Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Nights 320 and 321

Hi and welcome back!

Saturday night: 49 degrees
Sunday morning: 51 degrees
Sunday night: 59 degrees
Monday morning: 49 degrees
Radar at 1:00 a.m. Monday Morning
with Storms to the West

On Sunday afternoon I was putting the footprint under the L.L. Bean tent, and I realized that I could do a fly/pole/footprint only pitch.  That's where you pitch the tent with everything but the tent body itself.

When I was putting it up, I realized that the front vestibule was part of the tent body, and that left a hole with no door to close the fly.  I pitched it facing east, because the wind almost always comes from the west, so I didn't think it would be a problem.

Around 2:30 a.m. I woke up to find that it was pouring and windy.  Not only that, but there was some wind from the east blowing rain in on me.

About five minutes later my dad came out to check on me, and he asked how long I'd been awake.  I said just a few minutes.  He said that around 1:00 a storm had passed over, but I must have slept through it.

Right around then it started getting REALLY windy.  Dad came into the tent to get out of the rain, and the wind pushed one wall of the fly in on us.  The poles started to pull out of the velcro loops that held them to the fly, and because the conditions were so bad, dad went in to get a sleeping bag to stay with me.

When he got back, we were trying to hold the tent up, when one of the poles snapped and ripped through the fly.  I couldn't believe it, because those poles were really fat.  I thought they would be stronger.

There was nothing else to do then but cover ourselves with the fly and try to stay dry.  Not too long after, the heavy rain and wind stopped and it was just a steady, light rain.  After awhile it started to get muggy under the fly, so we opened the back vestibule zipper and stuck our heads outside.

When we got too wet, we decided to go back under the fly.  We were under there for awhile when I started getting sick to my stomach.  That's when I realized that the fly didn't breathe at all, and there were no vents.  I felt sick enough that I decided to sleep with my head outside the fly, even if I got wet.  I slept on and off until almost 5:00, then I went inside to get ready for school.

Thanks to the L.L. Bean guarantee, I was pretty sure that they would replace the tent for free. I know their guarantee is very good, so I wasn't worried.  More on that later!

Thanks for reading!


6 comments:

  1. You got more gumsion that me young fella. I would have pulled the pin and gone inside. Good on you for sticking it out. Not long to go now.

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    1. Thanks, Hunsta! It was a really fun adventure sleeping out that night. If nothing happens, there's nothing to tell you about!

      When we were posting tonight there was one person on the blog from Australia. Dad and I thought it was probably you!

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  2. LRC, I can't wait to hear about your first night sleeping in the HOUSE! I think you're going to find it pretty strange.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Mark! It's good to hear from you again. I think it will be hard for me to fall asleep in bed. One of the reasons I started sleeping out was I think it's easier to sleep outside than inside. We'll see.

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  3. Every now and then I get the urge to toss my bag out onto the back deck. I love sleeping in a bag out under the stars!

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