Metzger bought a brand new $150 tent Thursday, June 5, and by Friday evening, the tent was destroyed by lightning less than an hour after she erected it. To top it off, she was hunkering inside the tent when the lightning bolt struck, trying to wait out a storm which set off tornado sirens in Crawford County and deluged the campground shortly after she arrived. When lightning struck, friends Nicole Hill, Jenny Lapham, Mike Gooch and Lisa Short were standing outside Metzger's tent. The surge of electricity planted all five of them to the ground, making it impossible for them to move for a time. It was as if their feet were frozen to the ground. Miraculously, Metzger said all of them escaped injury, except for feeling a "little weird and tingly" for the rest of the evening. "We could not move," she said. "Our ears were ringing and we couldn't see at first. And our calves were cramped up, just like you exercised too much." Metzger said she thought the wooded campsite would be an excellent location for keeping some of the rain off, acting like a giant umbrella. "Instead, it weaseled though all those trees and only hit the tent," she said. "The lightning destroyed the tent. It was completely fried." When the manufacturer of the tent, North Pole Limited, located in Washington, Mo. found out about the demise of the tent, they offered to replace it at no charge, Metzger reported. The lightning burned a large hole in the tent and traveled down the poles, fusing all of them together. Metzger said lawn chairs leaning against a table outside the tent were also destroyed. Annette Johnson, comsumer service manager for Northpole, said the company decided to replace the tent because of the remarkable circumstances surrounding the incident. "Obviously this was not a warranty-covered product," said Johnson. "She had absolutely no time to protect herself. We were flabbergasted and wanted to make sure this family could continue to enjoy camping together." "The manager at Huzzah Valley brought me a tarp when he heard about what happened," said Metzger. "He said they had never had a tent struck by lightning in the campground and thought the tent saved our lives. He was so thankful we weren't injured." Although she has been camping all of her life, Metzger said she may sit in the car next time she's riding out a storm. "Or, I might just go home." The friends can laugh about their experience now. Three of them have decided to get a new tattoo - a lightning bolt accompanied by the date, June 6, marking their brush with one of nature's most powerful forces.