Day 23 Super AM

Day 23 Super AM
Our day started at 1:30 AM when we were awaken by a loud voice asking us what we were doing? Figuring it was a law enforcement I gave the short answer and crawled from the tent with ID in hand as directed. We were meet with a kid of no more than 20 dressed like a cop looking for our ID and nothing more. He quickly took our IDs and headed towards his car, telling us to stay put. As he walked away we were greeted by another officer who asked us what we were doing camping in the park. We were prepared for this interaction as we had heard other paddlers were running into law enforcement as they were forced into parks and public spaces as the flood waters covered the normal camping spots. The second officer listened to our story and added some incorrect information about the river trying to see if we were lying about where we had been and what we were doing. Satisfied we were telling the truth, he said he understood and as far as he was concerned we could stay so long as we left in the morning but he was local police and the first officer was a sheriffs deputy. With thunder rolling and lightening flashing in the sky the first deputy returned and without listening to the situation he told us to pack up and leave now. I tried to inform him that is was water for miles and a storm was coming but he cut me off and said we had to leave now! I asked him for card because he was sending me into a very dangerous and potentially deadly situation with no lights and a serious storm rolling in and when my body was found they could ask him what happened. He gladly wrote down his badge number and name and handed it to me. Seeing there was no changing his mind I returned to my tent to start packing as the rain began to fall in sheets. Shawn turned to the city police officer and asked him where we could go and pulled up google maps to try and look for the area he was directing us to. The city officer was asking the sheriffs deputy for help in directing us to another spot and all he would say was the county line was 15 miles south. Realizing packing sleeping gear up was the most important thing to do since it was pouring rain by this time Shawn set to work packing up.
As we finished packing up the things on the inside of our tents the city police officer returned to say he had a deal for us. He said he completely understood our situation and that they would pretend they never saw us but that runners would be in the park at 5 AM and if he got a call we were still camped his hands would be tied. We thanked him for his understanding and compassion and assured him we would leave at first light. We quickly unpacked again and settled in to sleep with the sound of rain hammering our tents. After the city police officers left we were summoned to the tent window by the sheriff deputy. He started a long whining rant about how the park, up to the pavilion we were next to, was his jurisdiction and the city had jurisdiction over the area we were in, He was visibly upset, lip quivering and on the verge of crying, he talked poorly about the local police over riding his judgment. He made it clear we were very lucky and again told us not to stop again tomorrow till we were past his county line 15 miles south.  I thanked him for his service and bid him a good night. I quickly fell asleep for about an hour and a half till the unseen sprinkler head beside my head popped up and began to assault the floor of my tent. What a wonderful start to the day.