Camping In The Shades

This weekend I had the opportunity to go camping in Shades State Park in Indiana with several great folks, a couple who I just met this weekend.






If you've already read this post, and just want to see the pictures again, here is a full listing of pics, including ones not shown here.


Roll call, left to right:
Jean-Marie, the architect of this trip.
Jennifer
Erika
Charly
Kevin Iaweaqihaoibibaihb (referred to as Kevin I)
Holly (in front of Charly)
Kristin (eyes closed...nice)

Ben G and Peter will get called out later.

The camping trip was almost delayed until Saturday morning. After discussing things with Peter, we decided it would be exciting to see what camping is like in the rain, and thought chances were high that we would miss most of the weather anyway.

We set out around 5pm. The park is probably about 30 minutes from the Illinois border. We chased severe storms the entire way, but never caught up.





A tree in road forced us to find an alternate route. A guy who lived near by gave us some directions. He had a heavy, and I mean HEAVY, hillbilly accent. I was grateful for having and Indianian with me to translate, and give me confidence in our detour.

There was a slight drizzle when we got to the camp site, but that was about it. We setup the tent in the drizzle, but put off setting up the canopy since there was no sense putting it up when it probably wouldn't rain the next morning (right).

It rained hard all night long, which helped us to identify the leaky seams in the thin tarp covering the tent. I didn't think we had that much water in the tent, but I found out later there was plenty. It didn't bother me, but I think Peter's sleeping bag was in the pool area.

It rained hard most of the morning. So, in preparation for the rest of our campers, we setup the canopy when there were light breaks in the rain. All this rain made the campsite very muddy. Peter setup a canal in front of the tent to keep the flood waters away. You couldn't keep Peter out of the rain. He was a happy camper being soaked.



When I went to the gas station a few miles away, I heard that all county roads were being closed due to flooding and other hazards. So we headed out again to find a good route for the rest of the campers, but couldn't get through to the nearest town (which I had JUST been to an hour earlier) because of waters covering roads leading to it. By the time we found a state road route into town, the group was already at the camp site...sheesh.


While we were preparing for the other campers to arrive, a group who was giving up on camping for the weekend because of the rain offered us the remainder of their firewood for free. It was all that we needed for the rest of the weekend, what a surprising blessing!


The drizzle continued throughout the morning after everyone arrived. We had and extra tarp and put it to good use, after alot testing and implementation...


After setting up camp in a constant drizzle, we had a wonderful lunch prepared by Ben G. and some of the ladies. If you've never tried Ben's home made bread, you must ask for some (that auta keep you busy Ben)
After lunch, we headed out for our alternate activity. Originally, it was canoing and kayaking, but the rivers were closed. With that shot down, we decided to experience the hiking trails Shade's had to offer. We were told that they were just as good as nearby Turkey Run. They were.

Peter was pretty excited about hiking, so he got to plan the routes. Unfortunately, the very beginning of the very first route had some swampy conditions that our hikers in tennis shoes didn't want to work around for the entire hike. So, Pete found us an alternate route, and, off we went.


First obstacle - A huge tree, uprooted due to muddy soil conditions.


Second obstacle - a little bit of water, which Charly took GREAT pains to avoid.


Third obstacle - alota bit of water. Charly finally gave up trying to protect his toesies and helped carry the ladies over.

This is where the trail got cool. Most of the rest of the trail was up and down creeks. Eventually, no one cared about getting their feet soaked.


The trails were gorgeous.



Lots of neat little waterfalls and obstacles.


Wet feet and now, wet bottoms.



Peter..was...lovin' it.


I could definitely hear my parent's voices in the back of my head "get out of there, that's dangerious!"


Ya, it was. And Beautiful.



Dinner was fantastic, of course. Charly and KevinI enjoyed Man-Burgers. Kristin and Holly made up some hobo dinners.



Ooooo Ahhhh

Ben slept outside to take in the full experience. He was also guarding the women.


Most of the ladies got very little sleep due to the noise of nearby campers and a raccoon who rather enjoyed playing with our empty water bottles. We almost had a bit of a war going on apparently, as the women thought the water bottle noise was the boys being obnoxious.

In order to get back for several activities, Charly, Kevin I and I (yes, that's right) headed back early the next morning.


After we left, the rest of the campers attempted to check out the trails at Turkey Run, but they were completely shut down without electricity and most trails too flooded to hike. So it was back to Shades for one last hike.



Erika, I saw that!!