The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Well we got home from camping yesterday and I'm feeling quite tired today.

Mostly, we had a lot of fun.

But there were some very miserable parts of camping this time.

We left on Sunday and drove in the rain. I was quite worried that we would be setting up in the rain, but the sunshine appeared right about the time that we arrived in the park. What a blessing!

Early Monday morning, the rain began.

Ugh. I hate the rain. Especially when it causes our old tent to leak.

We didn't know that it would leak.

We woke up at 6 am to a soggy floor and everything feeling damp. Certainly not a great start to our day, or to our camping experience.

John and I debated what to do about the wet tent over breakfast and finally decided to make the 1-hour drive to Yorkton to buy a new tent.

Buying a new tent certainly was not in our camping budget, but it was either that or pack up in the rain and go home. Ugh.

So we drove there and bought a new tent. Then we spent another hour driving back.

It rained/poured the entire time. When we returned it was pouring so we just made some sandwiches and ate them in the screen house.

Did I mention that the screen house was also leaking from the roof?

Monday was NOT a fun day. Everything was wet or damp and we didn't have a dry place, except for the van. So after lunch we went for a drive around the park.

The girls actually slept for a brief time while we drove around. At least this helped to perk them up. The rain slowed down to a slight mist and we quickly set up the new tent.

It is awesome! It's a 10-person tent, but really it sleeps 4 people just comfortably. It even has a little "pet den", which works great for luggage! And there are 3 doors, 2 little ones and a main door. We love it. It is dry and big.

Did I also mention that our trip to the laundromat to dry some sleeping bags and clothes resulted in John losing the zipper on his sleeping bag? Monday was definitely NOT a good day!

Tuesday and Wednesday were much better days! Although there were lots of clouds and sometimes rain, we were able to get out and go on some hikes, play at the park, go to the beach.

Actually on Tuesday afternoon, there was a great patch of blue sky. We quickly decided to change into bathing suits and pack up the sand toys and drive to the big beach, about a 10-minute drive away. We got about halfway there and saw some large dark clouds rolling in quite quickly, but we were being quite hopeful and decided to keep going. So we parked and walked down the big hill to the beach. Literally we had one foot on the sand when the sky started to pour again. We were all soaked by the time we got to the van, and Ella was in tears. She wanted to play on the playground and was quite devastated that we left before she could do anything.

So we went back to the tent, changed into some dry clothes and bought the girls some ice cream. We are not above consoling our kids with food. Especially after our previous day. How awful!


Later on the sky cleared up enough to play at the beach, but we had left our suits in the tent. So we just played in our clothes.

Anyways, the rest of the trip was a lot of fun. We ended up being really close by to 2 other RCMP members, one of which John knew from his very first PARE (Physical Abilities Requirement Evaluation) and from the training Depot in Regina. He also recognized another member on the beach. So apparently Madge Lake is also RCMP lake?!? Strange!

We ate lots of great food, our favorite being the homemade pizza pockets that you cook in the pie irons with Pillsbury bread dough. Those were delicious! We are definitely making those every time.


Just a few hours after we returned home, there was a large hail storm here. The pieces were about the size of a small marble. There was also a tornado that destroyed a farm house not too far away. We are very fortunate to be safe and dry, and my little garden isn't completed ruined. My cucumbers and corn may be gone, but at least we are okay. What would we have done with hail if we were still tenting?

So thus ends the saga of our trip. Sorry for the length. I hope you stuck it out with me!