Assessing the contents of my mud-soaked backpack spread out on the wool oriental rug of the seating area all around me, I let out a heavy sigh. It's not as bad as I thought, but not as good as I hoped, either.
The extra hoodie I packed is sopping wet. As are the tent, inflatable sleeping pad and pillow, camera and recording gear, and pretty much everything else that was packed in the top half of the bag. My sleeping bag is thankfully dry and currently the only thing partially covering my nakedness.
All of my grimy, wet clothing is draped on whatever I could find nearby to dry overnight. The weatherproof two-in-one small lantern and bug zapper are on the fancy leather top table, decently illuminating the surrounding space.
Sitting with my legs crossed on the floor, I released a shaky br
