The 2 hour camping trip

Well i was all excited to go camping, and mother nature taught me again that I am NOT in control.

It was overcast when we left - figured it didn't look TOO bad, we can make it, besides how wet can it get: it's been dry for the past few weeks! We take the scenic way up through Poland Junction and Walker, past Hassayampa Lake, and up the mountain. When we got to the camp site it was drizzling, but still; nothing we couldn't handle. Time - 12:00

So we cleared the ground, pitched the tents, got some sleeping bags/blah blah blah put away, and I started looking for wood while Danni went to find marshmallow roasting sticks. 

Against all odds, i actually managed to get a fire going with mostly damp wood, some axe work, and a blissfully dry patch of pine needles (so there Danni, I can make a fire!).

So, we get the fire ring all built up against the wind, and the fire is starting to get going, and then it all goes horribly wrong.  That drizzle that wasn't that bad (and for all intensive purposes, seemed to be diminishing) suddenly turned on us.

As though it was a great beast, finally turning docile whipped by it's evil master the wind suddenly kicked up and sheets of rain were pouring down around us.  We made a quick scrabble to get all the windows in the truck closed, get the camp bag sealed up and thrown under the truck, then we dash into the tent. It all seems okay for the first 15-20 minutes; it's raining, but we are semi-dry in the tent , and we even strung up a clothesline to help with the soaking bits of clothing. Then we notice a small amount of water coming through the fly, just a drip or two at first, but as the wind and the rain get worse, so does the drip. Quick: throw a tarp between the fly and the tent to drain keep the water out.

This seems to work for a small amount of time, we eat some string cheese, and play a game of bullshit, but then it starts coming in the un-closable windows of our summer tent. So we wait for it to die down, and when it does diminish a bit, we make a mad run to break down the tents, shove them in the back of Danni's truck under the camp bag, so they dont fly away. Finally, making sure that we pack out everything that we packed in, then we tuck tail and run. Time - 2:00

After a quick jaunt on Senator Hwy. we were back at home, and all ready to dry out. We piled the wet gear on the porch to deal with the next day, fried up some burgers, and roasted marshmallows in the fireplace.  While it wasn't quite what we were after in a camping trip, we still had a blast!