Sunday, June 15, 2008

day at Doe River Gorge

Yesterday our church had an event (sponsored by and a yearly tradition for our parent church) at a Christian camp in Elizabethton, TN called Doe River Gorge. Check out www.doerivergorge.com to learn more about the camps. It is an outdoor-adventure oriented camp, with a zip line, a ropes course, kayaking, mountain biking, etc. being offered activities. For the annual church event, there is a baptism service, followed by a picnic lunch and swimming in the lake and such. Sarah (who loves splashing around in the water) was very excited about the day. Nelson was looking forward to a game of paintball on the field available there. And I was planning to enjoy the beautiful scenery (check this out! It's truly a testament to the glory of God's creation! http://www.doerivergorge.com/property.php), a bit of swimming, and a nice train ride (http://www.doerivergorge.com/railroad/railroad.php).

But our plans went rather awry...or perhaps I should say awash. After days and days of relentlessly hot, humid, and sunny weather, naturally Murphy's Law chose yesterday to strike. Yes...it rained. Poured. Torrentially flooded. :-p It started out not being too bad. It rained during lunch, but we stayed under a tent to eat, and the rain let up a bit. Sarah and I headed to the lake, and Nelson set off for the paintball field. For about 20 minutes, Sarah had a terrific time in the water. It started to sprinkle a bit though, and then she got cold. So out of the lake we went, and I put her clothes back on her. We decided to ride the train while waiting for Nelson's paintball game to end. But alas, while we were on the train, the rain began in earnest. Sarah was now truly miserable. We sat under a canopy, with Sarah on my lap huddled in a towel. "Mommy, I'm cold," she whimpered. "I want my daddy. I want to go home!"

Unfortunately, I had no way to get in touch with Nelson. And the paintball field was a good hike away--not something I really wanted to take on when Sarah was already wet and miserable. So we sat and we waited. Sarah did eventually warm up a bit, making her more cheerful. But she still begged for her daddy to come and take us home. Since the rain had let up a bit, I set off to find a camp worker who could tell me where the paintball field was...and when the game might be over. I was assured that it would not be more than a few minutes.

"A few minutes" is a subjective phrase in the best of circumstances. With chilly rain coming down in sheets and a 3-year-old girl desperately wanting her daddy, a few minutes feels like days. And unfortunately, due to rain delays, the paintball game did not end exactly when projected. You can imagine how much Sarah liked that!

Nelson did come back as quickly as he could after the game was over. By now the rain had created puddles of mud swirling on the ground, and all three of us were soaked through. Sarah and I huddled under an awning while Nelson sprinted to the car to drive it up to us. We blasted the heat (even though it is June!) and stopped for a hot cup of Starbucks on the way home. After a few minutes of dry clothes, everyone felt better.

And of course today the weather has returned to its previous hot, humid, and sunny state. :-p Go figure.

Sarah has a play date at the swimming pool Tuesday. We are all hoping the weather chooses to cooperate that day! :-p

1 comment:

Tara said...

Oh, that's such a bummer!! When we lived in CA, we had a running joke that it ALWAYS rained the day you planned on going to the beach! Always!! If you wanted a great beach day, you needed to see how sunny and warm it was when you got up for work in the middle of the week, call in sick, then hit the beach. :-)

I really hope Tuesday turns out much better!! The Doe River Gorge looks really pretty...