp and begin cooking our first dutch oven dinner before dark. Of course, “dark” doesn’t come there until well after 10 p.m. so we were all famished by the time I finished cooking the cornbread-topped chili, but that just meant everyone was hungry enough to ignore the occasional burnt beans. After cleaning up, we had the perfect family camping evening: S’mores, a roaring fire, good conversation and evening a game of cards before turning in to bed.
Then came the rain.
Hours of it.
And the wind. Sixty mile per hour winds.
The rain fly flew off, the water poured in, both got soaked and the dog just about drowned in her kennel. On our race to the van I glanced at my watch: 5:34 a.m. Lovely. Thank goodness McDonald’s was nearby and getting ready to open. It wasn’t the lovely campfire-cooked breakfast I’d hoped for, but hey, it was warm. Of course, I lost my appetite right around the time the girl behind the counter mentioned that they hadn’t seen more than a half-inch of rain in months. What’re the odds that they’d finally get rain on our first night of camping, eh? (Answer: pretty good, if the last three days are any indication, but I’ll get to that in a bit.)
Luckily, the rain stopped by 9 a.m. and after hot showers (Note: the very nicest showers I’ve seen in a campsite, by the way), dry clothes for all and a couple of hours drying off gear, we were off again. This time, our destination was West Bend Rec Center east of Pierre, South Dakota.
I suppose the muddy ground near our tent should’ve tipped us off that they’d been getting plenty of rain, too, but we arrived so late that nobody really paid the mud much attention. I set about cooking dinner while the Venomous Hubby set up camp, and by midnight we’d eaten, cleaned up and called it a night. Then the rain started again. This time, our rain fly held tight so at least we stayed dry until it was time to pack up… which we did… in the rain.
We headed toward Custer State Park near Custer City, South Dakota with high hopes for an early arrival and dry night. At least we were right on the arrival time: we got everything set up in time for a quick trip to town for a much-needed liquor-store run. Even better: we held off on the libations until I’d nagged VH into rigging a tarp over the screen room surrounding our picnic table and another over our tent. He’d just pulled the last guy-line taut when thunder rumbled and the clouds burst. We stayed nice and dry — although not terribly warm — during all five hours of the storm. By the middle of the night when I had to get up and pee (yet again), the rain had let up and the stars were out in their full glory.
I didn’t sleep much last night. I was too busy looking at the stars. So were both , whom I woke up so they could see what the night sky looks like that far away from city lights. We drank cocoa and roasted marshmallows while our neighboring campers slumbered away, and by dawn when we were all ready to grab a couple more hours of sleep both were finally glad we’d come on this trip.
But even the hardiest of campers (which, it turns out, in our family means ME) has limits. I’m tired, I’m filthy, and I have no dry clean clothes to wear tomorrow on Jasminelive audition. Both of my knees have 1/2-inch wide black bruises across them where the fiberglass tent poles came loose and whacked me during set-up last night. Oh, and thanks to the pitter-patter of rain and last night’s cold weather, my sleeping bag is soaked with my 6-year-old son’s pee (which has taught me that no matter how cold, my he’s staying in his own sleeping bag even if it means he has to wear three days of clothes just to avoid frostbite).
So here I am, in the bee-you-tee-ful city of Billings, Montana where we found a hotel room for the night. The are primed for dinner, hot showers and bedtime. The Venomous Hubby and I are primed for much the same thing… after I finish doing some laundry and we make a quick (?) visit to the bar next door. Ok, so we had to blow off our stay at the Bighorn National Forest to get here, which just goes to show that The Plan is amenable to change (and soft beds, wi-fi access and nearby bars).
But, hey, tomorrow’s weather forecast for Yellowstone is looking lovely. So, after a good night’s sleep (and more hot showers), we’ll be back to The Plan in the morning.
Now, if you’ll pardon me, I believe there’s a barstool awaiting my ass next door. See ya!