A long time ago...

gypsum crystals

My first camping trip with my husband was to the Great Salt Flats in Oklahoma.  I was into collecting rocks and could dig for my own gypsum crystals.  We were both into bird watching.  Seemed like a perfect trip.

digging up gems

We found a great site and set up camp before hiking and digging.  The campsite had huge trees, plenty of space between sites, and a beautiful lake nearby.  As we pitched the tent, we noticed all the crawdad chimneys around the camp.  We joked that if we didn't have enough dinner, we could just dig up a few as appetizers.

After a full day of hiking and digging up gems, we had dinner.  My husband was so proud of the fact that we were having steak, grilled asparagus, and potatoes while the people around us had hot dogs and burgers.  He enjoyed watching the other men drool as the steaks cooked.  (Our camping food issues go way back.)  We sat around the campfire and watched clouds roll in before crawling into the tent for the night.

And then the rain started.  And then the lightening,  And then the flooding.

It was close to midnight.  We threw everything into the back of the car-a 2 door Saturn- and got out of there.  The poor dog, Sophie, was dripping wet and had no where to sit since the back seat was full of wet gear.  She sat on my lap as we drove 4 hours home.  4 hours I might add in one of the most extreme electrical storms seem in Oklahoma for decades.  We made it home and collapsed in bed.  We could clean up in the morning afternoon after getting some sleep.

What important camping tip did we learn from this?  Don't camp in an area covered with crawdad chimneys.  It will be prone to flooding.  And- it takes a long time to get the smell of wet dog out of a small car.