The Big Weekend

This was a really big weekend for our family, and we didn’t see it coming. We knew it was going to be eventful, just due to the plans but we didn’t really that it would become this eventful.

The Plans

The Boys Plans

Since it was a holiday weekend, the BSA Troop had plans to make a long campout and spend a night on the USS Lexington. It is not a short trip to the Lexington, about as far as you can drive in a single day with that many cars and kids in caravan, but it was a trip that the troop had made before. Eldest boy and I have only been with the troop for almost 2 years, so we, and many other kids had not made this trip before so it was going to be a whole new experience for us.
The Lexington is a WW2 aircraft carrier that is now a floating museum. It offers groups the option to stay a night on the boat with breakfast and dinner served in addition to the normal static displays and narrated exhibits and other such things that you would expect from a history museum. The kids in the troop, and many of the parents for that matter, were excited for this trip. Unfortunately, given the distance needed to travel, and the number days, not to mention the admission fees for the Lexington, this trip was expensive for a weekend, like … really expensive for a scout event. We were going to be staying in some pretty neat state parks, and we would get to camp right off the beach in Corpus Christi.

The Girls Plans

The oldest child of one fo our closest family friends is in musical theater and this was also to be opening weekend. As a way to show support we obviously attend her performances, but this time Dear Wife had the idea to make it an event since Eldest Boy & I were going to be doing a big special thing.
So Dear Wife got 2 additional tickets and invited 2 fo Eldest Girls friends for a sleepover Friday night, and then they’d get all fancied up and go to the show Saturday afternoon. (It is a youth theater, so even the evening shows are fairly early in the day).

So, everyone had their plans; Eldest Boy and I would be camping and then getting to explore a piece of WW2 history, which we both love, and Eldest Girl would be getting to have a fun girls night with her friends and go to the theater all fancy, which she loved … and Dear Wife tolerates.

The Lead Up

While nothing seemed out of the ordinary with Eldest Girls plans leading up to the weekend, I came down with a cold/flu bug two weeks from travel day, but never resulted in a fever or anything more than a headache and a few joint aches. This made me worried because I cannot be traveling with a bunch of families, driving across the state and such. Even if I could take enough Advil to keep the headache at bay.

Wednesday - 2 Days Away

Tuesday I had finally gone the whole day without any headache, and I was feeling pretty good although maybe a bit easily tired than usual. Then, on Wednesday morning, I can hardly get out of bed. I threw my back out doing something on Tuesday … I wish I knew what it was, because then I could make it sound tough and not just that I am getting old. My ability to ride int he car for hours and then sleep on the ground in a tent is immediately in question, but we don’t break the news to Eldest Boy until we know.

Thursday - 1 Day Until Travel

Thursday I am still struggling to move in the morning, but after I get going things kind of loosen up, though there is a constant mild pain. That afternoon we brief Eldest Boy that I might not be able to go, and he needs to consider if he wants to go without me or not.
This is significant.
He has never been on a campout without me, and he has never been overnight without family of some kind… it’s a big deal now.
At the same time that is happening, we are starting to see reports that there is a chance a Polar Vortex will hit us late in the weekend or early the next week. Given all the events that have conspired against me, I am predicting it will hit over the weekend. I am hoping that since the troop will be so far south, the worst will miss then, and it will stay dry. There was not expectation of precipitation at this time.

Friday - The Day of Travel

On Friday morning I woke up and things with my back are unchanged at best. I brief Eldest Boy and tell him that I am not going to be going and he has to make the decision if he wants to go without me or not. Then the kids are off to school and the weather is not bad, a little cool, but over all nice.
Then the front starts to blow in.
By lunch time I have called the troopmaster and told him that I cannot make it, and there are conversations happening with other dads about the weather now.
Snow, Ice, and wind chill below-zero where we are at. The outlook is better south where the troop will be, but still they will have to drive back into it.
A few families are cancelling, and Dear Wife is leaning very heavily on me to make a decision for Eldest Boy. So while they are getting last minute supplies and cash for him on the trip, I have a phone call with the boy:

Me: "Hey bud. How are you feeling?"
Him: (trying to not cry) "I don't know..."
Me: "Yeah? Well, I am not going to lie to you. It's going to be cold."
Him: "Yeah, I know"
Me: "I think you are going to have fun during the day, and the Lexington will be really cool to see. But dude ... it's going to suck at night. When the sun goes down, it will be very cold. But it will be better down there than up here."
Him: "So if I stay I will be stuck like the last time?" (remembering the great Texas freeze of '21)
Me: "No, it's not going to be _that_ bad from everything they are saying. But it's going to suck sleeping in a tent when the temp gets at or near freezing. I have done it several times, it's no fun at the time"
Him: (with a lot of unexpected confidence) "Ok! I'll do it!"
Me: (fully convinced I had basically talked him out of it) "wait ... what?"
Him: "I am going to go. I want to do this"

There were some more nerves and tears as he loaded his gear into the troop trailer, and off they went.

Eldest Girls friends had a very mild fever on friday, so the sleep over was postponed to make sure it was nothing to worry about, but theater plans were still on for Saturday.

The Weekend

Saturday

Things go sideways some more. Eldest Girls friends, were nto better and in fact still asleep when it was time to go to the theater. It took that long to get word on their condition. Eldest Girl was heartbroken.
My back was feeling a bit better, so I thought I would try to do some chores to see if it loosened up a bit … it did not.
I received word from a dad on the trip that Eldest Boy was in good spirits, despite having a bit of trouble packing up his gear. I am really regretting not being able to be there for him, but I am spending time with the heartbroken Eldest Girl, so I guess maybe I needed to be home more.

About 10 am, the cold front hits us. The temperature begins to drop, fairly quickly. By the afternoon, I received a pict and text from another dad in the troop of the boys walking in the water at the beach on an island they are camping at for the night. It’s still in the upper 60’s there, but it dropped 6 degrees in the hour I received the message.

Sunday

We go to church as normal, but it is now very cold. I know a lot of my midwest and northern friends will say “psh! that isn’t cold! you should’ve seen what we were dealing with!“. And I will admit, I am a bit of a baby when it it comes to cold weather. Once it gets below freezing, I start questioning life, the universe, and all the things in it.
It was 11 degrees with a 12 mph north wind when we left for church. It only ever got up to 12 degrees all day.
Eldest Girl got to go spend the night with her grand parents, which gave Dear Wife and I the evening off. We watched TV and nursed our ailments, my back was still hurting, she was becoming increasingly congested.
I did get a picture from the trip that made it worth it. Eldest Boy was posed on the flight deck in front of an F-4 Phantom static display. The F-4 is his favorite fighter, and you can tell by the expression on his face.

Monday

The snow that everyone had assured us was not going to hit, or be extremely light if it does hit, came in the night. We are all very worried about the troop caravan home now.