RAGBRAI Nights 0-7: The Hubba Hubba

We sleep in a 4-year old, 3-pound, 2-person MSR Hubba Hubba tent. The photo above is from when the tent was new, at the festival where we were married. At RAGBRAI 2025, there are at least four other Hubba Hubbas in the Out of State camp, so one of the last things we do as we set up is place our bins strategically — as much to keep people  from tripping on the guy lines as to help us find the right tent again after a midnight trip to the portos. No one else has a slow moving vehicle triangle on their bin.

Here lie Laurence and Judy

One night it rained into the neighbors’ tents, but we stayed dry. One night there was sky-filling lightening and terrifying thunder, but we lay safe in our tent. Every morning there was so much water on the tent — either condensation or rain — that we had to put it up wet. Every afternoon we had to spread it out to dry before we set it up again. Only once did we end up next to someone running a gas-powered generator all night. Vroom vroom vroom. On the last day, we spread her out to dry in the trailer over the honeycycle.

Ghost tent /Ghost bike

Laurence likes to tell people he got the “last tent camping wife,” which never fails to delight me. I love to sleep on the mother’s breast next to my warm, good husband. I go to sleep at night with this beautiful prayer (Pema Chödrön’s) dancing in my head:

Like a shooting star, a visual fault, a candle flame, an illusion, a dewdrop, a water bubble, a dream, lightning, a cloud, regard conditioned dharmas

And I wake up next to that sweet man sleeping like an angel, if angels sleep, next to me. Life is good.