The first day of the heat wave wasn't so bad. The night before was fairly cool and we were well rested. I have a weatherbug app on my phone, and the warnings stated that the effects of the heat were cumulative. I didn't know what that meant, until Saturday. So Tuesday wasn't so bad. We spent the day like normal, even though it got a bit hot. Lots of time in the water, and we even went wading in the little river/stream next to camp.
It didn't cool down much that night, and Wednesday was pretty hot. We spent the entire day in water. Got up, went to the lake, ate lunch, back in the water, ate dinner, back in the water. Wasn't so bad. We had to go and get a fan though, since sleeping the night before was nearly impossible. The heat itself wasn't so bad, but the humidity was killer.
Our sheets felt damp, and with the sand sticking to them, sleeping was less than pleasant. Our kids got up a few times, tired and cranky. (And to top it all off, we had a bad case of poison oak making the rounds). The fan did help, however, making an impossible miserable night tolerable.
Thursday was bad. By this time, it got to 90 by 9 am. I was exhausted just sitting there trying to breathe, and got a bit nauseous because of the heat. The kids sat around, limp and drained. We went to a friend's house and spent most of the day in the cool AC. Thank God for our friends!!
Friday brought more oppressive heat. We did our weekly laundry and went to our friend's house again. It was very relaxing. The kids got to watch a few movies and we just soaked up the AC. Saturday was the breaking point. I was expecting storms, but none came. We trudged through the day and the next morning it was so much cooler.
If we didn't have friends we could have hung out with, the week would truly have been miserable. I don't doubt that a few of us would have wound up in the hospital with heat related illness. There were other options: stores, movies, library, cooling station. None of them offered the hospitality and relaxation that we got at our friend's house. And the thought of trying to wrangle all the kids in one of those places is just exhausting in itself!
We went through 48 bottles of water in two days, between the 7 of us. Lots of bags of ice, and the food didn't stay that cool. At one point, the top of the cooler was scorching hot, even in the shade with a sleeping bag over it.
Getting the fans really saved us, too. Granted, they only blew out hot air, but when you're sweating, any breeze helps to cool you down. Staying next to the cool river also helped. I had the kids dip a washcloth into the water and bring it to me. I put the dripping wet cloth around my neck and it was sublime!
I really don't know how people live in the desert and other tropical places. The heat and humidity sucks you dry, leaving an empty shell behind. But we survived!!!
On Sunday, we moved campgrounds. The new campground is about $350 cheaper a month, and we have both water and electricity at out site. We aren't next to a river and there is no lake (though by the time we left the old campground, the lake felt like tepid bath water), but the campground is on the mighty St. Joe River, a bit more dangerous than the stream/river we were used to. It's quiet and nice, with a lot less raccoons.
I'll leave you with some photos of some of our adventures this summer so far.
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