camp « Robin Writes

We camped last week, which is why I was AWOL, and we did a lot of thinking and a lot of talking. Boy, if we could move up our timetable, we’d sure head out now! Patience, grasshopper . . .

First, it’s hot. Really hot this past week, and as some of you know, we had no AC in the truck. Talk about toughening up! Of course, there were several times I thought I was going to melt, but that was while driving.

Turns out I can handle the heat outside pretty well—not as well as 30 years ago, but still.

I tried out my new solar gadget charger—awesome! It works great and kept my phone going. Haven’t tried it on the laptop yet. Since we were gone a few days this time and it was so flippin’ hot, we also went to the campground showers. They were fine, although apparently designed for REALLY SHORT people—I’m not that tall, and I had to duck . . . Next purchase: solar shower!

So, around the homestead here, ha, we’ve been busy downsizing and cleaning up junk. Got rid of two dead chipper/shredders and an old mower yesterday, but started a new pile. At least, I think that was what my husband was doing in the garage all morning. Plus, he and the kid worked on the brush pile for a while. What a mess—30 trees here, and as many branches as they drop you’d think we’d have no trees left at all!

Going to find a junkyard tomorrow, and take a load over. SO MUCH stuff, and most of it isn’t ours but was left by previous owners.

The biggest issue is clearing out the garage so we can get more organized. I’ll admit it, that IS our stuff, and some of it is staying, for sure. The bookstore stuff has to go—whether we sell it or give it away, that’s the immediate goal.

Craigslist, here we come!

I’ve also spent some time making a list of repairs. Those cost $$, so we have to sell off things first; and we’ll likely be doing them a bit at a time, which is going to drive me nuts. I like to finish things, but my husband, not so much . . .

Only 23 months to go!

After our weekend campout, I have decided on a few things:

One, don’t reinvent the wheel. Two, don’t make it harder than it has to be. And three, I DO like certain comforts.

Now, the first two are no-brainers, and virtually the same thing. And the first really has nothing to do with this camping trip, and well, neither does the second. But my points are still valid.

As for the third, well, I truly believe camping should be out in the wilderness, or at least a park or a place where you don’t have access to too many “civilized” comforts. We could all stand to toughen up a bit, yes? But on the other side of “comfort,” you have “this is really painful on my old body.”

In light of that, I’m making a few changes before the next trip in June:

I enjoy washing dishes over the fire—I have my two fire buckets, wash in one, rinse in the second; the wash water is thrown out and refilled and the rinse water becomes the next wash water. But I am a bit tired of lugging those buckets over to the table (to use as a drying rack), and squatting down on the pad while I do this.

Purchase #1: a kitchen rack/counter/whatever you want to call it.

I can deal with the cold—I have plenty of layers and a great sleeping bag, and yes, it was 37 degrees Saturday morning. Again. In May. Argh. But I cannot sleep on the ground—I would be miserable and immobile for at least a day, even with copious doses of Advil. And air mattresses are hit-or-miss around here. Had another slow leak Saturday night. A good night’s sleep is really important, no matter where you are.

Purchase #2: a really thick foam pad—6-8 inches—or an actual mattress.

Speaking of the cold, skipping a shower or two (yes, I WASH, if anyone’s interested) isn’t a big deal when the temps only get up to 60 degrees. But I do like a hot shower—or at least warmish—to loosen up my muscles and clear my head. And since the warmer weather will surely be here for the next trip, this is something I must have:

Purchase #3: a solar shower.

And finally, electronics. They are a fact of life, and indeed, much of my work is done online. And, too, if one is camping alone, regardless of how often it’s used, a cell phone can be mighty handy. My battery does well, but I still had to power down Saturday night; 48 hours on a charge isn’t bad, but Sunday morning the darn thing was being stubborn until it, too, warmed up.

Purchase #4: solar cell charger

Now, I know a lot of people whose idea of camping is the local Marriott, and I know some who own and use every camping gadget invented, just because they can. I even know a few who wouldn’t be caught dead using any comforts whatsoever—and I was one of them, oh, maybe 10 years ago. Or five.

But hey, it’s a choice, right? And all of these things will enable me to stay out in the woods just a little bit longer than I do now, and even work from there if I want to do that. And there are some things where I draw the line: RVs, running water, and electricity, to name a few.

On the other hand, I’m sure some of you have seen pictures of my pot. Er, bathroom. Yes, I have one, and yes, I make no apologies. There’s a big difference, to me, in using a latrine built and equipped for oneself versus those hideous vault toilets in many campgrounds, used by many. (Seriously, it’s like sitting on a tall tin can—ugh!)