Weather

Snow in the mountains.  Snow on the roof of the shelter.  Snow on all campers, vehicles, and tents.

Matt and I skedaddled out of the Davis Mts. State Park early in the morning.  Okay, early for us—8:30.  We both woke up COLD; the inside temperature was 40 degrees.  I had unplugged the electric and water and stored them in the RV the night before.  I had NO idea the van would be covered in snow during the night, and that the outside temperature would be in the 20s.  I was, however, aware that the wind would be gusting at 40-50 mph.  Normally, the wind just rocks us to sleep at night and plays havoc with daily routines—eating outside, hiking, and repacking the RV.

I must admit; I was feeling a bit “put-out” by the weather.  I really thought the snowbirds knew what they were doing heading south.  Enough to say that it has been a tough winter everywhere…I have learned not to quickly “declare” where we will be going next.  The weather is our ultimate dictator. 

ANYWAY, I intended this entry to be about the girl scouts—specifically, a troop of 7 girls and 2 group leaders who pulled in the day before to set-up camp next to our site.  Matt and I watched them erect their tents.  We watched them prep the food and cook on camp stoves.  Their evening road-volleyball and camp games were raucous and obviously fun.  The girls and leaders spent the day in long-sleeved shirts.  (Seriously, they didn’t even wear light jackets.)

The wind didn’t start in earnest until after midnight.  As I mentioned, Matt and I just “rocked”.  But the girl scouts?  The wind tore at their tents--it battered all sides.  During the night, not only could I hear the flapping/snapping of the harassed tents, but also the skitch of equipment scuttling across the picnic table and the crash onto the cement pad.

The next morning, the view of their site was just plain sad.  Their tents sagged and every crease, valley, dip, sag, and fold was filled with the cold white stuff.  Equipment (cook stoves, lawn chairs, bathroom bags, kitchen utensils, etc.) was scattered like litter across the camping area… As I said previously, Matt and I left at 8:30.  No, not only because we were cold, but because we didn’t have the heart to witness the next part of their camping experience.  Sooner or later their bladders would trump the warm sleeping bags, and they would have to deal with Mother Nature...

It would be enough to put someone off camping FOREVER!  I hope it doesn’t.

Further down the road, the snow was only on the mountain tops.