Ready For Camping

Now that we’ve taken the plunge and committed to meeting up with my family in Oregon in July, and now that Papa Bear has plotted out a panoramic tour of the National Parks, we’re now taking a look at the practicalities of this type of vacation. Papa Bear had been looking at various camping trailers and such to see if there is something suitable to rent for the three weeks, and has found a few options. But, they’re a little pricey for “just” a rental. Since we’re likely to be using a pull-behind rig frequently, we thought it might be worthwhile in the long run to just buy one, if we could find a good deal. Which my genius brother, JoBro, did. From California. Believe it or not, he located a nice little pop-trailer right here in town being sold by an RV dealer who is going out of business next Friday. They need to liquidate their remaining inventory. So, we went and took a look, and put down a deposit to hold it. A few hours later they called to say the financing came through, so we’re scheduled to pick it up on Saturday. After a 1 ½ hour orientation on how to work the thing. My other genius brother, C-Bro, has already sent us a list of accessories we should consider getting. Camping is in our family's blood, and my bros are pros.

In the meantime, BooBoo is ready to camp. He’s been hounding me for weeks to help him set up a tent in the front yard so he can camp out there. He doesn’t seem to be the least intimidated by the 20 degree nights we’ve been having, or even the slushy snow we had the other day (he was insisting we set up the tent in the snow). He finally got the better of me today, we located our small tent, I helped him set it up, and he’s determined to sleep in it tonight. And tomorrow night. The night after, he’ll be sleeping in the pop-up in the driveway. He’s got his sleeping bag and pad, PJ’s, a lamp, and two fresh baked biscuits he swiped off the cooling rack. He explained that he can’t survive two days without food, so he’s got one biscuit for each day he plans to be out there. Thinking ahead, that one.

The Tent

The Determined Occupant(s)

For my part, I took a stab at baking fresh bread in the electric roaster. It may be foolishly optimistic for me to even consider making fresh bread while camping, but we’ve got plenty of time to figure out whether or not it will be worthwhile. My baking stone had cracked in half last time I used it for pizza, so the two pieces set on the rack in the bottom just fit. I grabbed some dough from the fridge and made some biscuit-sized bits, popped them in, poured in the water, and they turned out just as fabulous as the oven variety. Maybe even better, if you can believe it.

My Cracked Stone in The Roaster. No comments, please.

I swear, I made more than two biscuits...


Ah, the missing biscuits...in the tent.

So, another day of homeschooling. I’ll have to figure out how to classify RV shopping and tent set-up on my attendance form. As with appliance dismantling and kitchen faucet installation, I’ll probably just put it down as “essential life skills.”

And, tomorrow is another day…