The day was Wednesday, July 9th and we fell asleep on the soft, comfortable grass that lay beneath a tall majestic tree. Two hours later, at 4am, the rain began. I know what you’re thinking here… They must have gotten really wet. Well you’re kind of right. The truth of the matter is that I got very wet and Brendan stayed very dry. After riding eight hours from Gettysburg PA to Salamanca NY, I had thought it would be a great idea to throw down a pad, bag and tarp to sleep under the stars. If you think about it, why would I want to repeat the twenty-five minute set up from the night before. It’s 2am!! The question of why was answered…promptly….at 4am. My first instinct was to roll myself up in the tarp and protect myself from the rain droplets. Lesson here is to ignore your first instinct if it occurs at 4am. This only served to allow me to look like a tarp burrito and then at 6am, wake up soaking wet as I had provided the perfect place for all that rain to collect. Me and/in my sleeping bag. As I waited the requisite 5 hours for Brendan The Comfortable to wake up, I decided to eat, hang up everything I owned to dry and learn how to set up my hammock. At 11:00am, Brendan found me…in my hammock, telling Caitlin on the phone that I should have hammock-ed from the start.

It was gray but clearing. The clouds that covered the sky were fast moving. It seemed like we could get out of our shelters and break down camp. This was a great time to get on the road. It couldn’t possibly rain more!

Ok, so misjudging weather at 2am after eight hours of driving is one thing. Misjudging the weather when it’s staring you in the face is an entirely different something. The thing about breaking camp is that when it starts to rain as you finish….you think…well it’s just a few sprinkles. We just finished! If we get going we can outrun it!

Rookie Mistake.

Fast forward two hours and find Brendan and Scott in a McDonald’s Fine Restaurant. Brendan is shivering and wet. Scott is dry, warm and comfy. Scott has brought the requisite rain gear. Brendan has brought rain absorbing clothes.

ROLE REVERSAL!!!