If You Never Tri, You'll Never Know!

"And There She Goes…"

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Taaa Daaa!
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Mad tent pitchin' skills
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On her back, Lisa hauled that baby right over to the next site
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The car got a little tight after loaded with fire wood...
(Lisa)
When it comes to family camping, I'd qualify myself at moderate to expert level. I can pitch a tent, build a fire, and roast s'mores like a BOSS. So arriving at our campsite at St. Andrews State Park I knew that setting up camp would automatically be my job. 

(Chris)
CAAAAAMMMMPPPPIIINNNNGGGG! I've been camping ONCE, in my WHOLE LIFE. But I am a subscriber to Outside and Backpacker magazine. This is my zone! I want this!… But why the hell is everything so wet?
We are in a swamp. Apparently it had rained the night before and all the water from the entire camp drained into 2 campsites, OURS & our neighbors.

What-EV … Lisa is on a damn mission.
BOOM "WHERE'S TENT?!"….
BOOM "DONT TOUCH THAT!?"….
BOOM " JAKE GET OUT OF THE WATER!"
BOOM " LOOK KIDS, THERES A HILL, GO PLAY!"
In between the orders, she would stop, randomly put up jazz hands, make this weird ass "thinking" face, then get back to what she was doing.

So I started cruising around the campsite, snapping photos, and watching the neighbors watch US while they ate Oreos…..

Between Lisa on a MISSION, kids running into West NILE infested waters, my feet getting mud on them, and the swamp people (in a matter of seconds I had given them nicknames, c'mon people we were literally in a swamp) I was starting to feel a little, well NOT HAPPY about our spot.

**Shrug** This is still gonna be awesome. **Dancing**

(Lisa)
So I'm busy setting up the tent, keeping Jake out of the swamp, letting the kids be crazy, smiling for Chris and the camera, noticing our Oreo eatin' neighbors noticing us (and by noticing I mean gawking and possibly thinking of ways to roast my dog for dinner...).

(Chris)
Why are they still staring at us?
I just saw Lisa look at the neighbors, I wonder if she is thinking what I'm thinking. I kinda feel bad that they are kinda FREAKING ME OUT….

**shrug** We are CAAAAMMMMPPPIIINNNGG!!
continues dancing

(Lisa)
I get us all set up, look at Chris feeling all proud and accomplished... See Taaa Daaa picture above.
"Ok, where's the rain fly?"

(Chris)
"I'm sorry, the rain what?"

I was mid moon-walk when Lisa put me on the spot.…
"Uhhhhhh….. Maybe its tucked under something? Ummmm… like zipped up in one of those zippers?" I try unzipping something…

I knew without looking up at Lisa that crap was about to hit the fan. There was nothing left in the bag the tent came in. Now I wouldn't think this little rain fly would be a big deal but it was forecasted to rain that night.

I didn't know what to do….

"Uhhhh, Mark put away the tent last … let me call him…" Yeah, there was no way of contacting Mark. So now I am walking back and forth, I am not sure what to do, it's late, things are wet, Lisa is all, "we NEED a rain fly", where the hell is there a camping store in Panama City Beach?, and why are those people STARING at me?!?!?!?!

**lightbulb**
"I'll google it!!!"
Seconds later….
"WOO! Dicks sporting goods, 20 minutes away! Who cares if we just drove 5 hours, right?!"
Lisa looks like she would rather eat tar then put the kids, dog, and all our crap back into the car.

(Lisa)
Very aware of how awful camping in the rain is, we are in a MAD DASH to find a rain fly or a tarp. So we load kids, dog, and all our crap back into the car. We end up at a Home Depot (read more of our our awesome Home Depot story here).

On our way back in (with tarp, tie downs, firewood, ice, and hotdog roasting sticks in tow) we asked to move sites. We had to explain to the park ranger on how the kids nearly drowned. So he gave us a couple of numbers to check out…

Found a fairly dry one.

(Chris)
I was mid "Should we break down tent…" when Lisa jumps out of the car, throws the tent on her back, and screams "FOLLOW ME!!"

"And there she goes... Whoa, it's only Friday night"