Last year, Erin and I went up to Gatlinburg with Alex and Siobhan. It was fun, but we felt like that was a bit much and opted for something seemingly easier this year. We got together with Daniel, Erin's friend Mary, and a Malleteer called Bradey that lived with Daniel for some time after I left Tuscaloosa. We planned to go camping. After a lot of talk, we picked Cheeha State Park. Erin and I usually do Oak Mountain because getting there and back isn't a big production (especially when we lived down town instead of the boondocks) but we took Daniel's word that it was great camping.
Erin and I both worked a half day on the 31st so we could go home, pack, take the dogs to my parents
1, and meet everyone at the Food World in Trussville to get supplies. Erin did most of the shopping. She's really good at campfire food, though most people who tent camp look at her funny when she starts buying things. Meanwhile, Brady grabbed a bunch of eclectic things like grapes, french bread, ham, and a block of cheese. He felt he had enough for two nights. We, on the other hand, had a bit of a feast with hot dogs, chicken and buns, and the makings of kabobs.
Eventually, we finished up and made the long drive to Oxford / Anniston and up to Cheeha. It was
getting dark when we finally made it. We paid for the camping and set out to find a nice spot. What we paid for was semi-primitive. That meant we could camp anywhere designated except the camper camp grounds without paying extra. We opted to camp in the picnic-cum-camping area near the observation tower at the highest point in Alabama. Through some trees, we had a nice view of the surrounding towns. There was a light breeze and it was starting to get cold as the light faded.
Brady took up wood detail while Daniel and I scurried to put up tents. Daniel and Brady both had reasonably sized tents. After the first time we tented at Oak Mountain, Erin and I decided we wanted something bigger. We ended up with a 10 person tent that you can stand up in without hitting your head. This usually works great because we sleep on an air mattress. Once, I put up some protest about not sleeping on the ground like I felt we ought to, but I changed my tune after sleeping on it. So, we have a gargantuan tent. We got about half way through ours when Daniel decided he'd start on his. Brady had a good fire going at this point and started working on his tent. After Erin and I finished our tent, we did some odd set up things and helped with the setting of other tents. We got everything up and running before it got too dark.
We broke out the hot dogs and vodka and did what ought to be done while camping: get drunk, eat, and have fun. As the night progressed, the wind picked up a little and it got a lot colder. With the wind, I couldn't keep my hands out of my gloves very long before they started to ache. We threw the last log we brought on the fire around 10:30. Thankfully, Mary also brought some really great hand warmers that lasted well over 8 hours. Around 11:00, we couldn't take the outside anymore. So, we moved into our tent around the electric heaters that were doing very little to keep our tent warm. We were, at least, out of the wind, which helped a little. Not long after, we all decided to call it a night. Sleep came quick.
Around 3 AM, I woke to the sound of the wind wildly whipping at my tent. It reminded me of the part in
The Blair Witch Project where someone was beating on the girl's tent. I managed to ignore it and go back to sleep. Around 4 AM, I woke to see the top back corner, farthest from where we were sleeping had caved in. It was taking the brunt of the wind. I accepted that there was a problem and that it had seemed to stabilize in that odd position and went back to sleep. Around 5:30 AM, I woke to see that the top back corner closest to where we were sleeping had also caved. I didn't want to get out of the warm blankets, so I stayed there until I could no longer handle the sound of the whipping tent. I got up to take a look.
Somehow the corner posts had twisted in such a way that they allowed the corner inserts to flip upside down. I thought if I could tie off the rain guard, which velcros onto the main posts, it would help keep it from breaking. I took off my gloves and tried to wrap the string around a nearby tree. After 30 seconds of trying, I couldn't feel my fingers and I couldn't get the string to reach. So, I gave up and decided we'd just ride the storm out. Surely the wind would die down once the sun rose.
I managed to sleep until 8:30. When I decided to crawl out of bed, the wind was still going strong and the sun had done nothing to warm the air. This put me in a terrible mood. The
tent was falling in, the wind wouldn't let up long enough to do anything about it, and I couldn't feel my chin. I got in the car, picked up Erin at the bathrooms, and drove around to look at the other primitive area and check out the camp ground. Since both weren't on the top of the mountain and had quite a bit more tree cover, the wind was minimal. Both would have been livable. By the time we got back to our tent, though, I was completely demoralized.
Erin and I presented our options: Either we move to a different area or we leave. If we leave, we can go to the lake house (loosely nicknamed TTR, or Trailer Trash Resort) or go back to our house. Everyone agreed that we weren't staying there. So, we broke down camp. By the time we did that, we were mostly voting to leave.
Brady, Daniel, and I walked into the observation tower and wished we had tried to stay there. After some jovial discussion, we decided to go to Crackle Barrel, then head to TTR. We departed at once.
We went to visit Dan, another Malletteer that lives in Anniston near where we bought Ajax, for a few minutes. Then, after several hours of driving, we arrived at TTR. After I got the water turned on and everything set up, we did what ought to be done at a lake house: get drunk, eat, and have fun. It turned out that everyone's different tastes in food worked well. Mary had some food we weren't aware of and Brady's food got some good use. It was very much a Stone Soup situation where we all pitched in what we had for the benefit of all.
Due to the lack of good sleep, Erin and I crashed out really early. When I finally woke up, it was clear that our absence didn't put a dent in the party. Brady was already up doing dishes. So, we did some more of what we had been doing.
By 4:00, Erin was pushing to clean up. So, we cleaned up the house, and got ready to leave. Just before dark, we headed home, bringing a close to a memorable year and welcoming in the new one.
1 While we were there, we also got some firewood from my dad. Of course, he was concerned about the cold and gave us a heavy duty 100 ft extension cord and two electric heaters. Like he does when I'm running late, he wanted to talk about them for awhile. I decided to openly accept them, as trying to deny them would end up in a long conversation and ultimately accepting his offer, anyway. Turns out they were of little use, but it was nice to get close to them and warm up. I also appreciated the firewood, but unfortunately got way too little despite the fact that I thought I got way too much.
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