Soggy in South Dakota

We landed in Hill City, SD, this evening after a day of driving in the rain and playing leapfrog with semi trucks up and down the rolling hills of eastern Wyoming. The KOA here is huge and looks like it would be blast in the summer time. Pretty sleepy in the off season. We didn't get here quite early enough to do any sight seeing this evening, so actually had a "home"-cooked dinner at a normal hour and attempted to enjoy a campfire (our first of this trip). I created a pile of kindling from one of the logs by chopping off small thin strips and chunks. The wood lit off nicely and a decent flame started growing in the fire pit as each of the larger logs lit up. I came back into the trailer to announce that the sun was setting and the fire was ready. Girls (in their jammies already) bundled into jackets and flip flops and came out to enjoy the fire. Just as they all sat down, the fire just went out.
Any man out there who has gone camping with his family and lit a camp fire can attest to the indescribable feeling of purpose and accomplishment in lighting a fire. It may be a small thing, but it's the stuff of manhood. As my fire went out before my girls' eyes this evening, I was crushed. Quickly we gathered what few paperbags and papertowel tubes we had available and attempted a re-light. Once again, the logs lit up, burned for five minutes, got nice and charred, and just went out. A little piece of me died with the fire. The girls were very understanding and simply got up and tumbled back into the trailer to warm up.
We WILL have another fire soon and I WILL redeem myself. Upon closer inspection the wood was a little wet. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.