We’ve been at the Fort now for a week (checked in 1/15/24) We experienced really great weather, and really outright frigid weather. By frigid, I’m speaking in the sense of wind chills in the 20’s. That wind pierced my unplanned purchase of a windbreaker, and the chill went through a top, jacket, and the windbreaker. This morning I had a top, heavy duty sweatshirt/hoodie and the windbreaker. Still cold. And i lived in a climate where snowfall is measured in feet and it’s not rare to get windchills of -50 F.
It didn’t help that on one of the colder mornings, there was no hot water in our loop bathhouse. I bit the bullet and took a cold shower. Made the air temp seem warmer by comparison. Himself said it harkened back to his university days when the youth group house didn’t have hot water. I’m too old for that noise lol.
On the other hand, it’s supposedly (I’ll believe it when I see it) going to be in the 80’s by the time we leave. Kind of like Michigan’s UP. If you don’t like the weather, wait an hour. It’ll change. Same goes for Florida rain.
My take: 1) Even when the temps were in the 60’s at night, the cold air filtered in from the bottom of the air mattress. I had the yoga mats, but they didn’t help all that much. Next time we’ll get something that’s designated as being more thermal. Also, bless the person who suggested getting the electric blanket. Our space heater wasn’t up to the task of keeping our tent warm, and if we hadn’t gotten the e.blanket it would have been several cold nights. 2) Prepare for the unexpected. As far as the hot water is concerned, yep, when I was first in the shower it took a while to warm up. Yep, I could have gone to a different loop as the front desk suggested, but I was in my natural state by that time, and I wasn’t about to pull up stakes (so to speak) and hike to another bathhouse only to fine a line 10 campers deep. So, cold shower it was. In that case, I’d suggest turning on water first off to make sure you’ll get the hot water you paid for. 3. Layering clothing is very, very important. As I noticed some years ago, the sun can heat the air, but when that wind blows it can be more nippy than expected. There were some times I wished I’d worn my winter coat.
Stay warm, my friends.