So - we headed out Friday night for a weekend at the Oregon coast. We knew it would rain - but then what's new in this state? Like it doesn't ever anyways. Sure there's a few weeks in the summer but by and large.....wet. Rainforest - at least this side of the mountains. Completely different story once you cross the volcanic Cascades.
Anyways, so while thanking my father in law for the space heater via text before settling in for the night - he texts me back that there's a storm warning for where we're at - central Oregon coast.
I get on the web on my phone - and sure enough - winds to 75mph and a tide surge of 30 feet.
Lovely.
My tent is a family tent. It sleeps quite a few people - unless you have kids - then it only sleeps four because they need all the room in the world. Anyways - it's not meant for high winds. I've snapped a pole on it before when we were up at Emmigrant Springs in the Blue Mountains once. At least I think it was up there.
Fine - wind - whatever. Could find ourselves sleeping in a tarp with poles rather than a tent set up in the morning if it collapses on us. But the RAIN. I'm used to Oregon. We get rain. The rain I've experienced around the world - only one place have I seen it worse - EVER. So last night it's a DELUGE. And we can't handle a torrential downpour with a collapsed tent.
We were camped out in a canyon - winds out of the southwest - Semi Old Growth forest with some extensive root systems and the soil was pretty solid and drained pretty well - so I wasn't worried about things falling on me - though that's happened around me before. But we wouldn't be able to handle a high wind storm with the kids and my wife if they were getting soaked.
We did do some pretty intense camping stuff in the rain before bedtime however - I showed the kids how to improvise a poncho and even put them to work because we were SOAKED and I knew it would keep them warm. It wasn't too cold - about 54F with the barometer at 29.44"Hg - and I knew it would probably get worse, though my son did a good job of toughing it out.
So I made a mental note to be prepared to Abandon-Tent! in the middle of the night if needs be and be able to load Jen up in the van with the kids.
I said a prayer to Heavenly Father to spare us a storm for all the reasons listed above. Up until that point the wind was kicking up pretty bad - but then - it stopped......around us anyways. I could hear it above me and a few hundred feet away from me - but it didn't hit us too bad - though the rain was POURING.
Me - Mr. Eagle Scout - am used to rain in tents. I know they leak - yadda yadda - but every drip was a concern to my wife. I informed her in my Expert-Eagle-Scout-Camper-Wisdom that tents leak a bit usually and like cars need to be maintained and so what ours was doing was normal but also in the rain you move your stuff in from the walls and pull your lines out and dig your drainage trenches around the tent.
At any rate - the storm - kept me up all night waiting for having to move the wife and kids. I did hear something pretty big and metal get blown down somewhere near the ranger station - but all our stuff was intact in the morning! Kids were warm. I was exhausted.
So anyways - went out to the beach then - NOT ON IT - are you kidding? A thirty foot surge? Yah......so stood under one of the classic architecture bridges with the arches that are so common in Oregon up maybe about 10 feet above the beach and watched the storm surge come in and got to show my son what a sneaker wave was - meanwhile there was a single seal that I couldn't quite figure out what it was doing in the storm near the shore - loping about.
It was pretty intense.
The storm headed inland - and guess where I am now? Inland....with the same stupid storm pouring on us.
Anyways - at least home is warm.
Will post a few pictures I took on the coast as soon as I am able but for now - I smell like smoke - my clothes are soaked - I'm exhausted and glad I don't have to be to work early in the morning!
