A Good Idea
One thing about our family, if there is a Westphal in a tent it will be below zero temperature wise. This has been tested on several occasions.
The last time I remember a camping expedition, we were on our way to Utah to visit family. When we stopped in Nebraska at Cabella's it was hot and about 80 degrees.
We came out of the store maybe an hour later, and the temperature had begun to drop. By the time we got to Wyoming it was a blizzard.
We didn't even stop. Well, we pulled off at a parking spot, looked around and pulled back on the road. Morning found us at Salt Lake City. We just left the tent stowed for the whole trip.
It probably was not an unusual happening for Wyoming to have a blizzard, but I felt chosen.
I always tried to be prepared when we planned our camping excursions. The time we were on our way to South Dakota I was especially adamant with the kids to remember their bedding, like blankets. It was in June, but...
The first night we camped over the state line in a lovely camping spot by a lake. We got all set up and I discovered that although the kids all had their blankets, I had forgotten Old Fuzzy's and mine. Being that close to a lake (water) it was cold that night.
We at last made it to Blue Belle State Park in South Dakota and it snowed on us. What an adventure.
One of the most memorable camping trips was our autumn trip to a beautiful camping park in Iowa, Pike's Peak. It overlooked the Mississippi River. The view was stunning.
We arrived at our destination after dark, only to realize we didn't have a light. No lantern or flashlight. We cooked supper with only the campfire for light. There were eight of us in an eight man tent.
Our oldest son was going through some stage or other. "Don't anybody touch me," he threatens as we're rolling out the sleeping bags.
It was about two o'clock A.M. my daughter had woken up needing a bathroom run. She's by the tent door with her legs in her coat sleeves for some insane reason. We tasked our second son with disentangling his sister from her coat and taking her up to the bathroom.
Later that morning my daughter woke up again pushing her oldest brother with her feet. This is not good, but since he's asleep...all's well that ends well.
It was cold that night, but the sunrise the next morning as we looked down at the river and the trees with their fall foliage was glorious.
How many times do things start out as a good idea, but...maybe they aren't? We don't always know. As we look back through the kaleidoscope of life it's the moments we lived that remain.
I'm not one to do great, tremendous things. I've never hankered to climb mountains or swim the seas. The few times I've found myself climbing anything it was more of a, 'Try it, they said. It'll be fun, they said," experiences. Ones that you never want to do again.
But I'll never forget the time as my Grandpa was nearing his last days. I don't remember what we had been doing. It may have been one of the times we made a grocery and hair cutting, and errand days.
He grins at me with his big old grin and he says to me, "We sure had fun, didn't we?"
"Yes," I said, "we had fun."
