Oh what a night!

It's 4:30am and I've been up most of the night, but I guess I should be happy... Because I survived?! Our campsite is beautiful. We got all set up for the night and decided to go into Hill City for dinner. We met several locals and were given directions to places we need to go today that are a bit off the beaten path. When we got back to our site we popped a beer and settled in at the picnic table. For at least 2 hours we had an amazing light show. It was storming over the mountain and by our Flatlander standards it was blowing by. Ha! We're we wrong! A camp ranger came by and told us we needed to seek shelter... And our tent was not what he had in mind. A severe weather alert had just been issued and we needed to head to our truck or to the lodge. Well, the truck it was! Remember we are roughing it! The lodge would have been the logical thing to do! Soon we were able to make it to the tent. Mark fell right asleep! I on the other hand listened to the rain and wind pelt the tent- for what seemed like forever! Unfortunately every time I looked at the clock it had only creeped by minutes! I finally was able to fall asleep for about an hour when I awoke with the terrible urge to pee! Stupid popping that beer earlier in the night. Well, for those of you that were disappointed that I wasn't truly "roughing it" will be happy to know, that yes, I peed in a bucket in the tent! Desperate times call for desperate measures! It was still raining and lord knows adventure boy who was snoozing away wasn't going to go willingly to the bathrooms with me. Back in bed I suddenly could feel the temperature drop. Where was that wool blanket Mark packed for me... Oh, that's right it's in the truck! Fortunately I had my rain coat and that warmed me up a bit. Hour by hour went painstakingly by! When the birds started chirping at 3am I honestly thought, oh my gosh I'm in some kind of living hell! So, that takes me to now. My air mattress had deflated tremendously over night- it's true when they say it stretches! Being cold and tired I dragged myself to the truck. I am comfy with my wool blanket watching the sun rise and an over zealous camper jogging! She must have slept in one of them fancy motor homes! Well, todays adventure will lead us to Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse and Needles Parkway- where we've been told we can get lost in all day long. I'm only hoping that somewhere along our journey I can find time for a nap!