I've Never Been Camping in the Rain

On our Blue Ridge Parkway adventure our group decided that we would camp for our lodging. The last time I checked the weather on Saturday the weather looked gorgeous - highs in the low 80s and clear skies for most of the trip. The only sign of rain would be our last night camping and on the ride home, but only a 50% chance.

Well apparently lots changed between Saturday and Monday night. Our second night of camping as we had just finished cooking dinner we could hear thunder in the distance. I checked my phone weather ap and sure enough rain was headed our way. The skies opened up and we scrambled to throw things in the car and tents and get things covered up. We all piled in Mark and Anna's tent which is fairly large. The girls, Madeline and Audrey, were scared at first because the thunder was quite loud and the lightening quite close. But they were distracted with games and tickling and soon all was fine.

The rain stopped and we sat around the remnants of the fire to talk about our plan of action. The driving of the Parkway was more tedious than we had thought and with 80% chance of rain the next night we decided to cut our trip short by one night. I guess even the most seasoned campers don't like to camp in the rain.

The view from our campsite in the morning.

Our dreary campsite in the morning.

Enjoying leftover pizza in the morning.

As sad as I was to not be up for the challenge of camping in the rain for a second night, I was relieved to be able to go home. I was having a great time, but I had a feeling if that we continued on for another day the fun factor would have dropped dramatically. Also, those storms that we avoided turned out to produce flash flood warnings and then a day later several counties had tornado watches. So I have learned that I am definitely a fair weather camper. The rain just made me miserable. So another experience down, but not one that I want to repeat!