“Where’s my tent?” I thought as I drove to the campsite in the dark. I should have seen it reflecting the lights from my car, but there was just darkness. As I looked down the camp embankment, I saw its crumpled remains lying flat on the ground.
At this point, almost nothing like this bothers me. It just means it’s time to thank God for another challenge and get to work.
So, I thanked God for this new trial and headed down to see the damage.
A massive storm had ripped through my campsite and everything around was wet. I picked up the dripping tent and tried to reposition it back into the shelter it was intended to be. As I pulled the crippled tent up, I noticed one of the two poles was arced, as it should be, and the other had an unnatural angle.
The pole had not just snapped off in the connector. It had also splintered by approximately 3 inches and poked through the tent cover that had mostly protected the tent from the storm.
I managed to get the tent cover off and inspect the damage. It didn’t seem the items in the tent had gotten too wet, but what was I to do with a broken pole?
Duct tape! Oh, thank God for this modern miracle!
I found my duct tape and did the best I could to splint the fractured pole. While the pole was not going to arc like it should, the duct tape did enough good to hold the pole at an angle just perfect for holding up a small area over the sleeping bag. There was just enough room to allow for one more night’s rest.
There was no chance of getting the tarp or cover back over the tent, so there was only a thin layer of mesh between the soggy outside world and me.
Drip! Drip! Drip!
Throughout the night, little drips would hit my face, waking me up, reminding me of my moist, but thankfully not too soggy, world.
The next morning, I bundled up my crippled tent and headed to the local coffee shop to get some work done and try to figure out what to do next. I had a feeling everything would work out. It always does, which brings me around to why I was in Kentucky to begin with.
On June 15th, I saw this picture and thought to myself, “I want to go to there!”
So, I went to there!
What I found when I got to the Red River Gorge, was that this particular adventure at SUP KY was completely booked/sold out for the entire time I planned on being in Kentucky, and beyond. This is the ONLY thing I have had my heart set on doing during this journey. Everything else has been very loosely planned and pretty much left up to God.
Okay, fine. I prayed about it and figured God really wouldn’t put something like this on my heart and then not let it happen. Or, if He did, there would be a good reason for it. I expected He would most likely come through.
So, the morning of July 18th, I met a wonderful gentleman at the coffee shop who, upon hearing about my reason for being in Kentucky, and that it was sold out, asked if I’d like for him to see if he could get me in.
Me: “Um, yes, please!”
So, he checked with his friend…
It was that night that I would go back to the soggy, crippled tent.
On the morning of July 19th, my new friend was at the coffee shop again. Upon hearing of my broken tent, he did his best to try to fix it, but there was too much damage.
However, his friend WAS able to get me into SUP KY for the sold-out adventure I had hoped to experience. YAY!!! My trip to Kentucky was not in vain and getting to explore a limestone mine in a clear kayak was completely worth the trip to Kentucky.
Ultimately, I had to buy a new tent, but after a haunting 12:30 awakening one night (see https://andipigottmartin.substack.com/p/when-god-wakes-you-up-to-pray-pray) and a snapped pole the second night, my new friend suggested maybe a different campsite might make sense.
He showed me a great place near a popular bouldering area, so I set up my new tent there. I was near the shelter of a huge boulder and next to a shallow pool in the stream running close by.
That Thursday and Friday night it, was peaceful in my new living quarters. However, it would be that Saturday when I became aware of the “armed and dangerous fugitive” in the area.
To be continued in the link below…