The Longest Day

As a Shetland lad, mid summer, the longest day, the Simmer Dim, what ever you wish to call it, is quite exciting. Being so far north in Shetland, at 60 degrees, the sun does set but it doesn't get truly dark. At midnight you can still see well outside.

At 41 degrees north, this was the furthest south I had ever spent the Simmer Dim, and for me it happened at around 9pm. It seemed a good day to start our 4500 miles and our first night of camping on the adventure.

The drive from Niagara to East Harbor State Park went well. The tent only took 30 minutes to put up. The fire lasted a good 4 hours and the marshmallows toasted on them tasted perfect. Hundreds of fireflies filled up the darkening skies. Everything was good.

Fast forward 7 hours to 4am in the morning and Emma and I were awoken in our tent to the sound of thunder and flashes of lightening outside. Probably the most intense lightening I have ever witnessed, and it didn't show any signs of stopping. After a brief moment of panic realising we were in a tent under a tree, we waited for a pause between lightening flashes and ran to the car for refuge. We spent 2 hours there, trying to nap until the thunder and lightening stopped and we returned to our tent. The seasoned campers sleeping either side of us all seemed to remain in their tents, were they not worried?

It was all part of the experience. Thankfully 3 nights in a hotel follows.