Those Two Morons
After arriving at Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas in late December 1974, I was assigned as a "Graphics Specialist." I really liked my new job and the people I worked with. My job was easy, and I took advantage of every opportunity I had to come home to Kentucky to see Deb, as well as the rest of my family. While in Arkansas I had a lot of spare time in the evenings and on the weekends. I used a lot of it playing basketball, tennis, racquet ball, as well as went running just about every day. One thing I had always enjoyed while growing up was going camping. The opportunity only afforded itself on one occasion while I was in the service. I want to tell you about that adventure.
Tony Foster was a young airman from Tennessee who worked in the adjoining office beside mine. He was married to a young lady named Janie. They lived off the base while I lived in the barracks on base. As an interesting side note, Tony had declared to the other office workers he was confident he and “this new guy from Kentucky” would never be able to get along. He was completely wrong, and he and I became very good friends.
Tony bought a Honda 250 dirt bike in the spring of 1975. He enjoyed riding it around, but I never owned a motorcycle. He suggested he and I ride the motorcycle somewhere camping sometime. We began to plan a trip.
We decided to travel to the Ouachita National Forest in the southwestern part of Arkansas. This area is about 1.8 million acres in size, with 65,000 acres of it designated a wilderness area. There are many campsites available throughout this large forest, and many of them are far from any type of civilization. We wanted to go deep into the forest and camp out one Friday evening. To access this part of the forest, we would have to ride Tony’s motorcycle. Two people can ride a 250, but it doesn’t leave much room for anything else. We were both relatively small and we determined to only carry one small backpack with just a few provisions. We only planned to spend one Friday night camping, look around the forest a bit the next morning, and then head back to Little Rock.
We chose a beautiful Friday evening to head out. It was probably about 75 miles or more to the forest. That’s a long ride on the interstate for two young men, carrying a backpack, and riding a small motorcycle. We were adventurous though, and finally made it to Hot Springs, the nearest town to the forest. We passed through Hot Springs and ventured down logging road after logging road until we were deep into the interior. We wondered if we would be able to remember how to get back out the next day.
After traveling some time and not seeing another vehicle or person, we found a place to camp. This area was really rugged with huge trees all around. The weather was perfect, and the sun was just beginning to sink into the west. We determined we had found a perfect place to camp for the night. It didn’t take long to set up camp. I had a sleeping bag, Tony had a couple of blankets, and we had a little food and supplies in the backpack. We were going to sleep under the stars and enjoy the beautiful evening and night. We built a campfire and sit and talked as the sun went down. I think we ate a hotdog, along with a few potato chips, and drank a pop.
It began to get very, very dark. We did not have a flashlight or any other type of light with us. All we had was the firelight. It was a beautiful evening with a million stars in the sky. We laid down after awhile and stared up into the sky at the beauty that surrounded us. The fire began to die down.
After lying there for just about an hour, the stars began to be covered up with clouds. It got cloudier and cloudier. Soon, we couldn’t see any stars at all. We both had just about drifted off to sleep when we heard rainfall hitting the leaves and trees above us. Soon, the gentle rain started hitting our sleeping bag and covers. We hoped it might just be a passing shower. Although it was raining, our options were extremely limited. We just laid there, hoping the rain didn’t get worse.
That hope was soon dashed. The heavens opened, and it began to rain very heavily. We just laid there, bemoaning how quickly the beautiful weather had turned. It didn’t take long for our coverings to become soaking wet. We laid there, getting wetter by the second. We realized we didn’t have any choice but to tough it out. Travel on the little motorcycle would be hazardous during the night on these now wet and muddy forest service roads. We weren’t sure we could find our way back out of the forest while it was so dark. And, if we could make it back to Hot Springs, neither of us had enough money to rent a hotel room, even if there was one available.
Soon, lightning and thunder joined in with the rainfall. It began to come a really bad storm. We got up, taking our soaking wet sleeping bag and blankets and made it over to a very large fir tree. Our only light was the light made by the lightning, which was occurring quite often by now. The rain continued to pour. I stood on one side of this big tree, hugging it as tightly as I could. Tony stood on the other side, doing the exact same thing. It wasn’t quite as wet if you hugged the tree tightly. We wrapped our sleeping gear over our heads and let them droop to the ground. We resigned ourselves to the fact it wasn’t going to stop raining. We just had to wait it out.
After standing there awhile, I fumbled to the backpack and found a pack of Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies. I carried them precariously back to the tree and Tony. There were logs and debris scattered everywhere, and I could only walk when the lightning lit up the sky, but I made it. I opened the cookies and got one for each of us. Rain was pouring down our faces as we ate the cookies. The skies lit up every few seconds with tremendous lightning strikes, followed by thunder.
We could hardly believe our predicament. We just stood there, huddled next to the tree, for the rest of the night. Occasionally, we would eat another cookie. It is all we had to do. The storm and heavy rain never stopped throughout the entire night. Although we were standing two or three feet apart, the only time we could see one another was when the lightning flashed. We got tickled as we wondered what somewhat might say if they were walking through the deep forest that evening and looked up, as the lightning flashed, at these two poor souls huddled next to this giant tree, eating chocolate chip cookies, all the while draped in wet blankets. We figured we looked somewhat like Moses must have looked in his day. It was a very long night.
As soon as the sun began to rise, we loaded onto the motorcycle with our wet gear, and headed back to Little Rock. I can only imagine what others on the interstate thought about “those two morons” riding a Honda 250 dirt bike in the pouring rain up the interstate, soaked to the bone. The rainfall continued until we got back to the base, when it promptly ended.
