Crazy Camping

This last week was Mouse's very first Girl Scout camping without mom. Three days and two nights in the woods without her security blanket.  At first I did not have her signed up ....because we were supposed to be long gone by now (how many times have I said THAT lately??). But the opportunity arose for her to slide into a spot and join her troop at Stonybrook Girl Scout camp for three days of fun.

And I jumped on it.

Mouse was excited about camp but didn't want to go without me.  I thought it was the perfect time to show her she could do it.

At the same time the rest of us were jealous as we wanted to camp also.

It all worked out. Caesar Creek State Park and Lake is right there close to Stonybrook. So, we could still camp as a family AND be close just in case Mouse was too much of a marshmallow to tough it out without me.

So the teen talked a friend into joining us and off we went right behind the Girl Scouts.

Of course it ended up being the first time to top the temps at over a hundred. Of course. But with the nice new tailor, we were able to hide from the sun in the air conditioning. Only drawback is we were running behind the day we left so we didn't grab a t.v. which would have come in handy with the amount of time we stayed inside.

We picked up Mouse Friday morning. She was tired but had a great time. And we stayed camping another night because she felt left out of family camping so we really had to.

Things go interesting that evening when those storms you heard about on the news swept through. We knew rain was coming so we kept our ears open.  I saw the front coming through the treetops and yelled to get the awning down.  It took the teen and I on the supports and Hubs doing the heavy work to get it down quickly.

As we were doing so we watched the tents in the next site get tossed up and twisted like a pretzel. It got really crazy. We scrambled inside and watched the show from our windows. It was like watching a train wreck. They were finally able to throw something on the tents and just rush to sit in the cars for the downpour.

And before you ask why we didn't invite them in, it was two combined sites with over ten people....two of which had wolf whistled at my teens.  It was a karma moment. All we were missing was the popcorn. It was an enjoyable show.

Turns out our neighborhood and the surrounding area got really beat. There were (and still are) power lines down everywhere. They lost power about 4:30 in the 102 degree heat.

And we missed it all.

We contemplated staying another night when we found out at 10 the next morning that the power was still out and they were predicting several days to get it fixed. Even the stores were closed as there was no power. But in the end we packed it up. After all, we just had to pull the trailer in and fire up the generator to hook it up to and we were sitting pretty. Plus I'm supposed to leave Monday morning and we need time to get ready.

We found out what roads were closed and plotted our return ( not as easy when you are hauling an RV). We said our prayers that the electricity would be fixed quickly as we need to get the RV back to the lot before I can leave as it takes two people.

God was smiling on us because by the time we pulled up the power was on...and had been on long enough for the house to be cool.

The neighborhood is a wreck. There are branches and leaves and just big messes everywhere. Easy-ups and pools ended up in other yards and twisted up and smashed. Luckily our home was untouched. I expected a branch down on the van from the crap tree out front but it held.

And now the laundry is being done, suitcases are being packed and we will tie up loose ends tomorrow to prepare for the trip the girls and I are taking.

It will be epic.