A couple of months ago four friends of mine and I got together over some burgers to plan our annual camping trip. The two night trip was to be made to one of the barrier islands and was to occur regardless of weather conditions with the exception of heavy rain then the trip would be canceled. Plans included a skeet shoot competition, a turkey shoot, a 22 rifle target shooting competition, and plenty of hot food and cold beer for story telling by the fire.
As the weekend approached for the trip temperatures dropped and winds picked up. I could not believe it, excuses started flying, “my wife needs me to stay home,” “I have had some unexpected work come up,” “I have to go to a Prince concert with my wife?!?,” what a bunch of wimps! When the dust had settled it ended up being Joe Crosby and I as the only crew members to make the trip.
We loaded Joe’s boat on Friday afternoon with about 200 pounds of gear and headed out to the island for a fun and relaxing weekend. With temperatures in the upper forties the boat ride out was a little chilly, but we had enough gear to stay warm. We set camp that afternoon and had our target shooting competition. That evening as the temperatures dropped to the low thirties we build a nice camp fire, enjoyed some home made beef stew and told stories. Saturday was pleasant with temperatures in the mid fifties. We spent the morning making a huge egg and bacon breakfast and gathering more fire wood, in the afternoon we had our skeet shoot and turkey shoot and enjoying chili for lunch and venison spaghetti for dinner. Take note that good hot food is key for a fun camping trip in the winter!
Temperatures dropped Saturday evening and the wind was starting to pick up around bed time. We crawled into the tent around 10 pm and I slept comfortably till about 2 am, when I awoke to what sounded like a jet flying low over head. I waited for the jet to pass, but it never did. What was that consistent rumbling outside? I finally realized it was the wind! I tried to go back to sleep but all I