Lessons from the road

1.  Know what time zone you are in
  Last night, I pulled into Assiniboia, thinking it was still the central time zone.  My clock read 930, and the sun was still above the horizon.  Everywhere else I'd been in the central time zone, the sun was down just around 930.  And I wasn't any further north.  I check out the map, and according to my map, published in 2004, the mountain time zone doesnt start in until you hit Alberta.  I woke up the next morning at what I thought 9am.  I spent an hour getting my stuff together then headed out.  On the way out I asked a schoolteacher who was taking kids back in from recess for the time.  She said it was just after 9.  Hmmm. 

2.  When camping, never think that its not going to rain
   I went to sleep last night around 11 (actually 10, but I didn't know it), under clear skies.  I woke up at 8, hearing rain on my tent and the wind blowing.  This shouldn't have been too surprising.  The entire northern midwest has been pounded with rain all spring.  Many dirt roads are flooded, and some roads are iffy at best when trying to get from one highway to another.  Regardless, I woke up and noticed that the depression I had been sleeping in was wet.  Number 1 rule in camping is never put your tent in a depression.  Of course that's what I did!  I spent a half hour in the washroom drying out my tent with a towell.  I also spent a half hour trying to get my little Prius out of the mud that had transformed overnight around my tires.  Thankfully, there were two other gentlemen in the campground with pickup trucks.  After some pushing and shoving, we decided it best to just hook up my little toy car to one of the big boys and yank it out.  Their trucks had more than enough power to pull out my dinky front wheel drive, electric powered compact.  The one gentleman warned me not to park in mud next time.  I told him thanks for the heads up.

3.  NEVER LEAVE YOUR BINOCULARS ON THE ROOF OF YOUR CAR.
   Just after exiting the Big Muddy Valley on monday, I stopped to view a Sharp-tailed Grouse along the roadside, without thinking putting my binoculars on the roof of my car to free up my hands to take a picture.  After it flew off, I got back in the car, drove off, and about 5 miles further down the road, I heard something, and looked in the rear view mirror to see some debris go crashing onto the pavement.  At first I thought it was just some trash that I ran over.  But then I looked down at the passenger seat and noticed my binoculars were missing.  At this point, I was in a panic.  I literally almost wanted to cry.  I take it for granted how important my binoculars are.  Without them, bird watching is near impossible.  I swung back around and saw my binocs in the middle of the road.  After flying off a car going 50 mph, I expected them to be destroyed.  I looked through the one barrel, and unbelievably, the image was still clear!  I spent the next 15 minutes searching the tall grass along the roadside for the lens piece to the other barrel, and miraculously I found it!  Right now I should be screwed, I shouldnt have a working pair of binoculars.  But somehow, they still work.  The one eyepiece that popped off is still a little loose, and may no longer be waterproof, but I think I fixed them for the most part.  This whole situation could've been avoided easily if I wasnt an idiot.  But the fact that theyre still in ok shape is a miracle.  They say The Lord works in mysterious ways.  I'd say.