Lake Texoma

Several weeks ago, Jeff and I went on our first camping trip of the year!  It was a short trip - we left on Friday around noon and got back about the same time on Saturday.  We went up to Lake Texoma, which straddles the Texas-Oklahoma border.  It was also probably the shortest hike in to a campsite we've done so far, only about half a mile, but we found a great camping spot (or so we thought) and didn't want to pass it up.

Friday was just a gorgeous day!  It was warm enough to hike and walk around in shorts and a tshirt.  After going up and down several steep hills, we found a path along the drop-off that led down to the lake shore.  There was a rocky surface that was relatively flat - perfect for the tent! - which dropped off as well.  It was roughly 30 feet from the edge of the water.  We had a great view of the lake, and it was quite, and far enough off the path that we wouldn't be bothered by other people.  In fact, many people didn't even see us down there, we gave them a fright when we yelled hi...  We set up the tent and then Jeff began collecting firewood while I blew up the camping pads.

Jeff, of course, loves his camping saw.  After an hour or so, we had a pretty good pile of firewood, so we grabbed the hammock and took a little nap.  Definitely scared some runners from the hammock - we were apparently well camouflaged.  As the sun was setting, we got a fire going and enjoyed a nice hot meal while watching the sun set.

working on the firewood

we love our Eno double nest - perfect for napping by the lake :)

surprise!

Now, when we were getting ready to go to sleep, I started to hear some noises.  Coyotes, apparently.  That freaked me out a little since it was the first time I could hear larger wild animals being somewhat close by.  Nothing happened with that, but I did feel pretty vulnerable, having nothing but a measly tent separating me from the coyotes.

The real issue became apparent around 2:30 am.  This is when the wind all of a sudden picked up.  Not a breeze, but 15-20 mph gusts, right off the lake.  Since we were on the shore, we had no protection from the wind.  (Next time, we're back in the woods.)  The noise didn't bother us much, but the huge drop in temperature did.  We had checked the weather before we left - it was supposed to get down to the high 40s.  Well, at 3am, it was 40, with the wind chill making it more like 30.  It felt every bit of below freezing.  Our bags are rated for 30 degrees, but neither of us could get warm.  I had long johns on, and put on sweats on top of that - no joy.  There wasn't much sleep to be had from that point on.  The wind didn't die down either, it was still freezing the snot out of our noses as we rushed to start a fire and eat some oatmeal and pack up camp.  We decided not to stick around since we were miserably cold and rain was moving in.  I couldn't feel my fingers or my hands again until about 15 minutes into the car ride home.

the wind blew the fire sideways all morning... it was pretty miserable out

dinosaur eggs for breakfast!!!!! haven't had these since I was reaaaaaally young...

Even with the rough night/morning, it still was a fun trip for us, and we were glad to get a chance to break out the camping gear and spend some one on one time together.