Camping:for better or worse

I love to camp.

I love being outdoors, I love roughing it, I love listening to the birds in the morning, and watching the stars at night.

But sometimes, oh yes, sometimes those stars are not aligned.

Jeff booked us a site in Watkins Glen after we procrastinated a site for Memorial Day.  Later we found out it was redneck weekend, I mean 'Race at the Glen.'

Jeff also had began having back problems about two weeks prior.  He insisted he was not cancelling.  Okay.

So I finish up all my school stuff, which was a lot this year, due to my move.  I have an important family meeting.  All goes well.  Game on!

Wake up and go camping!

Well, kind of.  We made it there about 6PM.  

Beautiful.  We set up camp.  Dyleva is whining something about not having a park.  I don't know, I tuned them out while I was sweating.

We get all ready, about to have dinner, when Dyleva experiences their first redneck experience.  A neighbor child apparently bit neighbor baby daddy and all hell broke loose.  Earmuffs.  

That child used words that would have made Tio Chris blush.

Moving on.  We have a great night.

Saturday morning.  Jeff struggled a bit with his back.  And I had an awful night.  The air mattress Eva and I slept on deflated  sometime in the middle of the night.  I cannot reiterate how awful that was.  I would have rather slept on the ground.

Jeff investigated, he found I didn't push the valve in.

"You gotta push the valve in."  Whatever.

We decided to gamble on the weather and hike the glen.

I was nervous because it said it was 'very difficult' for part of the trail.  

It was not.  It was gorgeous.  By far one of my favorite all time hikes.  Dyleva were wonderful.  They were careful and listened, and kept exclaiming how cool everything was!

A picture is worth a thousand words so here are about ten thousand of them!

We came out and found a park.  I got out the lunch and the heavens opened.  

Now I'm not talking a sprinkle.  I mean monsoon! 

We make it back to the site, and unfortunately must nap because it is down pouring so hard there is nothing else to do.

I woke to sunny skies and drenched earth but I'll take it.  Jeff woke up not well.  Sick from all the back meds he had been taking.  

So I took Dyleva to play on some parks.  We came back to cook dinner, which was really delicious by the way.  Getting the hang of this camping thing.

Then it started to rain again.  So we moved inside the tent, but honestly with the water pooling on the ground, there was nothing else to do but sleep.

Except Jeff couldn't, because of his back,

And I couldn't because of my air mattress deflating again!!!!
I'll give you valve!  Two nights in a row with minimal sleep!

And then.
The cherry on top.
My final straw.

Dylan woke up in the middle of the night and started throwing up.  I'm done!!! I'm so done!!! I'm going home!!!

And we did.  A full 24 hours early.  Stupid unaligned stars.