Last week our family went camping for 2 nights at a place called Lost Lake, which is about a 2 hour drive from our house. The area is beautiful, quaint, and, as you could probably have guessed, has a lovely lake. We spent some time here 2 summers ago, and have been itching to go back ever since.
Well, this year's trip was a little more adventurous than we had hoped. Yes, we had plenty of good times- hiking, fishing, and relaxing. However, the second night, just after Todd and I had put the kids in the tent for bed, it started to thunder and lightning. And not an Oregon thunderstorm.... this was on the caliber of a midwestern thunder storm: huge rolls of thunder and lightning coming from all directions. It was both amazing and a bit scary all at once. Around 11, Todd and I decided to head into the tent. We put the stroller and the stove under the picnic table, just in case the thunder storm brought some rain, and then snuggled into our sleeping bags. Shortly after, the rain began. Lightly at first, but it quickly turned into a downpour... that didn't stop. After about 30 minutes of bucket of rain falling, it started to rain lightly inside the tent. Not good, right? Well, then Todd put his hand on the dogs blankets next to him and they were soaked...... which is when we realized that our tent was basically sitting in a lake of water. If you pushed your hand on the tent floor, it felt exactly like a waterbed. I unzipped the tent door to see that out tent was, in fact, in a huge puddle, about 4 inches deep, and our shoes were starting to float away.
So, Todd and I grabbed the kids and dogs, and we all piled into the car, where we slept for the night. Around 7 am it was still raining, but I broke down the campsite, we stuffed all of our wet and dirty gear into the car, and headed back to Portland. A disaster, but an adventure none-the-less.
Here are a few pictures of our adventure. Looking back, I wish I would have taken pictures of our tent in a puddle, but honestly, at the time, that was the last thing on my mind!
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| The first day was so foggy we didn't have any views of Mt. Hood |
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| We found some fairie homes... |
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| And some really big trees.... |
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| Had a nice hike |
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| And enjoyed the view from around the lake |
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| Phoebe thought being dirty for 2 full days was pretty awesome... |
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| Finn was helping Phoebe learn how to give kisses |
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| And Todd got to take Finn fishing, although they didn't catch anything. |
Looks like you made some nice memories -- even the deluge of rain will be remembered and talked about during family times for years! We had a similar experience camping in California a few years back -- except it was me and my daughter and a bunch of girls from church and a few other women. We had to break camp and drive home at 2 a.m. when a downpour of rain turned to snow and everyone was soaking wet and freezing cold. Not fun to be sure, but remembered and even laughed about now. Thanks for sharing. Glad you are all home safe.
ReplyDeleteAh the joy of rain when you are camping. We spent a few hours one night in my car when I took the kids camping last month...big storm rain, wind, thunder and lightening, just felt much safer in the car.
ReplyDeleteYou guys will look back on this adventure and laugh about one day :)
Looks like a gorgeous spot. Bummer about the rain, though. I went backpacking with a friend years ago in Northern Arkansas and it started to storm really hard one evening. We stayed in our tent, trying not to admit to one another that we were a bit freaked out. The next day, when we got back home, we found out there had been tornados all through the area where we were. We were lucky, I'm sure, since we weren't anywhere near our car and wouldn't have been able to get out quickly even if we had tried to. Glad you all made it back safely as well.
ReplyDeleteAck! In my mind I pictured sunburns and swimming I guess you never know what will happen when you go camping. You sure came back in a good mood, considering :)
ReplyDeleteGosh, seems as if everyone has a camping in the rain story! Mine is camping as a summer camp counselor with about 8 of someone else's children in our charge. I spent a horrible stormy night with another counselor and a special needs camper. The other counselor and I slept in a puddle all night and the next morning my feet were prunes!
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a good time up until that point, though. It will be a great memory for you guys one day!
so fun! i cannot wait until the weather cools down here and we can get outside more!
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