Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

My turn: Choose campsite wisely

Camping can be fun. Just research where you sleep before it rains.

This advice comes from a tall slender woman we will call Teresa and her friend Joan from Tennessee.

Teresa and Joan were both experienced campers. Their parents taught them the ins and outs of camping when they were young.

One weekend, the church group we all were part of decided to go on a singles retreat at Paris Landing near Paris, Tenn. Teresa and Joan decided to go a day early, find a spot and set up camp. They were going to be sharing their tent with another girl from a church in Kentucky.

It started to rain, which put a damper on some of the activities the singles had planned. But that night, the tent held up to strong winds, rain and hail.

The next morning, Teresa unzipped the tent’s flap — and water came pouring in, soaking everything. The whole camp was standing in 6 inches of rainwater.

Turns out, the campsite they had chosen was near an old stream that had dried up years earlier.

The church rented them a hotel room for the weekend.