California – The Learning Continues

Death Valley Camping

Not wanting to be forced to stay in a hotel again, we spent the first part of the morning returning the brand new tent which was destroyed the night before and going to REI to get a 4 season tent guaranteed to withstand anything. It kind of seems comical thinking about it now, but I wanted to be sure we were prepared for another night of wind. I wanted to trust in my gear, so God got the opportunity to give me another lesson in humility. The REI staff were all excellent and were synonymous in their recommendation for the REI Base Camp 6. So, when we arrived in Death Valley at our camp and were told winds would be gusting to 35knots, I thought no problem. As I was putting up the tent I had the two main poles set and was starting to put in the two additional support poles when a dust tornado descended upon us out of no where. The kids were playing close by so I screamed at them to lay flat as there was enough wind to blow them away. I was able to grab two kids and pull them to ground with me and Jodi got two more. It was such a cool experience to be in the eye of a tornado with the sand screaming in a circle all around you. I was actually enjoying myself except for the kids being terrified. The tornado only stayed on top of us for maybe twenty seconds. Twenty seconds was all it took to flatten our 4 season super tent and bend the aluminum poles. It was another great lesson for me. There is only One I can really put my trust in and that is God. I did do better with my stinking thinking this time and had an enjoyable evening regardless of our now deformed semi-functional super tent. What do you put your trust in?

Death Valley Sunset