There was no denying, camping would be served. He also insisted we sleep in the tent and not the car. "It's waterproof."
"Evan, the fly keeps the rain out (or at least did 20 years ago when last used) but the bottom will still get wet."
"No, it's water proof." What did I have left to say?
While originally planned to be a motorcycle trip, the weather moved us to the car. Not all bad as it allowed for MUCH more gear.
Setting up in a drizzle, we each got a photo op.
Not too bad a camp site, considering ...
Time to head down and do some fishing - in the rain. The Apple River Canyon is a great area with great scenery for the flat lands of Illinois.
They stock it each Spring with Rainbow Trout! Nowhere else I know around here for that. Evan pulled one out pretty quickly. Beautiful fish. I wasn't ready with the camera, so we threw him back without a pic. I got one out of the water too. Evan went to catch a few more small mouth. The only picture I got of of this tiny one. We sent him back to get bigger.
After a while we headed back up for some lunch - in the rain. Evan got to cook some dogs. And ate under the tarp - in the rain.
We went back down to do some more fishing - in the rain. We found a big rock out in the river to stand on.
As I was taking the picture above, I heard a VERY loud crashing. I looked up and saw a tree falling off the cliff at least 100 feet above him! I yelled, "RUN!" and saw him jump off the rock and skip across the water in only two strides. I turned back quickly and shot this while the tree was falling. Notice the edge of the rock he was standing on in the picture.
Needless to say, we were both a little shaken afterward.
Soon after, a friend of mine came with his son. After retelling his story, they went right back to the same rock to fish some more - in the rain.
Well, the constant rain turned into a big downpour. As we couldn't all fit under the tarp, we found a picnic shelter area for dinner. It even had lights.
Then the unthinkable happened. The rain stopped. We headed back up to the campsite and enjoyed s'mores and stories by the fire watching a star filled sky over head. Next thing we knew, it was midnight and time for bed. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the fire, our circle, or the stars.
While I tried to encourage him to sleep in the car, Evan insisted the tent was "waterproof." Somehow, he was right. With all that rain and deluge, the tent remained dry. He slept while I rolled around all night, but we were, in fact dry. Morning brought breakfast and pack up. He loved the trip, but was sad it couldn't last another day - especially now that it was NOT raining. For lack of camping experience, Evan turned out to be a great camper who never complained about the weather or anything else.
