Lightning doesn't strike twice, I hope

As we pulled into our campsite at Verona Beach, there was yellow caution tape surrounding it and the sites on each side. What the hell? Was someone murdered? Nope. But someone coud've died, because as it turns out, two days before my arrival there was a wicked thunderstorm and a bolt of lightning struck a tree on the site, and they were cleaning it up. Holy shit! I was a bit uneasy, because there ain't much protection in a tent from falling trees. I was more uneasy about the fact that we had to get a new site, and with thunderstorms in the forecast, I would prefer the site that got struck two days ago. Lightning doesn't strike twice, right?

We set up camp 5 sites over, and hoped for good weather. About midnight of our first night there the first few drops of rain began to pitter patter on the tent. My tent's nice, mostly because I can stand up straight in it, but its not totally waterproof. Especially during a deluge. The rain poured down harder, and the rumble and crash of thunderstorms began to shake the sky. The storm was pretty heavy, but not very close because some time elapsed between the rumble and crash. But the rain got harder, and after awhile the began dripping in through the seams. I wasn't sleeping well, for obvious reasons. A puddle began forming near my head so I grabbed my towel and laid it below the drip and attempted to get some sleep before the alarm went off at 5:00am. Dan on the other hand, had a puddle forming near him too, but was sleeping on a foam egg crates which served as giant sponge. He got up and slept in the car, and I just rolled over.

We survived the storm and went out to our sites to do the surveys. It didn't rain but it was quite overcast all morning which wasn't very good news, because we had to dry our gear out. As we pulled up to our lakeside campsite, I noticed a stiff wind ripping off the lake. As we got closer, we noticed the tent had been blown over on its side. Sonufabitch! I just want to lay down and get some sleep. Grrrr. But first, we had to re-anchor the tent. This was no easy task. The wind was blowing straight off the lake at about 20 miles. The tent was like a kite. After a struggle, we got it anchored down, and I opened up the vents so the wind could blow straight through it. Time for bed, with nothin but blue sky's in the forecast. Good sleepin' weather.

I longed for home. I was excited because it was Ithaca Fest weekend, and my previous job never really allowed me to join in the festivities for the four years I have lived here. It's nice to have a more "normal" work schedule with weekends off. I have a life again and can see friends on the weekend. And I get to sleep in my own bed.