TigerPaw
Observer
Wouldn't call this an expedition by any stretch of the imagination, but it was definitely an adventure. My daughter, afriend of mine, and I took off down to Big Cypress for a four day weekend this past Friday. We knew the weather was going to turn a bit chilly, but this was fine with us since we would rather it be cooler since we're in a tent.
Friday late afternoon we set up camp and then spent Saturday exploring the park and taking pictures. There was a cold front moving in Saturday night and it brought with it some unexpected gusts, tornado warnings, and heavy rains. When we returned to camp Saturday evening, my tarp was 10 feet from my tent in a crumpled mess and my friend's canopy was in the woods behind her tent. I proceeded to roll my tarp back up and put it in the tent while she moved her canopy back over the top of her tent. I won't bother mentioning the condition of the screen room. :yikes: I then discovered that my tent, which is normally dome-shaped, now resembled something close to Half Dome. Come to find out, one of the shock poles had snapped in two places and would require some splinting. I can't say enough about duct tape and rubber hose. Absolute miracles they were in keeping my tent up for the rest of the weekend since the heavy winds didn't let up until Monday morning. My friend's tent ended up leaking quite a bit and she slept in the cab of her truck whereas my tent leaked a slight bit because the wind was blowing rain up under the rainfly and through the zipper on the door.
Overall, it was an awesome trip and a beautiful park. There's plenty of things to do that are offered at no charge by the park service. I'll definitely go back as often as I can. The camp host for Midway camping area, where we stayed, was such a great guy. He was retired military and he made sure to check on us often and even helped me fix the tent Saturday night. We were pretty much they only tenters there this past weekend and the snowbirds couldn't believe three girls toughed it out for the whole weeknd in tents while they were safe and comfortable in their big RV's. They just don't understand that this is what we live for. Being comfortable without the excess luxuries. I believe it's called "simplicity." A tent, a stove, and a campfire and I'm in heaven. :1888fbbd:
Friday late afternoon we set up camp and then spent Saturday exploring the park and taking pictures. There was a cold front moving in Saturday night and it brought with it some unexpected gusts, tornado warnings, and heavy rains. When we returned to camp Saturday evening, my tarp was 10 feet from my tent in a crumpled mess and my friend's canopy was in the woods behind her tent. I proceeded to roll my tarp back up and put it in the tent while she moved her canopy back over the top of her tent. I won't bother mentioning the condition of the screen room. :yikes: I then discovered that my tent, which is normally dome-shaped, now resembled something close to Half Dome. Come to find out, one of the shock poles had snapped in two places and would require some splinting. I can't say enough about duct tape and rubber hose. Absolute miracles they were in keeping my tent up for the rest of the weekend since the heavy winds didn't let up until Monday morning. My friend's tent ended up leaking quite a bit and she slept in the cab of her truck whereas my tent leaked a slight bit because the wind was blowing rain up under the rainfly and through the zipper on the door.
Overall, it was an awesome trip and a beautiful park. There's plenty of things to do that are offered at no charge by the park service. I'll definitely go back as often as I can. The camp host for Midway camping area, where we stayed, was such a great guy. He was retired military and he made sure to check on us often and even helped me fix the tent Saturday night. We were pretty much they only tenters there this past weekend and the snowbirds couldn't believe three girls toughed it out for the whole weeknd in tents while they were safe and comfortable in their big RV's. They just don't understand that this is what we live for. Being comfortable without the excess luxuries. I believe it's called "simplicity." A tent, a stove, and a campfire and I'm in heaven. :1888fbbd:
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