THE ZEN GYPSY GUIDE TO LIFE: camping . disasters

Here's something you experienced campers already know, but that I am just discovering: camping is a lot of freakin' hard work! And, you just might get killed doing it. Let me explain.

On my first night of camping near Asheville, North Carolina, I pulled into the French Broad River Campgrounds and set up my Tail Veil just a few feet from the river. All seemed perfect . . . the gentle breeze, the lulling sound of the river . . . the crane that settled just a few feet offshore and invited me to view it for almost an hour.

I sat and wrote and dozed and made some coffee. Totally cool.

Coffee Time on the French Broad River

Night came. After cooking a simple supper of soup and cornbread, and pretty tired from the day, I settled in and soon fell asleep. In the middle of the night I was startled awake by a huge "CRRRACCCCK" and awoke with flashlights dancing over my tent and people screaming, "Are you all right?" I crawled out, still half asleep. A huge tree limb had fallen, smashing the picnic table several feet from my tent in half.

The Tree Branch That Almost Took Me Out

Wow.

The next morning, I moved my campsite away from the tree, which still had a number of dead limbs on it, hence formulatingd ZEN GYPSY RULE #1 : Always scout the area, up down and all around, before you set up camp. Moving camp was a bit of a chore, as I was already a bit sleep-deprived. In the midst of setting up, a huge storm blew in. Nothing was battened down yet and there was much thunder and lightning. I jumped in the van and rode it out, but when I emerged, I saw that my entire tent had gotten soaked, including my sleeping bag.

Yikes!

Back to square one. I poured the water out of the tent, hung the sleeping bag on some bungee cords I stretched between a couple of trees, and once the tent was swabbed out completely, set everything back up. This time, I used a 20' x 24' tarp I had on board to completely surround the tent. It took me a few tries to get it right, and to gather rocks from the river to hold it down. I wasn't taking any chances this time, leading to ZEN GYPSY RULE #2: Always have a back-up plan and gear.

Half Completed Second Camp Set-up After the Storm

Just as I finished, another, even more violent storm swept through, but thankfully this time I stayed nice and dry. I had extra quilts and pillows on board, so I spent a very blissful night. As a reward for almost extinguishing my life, the campground gave me an extra day for free, which was much appreciated.

(Note: I have since ordered and used a new tent, one that doesn't leak!)

Clearly it was time for a glamping reward. The next day,I made a much-needed appointment in Asheville to get my hair cut before I moved on to the next leg of my journey. Pamela at Studio Chavarria did a fabulous job of cleaning me up and away I went, a bit traumatized, but now transformed (in a number of ways). But alas, I was a Camping Virgin no more.