Four days in the woods. No electricity. No wifi. No data signal; thus, no internet. Torrential rain. Lightning storm. Flash flooding. A single mom with three daughters.
No problem, right?
The 'outdoor survival challenge' went smoother in my head. I suppose most things in life do. I imagined we would arrive at a sunny clearing, pitch our tent, and play euchre at the new table I bought for the event. At night, we'd roast marshmallows over the fire we'd start just by glaring at it.
Okay, that was something author, J.C. Paulson said about my rugged Highlander, Ferghus MacLeod. We might have to work a little harder at it than he did, but not much. It would be a little chilly at night, but we would come prepared.
In short, we would have four days of isolated bliss to clear our minds and return to city life recharged. #relaxandunwind
Queue perfect storm.
No wait, that's jumping too far ahead. Ahem. Maybe we should discuss how we got into this mess in the first place. No, wait. Even that's a tad too far into the muck.
Queue perfect storm.
Wait a minute, J.G. Hold your horses! Sigh. My three daughters listened to my suggestion to wander off into the wilderness and do our best to survive for four days sans electricity. I did this all the time as a kid. My parents couldn't afford lavish trips or fancy hotels, so we camped our way around Canada and the United States. I have skills no one's ever seen before. Well, I used to. I hoped they would reappear when I was with my children in the middle of nowhere.
We agreed on four days. We chose the dates. We went shopping for supplies. We discussed survival skills. It was all set. We were set.
But nature had other plans. Hurricane Beryl, for one. Yes, even in Canada we feel the effects of tropical storms miles away. Beryl brought strong winds, heavy rain, and thunderstorms. We also had a heat wave the day we left for our trip. #applydeodorant
That didn't stop us. If Brigid could survive outdoors, we could, too! We loaded the van on Monday morning and set off, arriving at our destination an hour after the rain stopped. We immediately set to work, having the gloomy sky as a clear warning that nature would soon bring another deluge. The first spot we found was so muddy, my van almost got stuck. There was an ominous vibe about the rocky, loose soil, the damp puddles, and the sloping ground. My eldest daughter had a physical reaction to it, exclaiming that we could not stay there. There was fear in her voice. We pulled away and searched for a better location.
We found a cheerful clearing that was mostly grass, a combination of sun and shade, flat terrain, and no pools of water. Everyone agreed that was where we should camp.
The heat wave made the work arduous, but my daughters never gave up until the clearing had been turned into a campsite.
In my novel, The Past Love, when Brigid finally comes face-to-face with the villainous Tristen, there is a scene in which she watches him, Ferghus, and another MacDonald turn a clearing into a campsite in minutes; it took us a couple of hours to set up a tent, a canopy, a table, a portable toilet, a wash station, a seating area, and inflate four mattresses and start a fire so we could cook dinner before the rain began.
I won't apologize; if a kilted hunk doesn't emerge from the trees to assist, two hours is pretty darn good! We even had a few marshmallows before the first drops of rain fell. #herecomestherainagain
We retreated to our tent early, played a game of cards, and fell asleep before ten. It rained all night, albeit gently. The next morning, the ground was soggy in patches, and it remained grey, but we made a fire around mid-morning. Two of my daughters prepared ramen, and I shared pasta primavera with my eldest. We got in a few rounds of bocce ball before the rain sent us inside the tent once again. We played a game of UNO and read our books. We napped. The heat and the lack of technological distractions created a delicious laziness that truly refreshed us.
When I woke, I checked my cell for missed calls or texts, and that's when I discovered that there was no data service in the woods, and the only call my phone could make was 911 for emergencies. #disconnected
The sky eventually cleared by mid-afternoon, so we enjoyed some snacks at the picnic table while we played a dice game called 'Greed'. We gathered kindling in the trees, but it started to rain before supper. Fortunately, there was a little 'snack shack' not too far away where we stopped to grab burgers.
Queue perfect storm.
While we sat in the van eating our burgers, the rain became torrential. I'm talking 'white-out conditions' (but with rain, not snow!). I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it.
I found out later that between supper time and the next morning, the area received over 4 inches of rain!
We waited for a small break in the storm to drive back to the campsite. The wind had picked up and the rain was still heavy. We made a run for our tent, and decided to play a game of cards and go to bed early again. Just when we decided to turn in, we saw a flash of lightning. My girls vacated the tent immediately and we all raced to the van.
This is when the outdoor survival challenge took an unexpected turn. #holdontoyourhats
My girls had just reclined their seats so they could try to get some rest when flashing red lights filled the sky as an emergency vehicle of some kind passed our site and disappeared in the rain. When it reappeared through the trees on another road, we surmised that perhaps it was moving through the area to warn people to get out of their tents and into their vehicles. Of course, we'll never know for sure. This went on for almost an hour - for as long as the lightning lasted.
The red lights lit up the sky periodically as the truck raced by, and then, more lightning and rain. We listened to music to try to offset the ominous tone. #distractme
Eventually, the lightning stopped, although it continued to rain. The flashing, red lights were replaced by white lights, and after a while, we moved back inside our tent to try to get some sleep. It was incredibly loud outside.
We heard voices and vehicles, but not just engines - dragging metal along the dirt road, banging, shouting, dogs barking, and so on - until probably three a.m.
My girls drifted off after an hour of this, but I couldn't sleep the entire time. Finally, I fell asleep, only to be shaken awake around six a.m. when by eldest wanted to ask me if she could go for a jog. Sigh. She's an early bird; I'm a night owl. Off she went for her run. #earlybirdgetstheworm
I emerged from the tent to observe my surroundings. The grass was saturated and there were more puddles than the previous day, but we were fortunate to not be impacted more than this on our site. We had a few new neighbours, however. The sounds I'd heard for several hours turned out to be an evacuation of other campers. Their tents, trailers, and other belongings, as well as dogs had all been rescued and brought to higher ground! That wasn't the greatest shock, though.
While I started to make a fire and mix batter for blueberry pancakes, my twins also emerged from the tent and went to find my eldest. The three of them came racing back, shouting, mom, mom, you have to see this! I thought it was going to be a new species of bird, or something like that.
I followed them down the road, and when we reached the spot where it curved downhill towards the original site we were going to claim, I stopped abruptly - partly, from shock, and partly, because the road didn't exist. It was underwater! #weneedabiggerboat
One of my twins said, mom, that's our site - the one we looked at yesterday. My eldest said, that's it there - and pointed at a mini-lake that had formed where my van and our tent would have been. It was surreal to imagine how different it could have been had we not switched sites two days before.
There was enough water accumulated to float a canoe on it.
We returned to our site and I cooked pancakes while my twins washed each other's hair, pretending to be stylists. If I can recommend one meal never to make over a campfire, it's pancakes. Lesson learned. It just doesn't heat evenly enough. I would rate them maybe 6/10. #whatnottodo
By noon, the sun came out and we thoroughly enjoyed our last full day of camping. We went for a hike, visited a playground, stopped for ice-cream at the snack shack, played badminton, played more cards, and did some writing/reading. For dinner, I even made potato soup, something I had never done over a campfire before!
I used russet potatoes, vegetable broth, bay leaves, thyme, basil, salt, pepper, rosemary, and a little dried cream powder. It was delicious! I wouldn't say my soup was as good as the roast duck Ferghus prepares for everyone in my latest release, The Once and Future Love, but it was easily a 9/10. #Ferghusknowseverything
We had a final campfire that night, enjoying Smores and popcorn. A satisfying end to an unexpected survival simulation. Wednesday night was the coolest, so our sleeping bags and blankets came in handy. The next morning, we rose early and went about the task of packing and loading our van.
I have no regrets about taking my daughters on this trip.
I encourage all parents to teach their kids how to live off the grid, at least partially, and what to do in challenging situations. If I can summarize my advice to anyone considering such an adventure, here are three things to consider before you leave your house:
Thoroughly discuss the trip ahead of time, including possible challenges and acts of nature that you might face. Research ahead of time what you should do in the event of a lightning storm or flood.
Consult experts (campers, preppers etc.) on what essentials you should bring with you on a camping trip with no electricity. We had potable water on our site, for example, but I still brought along water purification tablets (just in case). I use standard lighters, but I also have a flint match that never needs to be refilled. Because I was travelling with children, I brought along a small, portable toilet, so if you have even younger kids, it comes in handy when they wake you up at two a.m. I always bring a supply of kindling and firestarters. Pack your supplies in waterproof containers. Bring something to boil water in (fire-safe pot), because freeze-dried food, soup, coffee, noodles etc. can all be made with that. Dress in layers, since the temperature can vary wildly (and widely) between morning, evening, and the middle of the night. If you don't know how to make your own sunscreen or bug spray, bring both. I returned home without any bites.
Teach your children how to respect nature, but not to be afraid of it. Kids are capable of developing essential survival skills. Mine were able to pitch the tent and canopy, put the toilet and table together, gather kindling, build the fire, prepare food, wash dishes, set up and take down chairs, and more. Yours can, too! The more everyone comes together as a team, the more enjoyable the adventure.
Thanks for reading about my family fun in the wilderness. If you have any questions or comments, please share them below.
You can also follow me on X (Twitter) and engage with me about this topic there.
And if you haven't checked out my Future Bride series yet, you can find the books on Amazon (free with Kindle Unlimited). All three have a strong emphasis on survival, nature, and learning to live without modern conveniences.
Enjoy!
Whoaaaaa what a trip! OOF so glad you switched spots. I expect this blog would be very different had you not. So glad you're safe, but yeah, great learning experience!
Wow! That sounds like quite the trip.