Saturday was that strange occurrence in nature where 20% chance of rain is actually 100% chance of rain at multiple times throughout the night.

These rare mathematical curiosities occur seemingly only on nights I go camping. The last time this happened was back in 2001 when I was camping at Mammoth Caves. 20% chance of rain the forecast had said. The ranger even said that. I only assume when rangers say something that makes it a Fact. However throughout the night three or four separate thunderstorm systems rolled through the area and just flooded out tent. We basically slept in a stream. When we awake everyone else had abandoned their camp sites in the middle of the night to drive to a hotel.

But that was 2001, and had been regulated to a humorous story (one of many to come from driving cross country). Something that happened then, and couldn’t ever possible happen again.

And then there was Saturday.

Saturday Sam and I hosted her parents, brother, grandmother, nephew, aunt and aunt’s boyfriend at our apartment for breakfast. I made French Toast using two day old Italian Bread. We cleaned the hell out of our apartment and it was pretty awesome. Except for the aunt’s boyfriend. He’s never allowed in our apartment again. He’s just an ass. But that’s not the story.

After they left Sam and I made some Cold Veggie Pizza, relaxed for an hour or two and then heading to Brooke’s wedding. It was a great outdoor reception (we didn’t make the wedding itself). Huge backyard, barns, a little stream, an large wooded area to set up tents. Yeah… that’s right, it was a camping wedding. Kick Ass. And right before we left we checked the weather. 20% chance of rain and temperatures in the mid to high 50’s all night long. Perfect camping weather, especially for October.

We set our camp up in a little nook and took to the pot-luck dinner and deserts. It was fantastic. The tables were covered with butcher paper and sharpies were left out for people to draw all over them. Again, simple but awesome. White Christmas tree lights lined the tarps and paper lanterns hung from trees.

And still the weather forecast said 20% chance of rain. But by 7 the wind was picking up pretty good. And by 8, when the band was supposed to start, the rain had landed. They started the bonfires regardless, but most people huddled under the tents. It turned from light rain to downpour pretty fast, and lasted for almost an hour. I went to check on the tent around 9 and noticed water in the tent bottom, specifically by the door. Now this tent was old. We borrowed it from Sam’s parents, so some water inside wasn’t a complete shock.

We checked it out, adjusted the tarp on top, changed it position on the ground a little and went back to the party none-to-concerned. After all the rain had stopped. We sat by the bonfire, drank some beer and ate some cookies. Life was good.

Until the rain started again at 10:30. More downpour. I checked on the tent again. More water. This time we noticed a hole in the bottom near the door. With a little borrowed duct tape and a plastic bag we patched the hole, even as other holes appeared in other spots. Luckily the water was staying near the door, and all our stuff was near the opposite end of the tent. Again we did a little clean up inside, thought we had and went back to the party.

Another hour or so of enjoying everything and we decided it was time to knock off and sleep some. We were up early (especially for a Saturday) and it was midnight. The rain had tapered to just a mist and although it was still wet, it wasn’t much worse than before. We threw the sleeping bags down (one on the ground, one as a blanket) and passed out.

I woke up at 2 a.m. to more tumultuous downpour and drips landing on my feet. There were now pools of water right next to me, just off to the side of the sleeping bag. I could feel the water seeping underneath me but decided to just roll over and go back to sleep. Hope for the best.

At 6 a.m. I woke up and headed to the bathroom. The near door tent area was soaked. When I got back to the tent I laid back down, only to discover after I got up the water completely soaked the sleeping bag. I tried sleeping on my side to limit the amount of wetness that would occur, but it didn’t help. After about 30 minutes of this I decided to just give up and stay up. How Sam slept through it I don’t know.

So there it is. 20% is a guarantee, not a maybe for rain when I camp.

I think I need to plan my next camping trip in the desert.