Sarah and I planned a camping trip a little over 3 months ago for a few days and as the time approached, one of her grandma's health started to slip away. As the trip got closer, her health got worse. Sarah spent as much time as she could with grandma, and I as well when I could get away from work in the evenings. We talked it over with Nicholas and her parents, and we agreed we should still go.
I got everything packed up Sunday night after a family gathering at the nursing home; sorta of Christmas with grandma. We had food, cake, etc. Those that were up to it would go sit with grandma and talk, share stories, those sorts of things. At that point, grandma hadn't eaten in over 6 days, no liquids in 3 and she wasn't able to speak or open her eyes anymore. When she last spoke, she said she was ready. It really was time and we knew that there wasn't much more we could do. Sarah spent a lot of time talking to her when she visited and grandma knew, at the time, we were looking forward to camping. I think she would have forced us to go if she could :)
We arrived mid afternoon on Monday at Port Crescent State Park (on Lake Huron in the thumb) to a pretty strong windstorm, little did we know, we would have welcomed that weather. As you can see to the left, had to park the truck behind the tent to act as a wind block. The wind was strong enough to compress and turn inward the poles. So instead of a dome look, it had more of a sideways S going on. The wind died down a few hours later and we got to enjoy a very pretty sunset.
The next day we had rain, but no wind, roll in after breakfast so set up the canopy and got the fire going. Moved the truck away from the tent so it would be easier to pack in the night as we would take camp down before going to bed. It rained pretty hard but by 2pm or so, it was over. Still cloudy, but no more rain. Got a late lunch going, campfire pizzas, and enjoyed a very filling lunch.
After lunch and a good stoking of the fire, it was baseball time. Tigers were in a 1 game tie-breaker to get into the playoffs. I called mom to make sure she remember it was a 5pm start and Sarah and I sat under the canopy next to the fire...peanuts and drinks in our hands. We lost radio reception around 8pm or so, same time some light rain started as well as hear (on the AM station) lighting between us and the radio station. We ate a light dinner, chili leftover from the night before. Finished a few more cocktails and got a roaring fire going. Waited for mom to call again with the final Tiger score; as I called back shortly after losing reception to get a score update, and then packed up all the outside gear/ready to go in the morning. The rain didn't last long, spitted every now and then. But no biggy; tent stays nice and dry.
Well, around 2am the wind started to pick up. Then around 3am it really picked up and the sideways S had returned. I wasn't about to get up and move the truck/tent pegs/etc so we hunkered down as best as we could. Then around 5am the wind REALLY picked up. Wasn't able to use our arms to keep our tent off of us to sleep so we did the easy thing, did a 180 and tried to enjoy a few more hours of sleep. Ha! Around 6:50am, the wind REALLY REALLY picked up. The tent was now flat. Still all together, still staked down. Still in one piece. But the wind was so strong it flattened the tent to the ground...couldn't hold it away from us and didn't want to suffocate. Guess it was time to get up and pack up. With only a tent and sleeping bags, it took us over an hour to do it because of the wind. Holy f'n crap it was strong. Easily 3-5 footers on Lake Huron. Sand was being blown over the road and started to accumulate; limbs, branches, etc all over the place; and here we are trying to fight with a tent (now a sail) and to just stuff the crap into the truck and get out of there. We got on the road a little after 8am.
Sarah called dad to get an update once we got back into town; just into Sterling Heights. He and mom were headed to the nursing home and Sarah would do the same after a shower and change of clothes. We finished unpacking and sat down to rest for a few and noticed we had voice-mail; grandma passed while we were unloading the truck.
For photos of our site and sunset, click
here!
It All Burns rocked The Temple Saturday night. I've added a new section to the site that will include photos and concert information as well as links to their official site(s) as they come on-line. Look for the direct page link on the right.
The last game of the regular season that Sarah and I attended (even though the game ended being postponed because of rain) was the 25th Anniversary Reunion of the 1984 Tiger Team. It was a pretty dark and rain evening but most everyone was there 'cept those that have died over the years (Lopez) and a couple that don't travel (Whitaker and Lemon) and a couple that had other obligations with their coaching gigs at other MLB teams (Kuntz and HoJo).
