Orchard Beach State Park 7/6/08

It was supposed to be showers, but instead we had a truly impressive thunderstorm which turned night into day inside my tent over and over. I woke up and being the older lady that I am had to go the bathroom. Since I picked a campsite at the farthest end away from the shower house and entrance to cut down on the noise, I tried to wait until the rain stopped; except it didn't. It went on and on, so I put on my rain cape and decided to brave the elements. As soon as I stepped off my sleeping pad onto the floor of the tent, I knew there was trouble. It felt just like walking on a waterbed, which is essentially what it had become. When I unzipped my tent. I stepped out into water that was up to my ankles. After I came back from the restroom I spent the next little while pulling up tent stakes and moving my tent. There was just enough room left on my campsite to squeeze it right up against the road. I thought about moving it across the street directly across from my site, but since you're really not supposed to camp there and that particular bit of terrain was a little bowl shaped, I wasn't sure it would do any good. I couldn't sleep and spent about an hour mopping out my tent with a shop towel . Thank goodness I had the forethought to put all my dry stuff up on my chair, so none of my clean clothes were submerged. My sleeping bag only got a little wet so I fell asleep to the sound of water rushing through the campground like a brook. In the morning, the water had receded, but since the weather forecast called for more rain, I went to the campground office to see if I could change campsites. Since a few people had called it quits and left early, I figured it would work out. Some of the other campers were even more unlucky than me. They came out of their campers to find that they were no longer camped beside the lake, but were in the lake instead! The younger set of bike riders were having a blast riding down the flooded street sending up huge rooster tails of spray. I'm sure their parents were thrilled! LOL. After a trip to the laundromat and a great breakfast at Captain Dan's, I paid a visit to the Manistee Public Library to use the internet and check on the weather and look at google maps. With a full belly, all my clothes clean all was right with the world again. I love the way camping cuts everything back to the essentials; shelter, food, and clothing. Then the sun breaks out and it's back to the hedonistic joys of beach walking, swimming, hiking and enjoying the outdoors. There's nothing better! I love this place!