Into each life a little rain must fall...

...and onto each camping trip. We have certainly gotten our share. We were at the Minuteman Campground, just outside of Boston, on Thursday night and had just finished cleaning up dinner when the first drops began to fall. It proceeded to pour for the rest of the night. It rained so hard that it sort of kept us half-awake all night, murmuring about rain in our sleep. In the morning it had not let up but we had to be on our way. We dashed about in the rain in bare feet and our lightest clothes, hurriedly trying to pack the tent while protecting the dry-ish inside as much as possible with the fly. We were soaked and a shower had never felt so good when we drove up to the bathhouse. It stayed rainy all day and we hoped we could possibly out run the weather.

We got to southwestern New York and our hopes rose. There was definite sun peeking out and we got a site. A low rumble of distant thunder made us nervous as we got back into the car to drive to the site. Another rumble greeted us as we finished parking the car and got the rain fly out from the backseat floor, where it had sat, soaked through, all day. A few light sprinkles fell and we tried to start getting unpacked that much faster and then, all at once, the sky opened up and rain pelted down. We'd been out of the car for all of 45 seconds. Mother Nature apparently has a good sense of humor. We dashed the fly and footprint back into the car (all we'd had time to remove) as fast as possible and then sat in the car as it poured on us yet again. Everything seemed soaked - every part of the tent, clothes and towels inside; everything else in the world outside. I just started laughing and laughing. I think I worried Mom for a moment but when she saw that I wasn't having a nervous breakdown she relaxed. What else can one do in such a situation?!

We went up the road to cell service and made calls and when we got back the sun was peeking out. We slept in the car that night and a few rocks slept in the tent as it aired out a bit, although it didn't really get any drier.

Blissfully, when we got to Indiana yesterday the sun was shining and we were actually HOT under the cloudless blue sky. We are again dry although the locusts are so loud here in Missouri that I'm afraid that we won't be able to sleep. It's almost deafening. We made our first camp fire
- and it only took one match!

At our Indiana campground in Whitewater Memorial State Park. They had a horse barn and this mama and foal were very photogenic.

Our campsite at Whitewater Memorial. We were so grateful for sunshine and everything dried from soaking wet to warm and fresh in about an hour.
Overnight the dew was so heavy that the tent was covered in water. This slug was trying to hitch a ride to Missouri.
Drive-by tourism. I took this at 60mph as we crossed the Mississippi River into St. Louis, Missouri. It is an amazing feat of architecture.
Camp in Missouri and Mom feeding the miraculous fire.
Me roasting our smoked sausages over it. Those tasted remarkably good.

When I get home, we need to make a point of going camping more often. I've enjoyed it so much - we've slept in the tent for 10 of the last 12 days (the other 2 were in the car) and I'm still loving it. Besides, I'll have to show my new fire starting skills to Q.