by Peg Lewis

Created on: August 06, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

A Night To Remember

One summer the family set out for a month of travel to the Gaspe and Quebec City. The children, ages 1 1/2 and 3, were good travelers and loved to sleep in the big blue tent. After a lovely week in Fundy National Park, it was time to move on to some of the other scenic wonders of Eastern Canada .

The trip around the tip of the Gaspe and then up the Cascapedia highway took longer than expected, and the gray, humid weather did nothing to encourage patience among the family members. Tedium set in, and the hasty lunch was a fading memory, when finally the St Lawrence River came into view. It was a welcome sight! We could pitch our tent and settle down for the night.

The Cascapedia deadended at a T intersection. A campground was promised if we turned right, but just then a hot meal seemed even more appealing. We turned left, hoping that the sign for a small town might mean a restaurant.

Very quickly we found a modest eatery that boasted fresh seafood, and happily left the confines of the car to stretch our legs and fill our tummies. The food turned out to be so-so, but it beat setting up the campstove after the long day, and we were content with it.

After supper we went back to the intersection, then continued on to the campground. It was not far but when we got there we found that it was nearly full. The entire hillside that sloped down to the river - still at some distance from us - was dotted with tents closely spaced. After beautiful Fundy it was a let-down, but we were tired and did what we needed to bed down for the night.

Our routine included blowing up air mattresses, setting out sleeping bags, reading bedtime stories, and snuggling in to begin a long and peaceful sleep. We had just accomplished all that when it began to rain. We were glad: the humidity had hung heavy on us all day and we looked forward to a refreshing shower. Off we went to sleep!

Sometime a couple of hours later, I found myself tossing about in the cramped quarters, trying to stay on my air mattress, horribly uncomfortable with a tummyache. I'd drift back to sleep only to wake up again from the discomfort. It was a fitful night, and while I had the thought that I might need to make a dash for the outhouse, it seemed far away and the rain, coming down harder now, made me wish earnestly that I could wait till morning. Still, the discomfort was increasing.

Finally I drifted off into a deeper sleep, only to have the younger child call out. This was unusual: once asleep, she usually

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