Fleeing Camp

As I mentioned in the last post, the road to camp flooded and we became an island.

Because the road to camp was covered in 15 inches of water (at the shallowest point, deeper along the edges of the road), driving a car or truck through it is not possible. Two weeks ago, when we first heard about the flood, we parked the camp van about a mile away on the other side of the road. We’ve been walking through the water and up the mile long huge hill to use the van to go into town this week so we haven’t been completely stranded on this camp island.

When we left camp on Sunday, we all packed the least amount of stuff we needed for the week and loaded everything into a kayak, which we walked across the water and then loaded into the van. It took three trips.

Because I also have two fat bulldogs who are too short to walk through that much water and don’t float, they became the last kayak load. I was going to have them wear their life jackets, but it was INCREDIBLY hot outside and I didn’t want them to be any hotter than they already were. Also, the water was just barely over their heads, so I was pretty sure if they fell out, I could just pick them up.

Griffin looks excited, Olivia looks skeptical

Abby and I beginning the trek with the bullies

Almost all the way across

Several people were skeptical of my plan to kayak them across the road, but Olivia and Griffin adapt quickly. They were very calm the whole ride. Olivia looked annoyed and would have rolled her eyes if she could. She reminded me of a teenager who is completely embarrassed by her parents and offended she is being forced to do something so beneath her. She went along with it quietly and cooperated, but her eyes were saying, “I’m going to petition the court to emancipate me.”

Griffin was excited and he stood on the seat for most of the ride and looked around. I think I’m going to look for a captain’s hat for him. He reminded me of a little brother who is excited to be included and enthusiastic about the adventure.

It was a short ride and we got them to the other side without incident. It was unbearably hot while we did all of this and besides just being uncomfortable and sweaty, I was super anxious that the dogs would overheat, but they were fine.

The three hour van ride was another story. The camp van doesn’t have air conditioning. I though that wind blowing through the windows might be enough to keep it cool, but I was wrong. After about 30 minutes of anxious, distracted driving, I asked Abby to drive for me and I sat in the seat with the dogs. I continuously squirted water into their mouths while also hold a bag of ice all over Griffin’s overheated little body.

I have terrible motion sickness but had taken a pill as soon as I switched from driving, and while it helped, I was still carsick, kind of woozy from the medication and my shorts were soaking wet from the water, ice and slobber. And I was really worried about overheated bulldogs.

I think the ride was worst for me because Griffin and Olivia were fine and cooled down as soon as they got into the air-conditioned house. Crisis averted. Never a dull moment with bulldogs.