Becoming one with nature

DJ and I decided to get a camping trip in before we left the beautiful Smoky mountains. Our first attempt was going splendidly -- we found the perfect site with only one visible neighbor, we got the tent set up for the first time with no problems (or arguments),

we got a great campfire going also with no arguments (we tend to argue a lot when we don't know what we're doing, or rather when one or the other person thinks they know what they are doing and doesn't think the other person does),

we made some mac & cheese with DJ's new Jet Boil, improvising where necessary when we realized we forgot certain things,

and we cooked some hot dogs after I whittled a stick with some scissors that we could (sort of) lodge the hot dog on long enough to get some heat on it.

It was all so great and sure, we knew there was a little rain in the forecast but heck, we had one weekend to make use of our new camping supplies in the great Tennessee wilderness and I was not about to let a little rain spoil our plans.

AND THEN....

The weather decided it didn't care what kind of stubborn will I was planning to exude in order to become one with nature, and it let loose its fury anyway. Or rather, the campground host notified us, and the rest of the campground, that all heck was going to break loose any minute in the form of 75 mph winds and a tornado watch and that we should definitely consider leaving.

LEAVING?!?! Wha...

But, but...we just set everything up, my perfectly padded bed was waiting for me to sleep on it, marshmallows were calling my name from the trunk of the car, we hadn't even seen the beautiful gorgeous lake that we had heard so much about.

My mind started working. Maybe we can tough it out. I mean, really how strong are 75 mph winds anyway?? I'm sure our trusty little tent could handle it - it wasn't even fluttering with the breezes as it was. And then we were told that last time they had to take shelter in the bathrooms, there were only 50 mph winds and these were expected to be at least 20 mph faster. Ummm yeah....that's all we needed to hear. Let's get the heck out of here!! We probably set a record for how fast we got everything packed in, rolled up and thrown back into the car before leaving a puff a dust in our wake as we shot out of the campground, followed by many others who also decided to make the same kind of getaway.

We made it back Knoxville as the rain came down, mind you, no winds were playing a part in the part of the storm that we saw, but we decided it was better to be safe than sorry and the radio stations were saying that there was a huge storm coming. We were so disappointed. We had spent a total of 4 hours at the campground.

So we decided to try it again the next weekend... (to be continued)