The Best Laid Plans

Back in October Jason went on a weekend camping/kayaking/fishing trip with some friends to the Core Banks. He had such a great time that for his birthday he wanted to take Gabe, Teresa, and I there. At first I was a little leery, but I knew the kids would have a great time. Also how could I pass up going to a beautiful place like this:

Pictures from Jason's trip

We had been planning for months for our big trip. The week before we left Jason spent hours getting everything ready and making sure we had all the necessary supplies. The plan was to take just the bigger kids and leave Faith and Lauren with Jason's sister Jenn. The morning we left everyone was so excited and could not get on the road fast enough. It took about 5 hours to get to the campground and then we were going to boat over to the island we were going to set up camp.

The boat all loaded up and ready to go!!

The water was a little rough so we knew we had to go slow and we were going to get wet. The ride was only supposed to take about 45 minutes. Well about 3/4 of the way over the boat engine just STOPS!!! Jason tried and tried to get it restarted and the engine just would not turn over. I was a little nervous but knew Jason would be able to figure it out once we got to the island. He starts using the trolling motor to get us to this island called "Bird Island".

Jason using the trolling motor

Teresa and Gabe trying not to act scared.

Bird Island

We didn't stay long at Bird Island because it was a protected area and we couldn't pull the boat up there. Besides that the smell was almost unbearable. We started trolling along when all of a sudden the trolling motor stops working also. At this point I could not believe all of this was happening. Jason hops out of the boat and begins pulling us to land. At about this time we begin to hear thunder in the distance. Seriously could things get much worse!!! The water gets shallower and I am trying to help push. We could see the beach by this time. Unfortunately the tide was working against us and the boat finally gets stuck in about ankle deep water.

The storm was getting closer so I walked the kids up to the beach (that is how close we were) and Jason called the campground to see if anyone could come out and help us. Thank God for Verizon and good cell service and for two guys Randy and Brad. Mr Jerry (the owner of the campground) asked these two guys who were staying there if they would mind coming out and pulling us back in. Randy and Brad where two of the nicest guys. They didn't hesitate it jump in their fishing boat, with threats of a thunderstorm, to pull us back in.

The "Rescue"

- I wish had gotten a better pic of Randy and Brad

While we were being pulled in the sky got darker and darker. We were about half way there when the rain began. To say we got soaked would be an understatement.

By the time we made it back to the campground it was torrential rain. The kids were relieved to finally be back on land and had fun playing games in the camp store while Jason and I unloaded the boat. Because all of our stuff got soaked we ended up having to stay in a hotel which the kids were pretty excited about.

Thank God for the Hampton Inn

Even though NOTHING went as planned I told Jason I still had a really good time. It was nice to spent some time with just the older kids, which is such a rare thing. It was also nice to see how we worked together and dealt with a difficult situation the best we could. I always tell the kids we are a team and this was a perfect example of TEAM SARVER. We also talked about trusting God. When the kids and I were walking to the beach I was telling them everything was going to be fine, we had to have faith. Before we left we prayed for God to protect us and watch over us during this trip, so I told them that God would not let anything happen to us.

I wish this was a better picture. After the storm stopped and we were leaving the hotel to get something to eat Jason saw this rainbow. It was a perfect ending to a day that didn't go as planned, but was filled with many memorable moments.