Oct
23
2009

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Epic Storm

by Tara

When the alarm went off this morning I could scarcely hear its persistent beeping over the noise outside. A train screamed by, shaking the ground beneath us, and the natural world seemed to be engaged in an epic battle between sea and sky.

7AM Oceanfront Storm 7AM Oceanfront Storm

Peeking our heads out of the tent, we sat and stared in awe at the storm raging just feet away, feeling like we were on the prow of a ship on doomsday at the edge of the known world. The water boiled violently below us, lightning pierced the sea in fiery illuminations, and the inky blue sky was alive with churning clouds.

7AM Oceanfront Storm 7AM Oceanfront Storm

We tried to take some pictures during a brief lull but quickly had to close up our tent when sheets of water began hurling down from the sky. Before we could even zip shut our little rain fly doors, our tent was soaked. Again!

Doing our best to ignore the feeling of wet nylon against bare skin and the sight of our damp tent littered with dirt, sand, and wet cracker crumbs, we pulled the sleeping bag over our heads and tried to go back to sleep. A few hours later when we peeked our heads out, we could see dark sheets of clouds blowing over and patches of blue sky beginning to appear. Time to pack up camp!

Tyler Drying the Tent

Everything dried out quickly but we decided that nearly a week of free-camping and several days of rain had earned us a night or two in a hotel.

Tyler Drying the Tent Tyler Drying the Tent

Less than a kilometer down the road was the Park Hotel. Upon inspecting the room (which consisted of us running around like kids, admiring the shower and the fridge, and then flopping face-first onto the GIANT BED) we decided to go for it and take a couple of days off. As the rain started again, we simply smiled and closed the shutters, leaving nature firmly outside.

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2 comments

This is how we used to dry out our tent! Your free camping spots are gorgeous, we are very jealous! They definitely beat what we were able to find on our tour (the tricycle graveyard, etc) :)
Posted by Sarah on October 25th, 2009 at 12:01 PM
Sarah, after you posted this comment we both laughed remembering the tricycle graveyard and then decided we wanted to re-read your journal from the beginning. It's even better now that we are actually on the road and can relate to all of your adventures! We love the post about searching for hobbits. :-) Hope Isaac is letting you get some sleep!
<3
T & T
Posted by Tara on October 27th, 2009 at 7:20 AM