Life in the Shoehouse: Camping in the rain

The week before Memorial Day Joe ended up with 6 days off in a row. Looking for something to do close to home we decided to go camping. I love camping and was really looking forward to this trip but as we watched the weather forecast it wasn't looking good. Lots of rain. :( Being adventurous and REALLY wanting to go I convinced Joe & Brian to go anyway and give it our best effort - after all we were only going 2 hours away how bad could it be? It started raining on the way to the campground but it was just a few sprinkles. We had a great dinner and sat by the campfire just relaxing. Over night the storm let loose and we were treated to lots of wind, rain and thunder. In the morning the rain had stopped but Kevin and Kaitlin were soaked as the tent had leaked. Apparently we have never camped in such rough weather before as we have used the tent countless times with no problems. The morning looked good so we had a hearty breakfast and headed out on a hike. It was absolutely beautiful! I LOVE being in the mountains. During the hike it started to sprinkle again so we headed back to camp. By the time we got back the rain was in full swing. I sat in the car with Tyler as he took a 3 hour nap while Joe, Brian, Kaitlin and Kevin played games and tried to keep a smile on their faces. Meantime our poor dogs were freezing. I looked out the car window to see Tank - Brian's boxer walk by in a garbage bag! We had gone up to the nearest town to see if we could find some doggies coats but alas little towns have no pet stores so they bought a beanie and cut a head hole and leg holes for Harley - Brian's Boston Terrier & put old Tshirts on Tank & Cleo to keep them warm, then put the trash bags over the Tshirts in an attempt to keep them dry! When Tyler woke up from his nap he was not a happy camper. He loves camping but had had enough and begged us to take him home. Brian my die hard camper looked at me and said he was ready to call it quits and Joe who was only there to humor me made his opinion clear as well. We checked the local forcast & discovered that the previous nights storm was nothing compared to one the headed our direction so we headed back and in a record 45 minutes had camp broken down and packed in the car ready to head out. Guess we'll have to try another time. I so appreciate my guys who were willing to go out in the rain just to give me a chance to be in the mountains. I am so lucky!!!