Last year I published an article about the camping trial run. And again stuck to my own advice for 2009 as we embarked on our trial run. This year close to home...down on the property of our friend's on the South Fork of the American River.We spent the entire week prior with the tent trailer popped open in the driveway...cleaning the water lines and tanks, charging batteries, and general loading and restocking. We felt very confidant as we rolled away on Saturday afternoon to camp two of the three nights of the long Memorial Day weekend within 1 hour of the house.
We rolled into camp abut 6:30PM...and thank goodness for the group's dinner arrangements, which I loved and are transitioning into my camping trips. Everyone fixes their entree/meat for themselves and then brings a side to share. So while the guys straightened, leveled, and parked the trailer and used random boards to keep our stabilizers from sinking into the sand I got the kids fed from everyone else's good cooking.
We quickly added a few things to our to do list at the beginnig of the season when our definitely charged battery yielded no juice to the trailer...get some contact cleaner because our battery contacts were corroded enough we got no flow. With some light brushing we got it working and our friends who also own a pop-up got lessons of what to do when your water pump goes out and spent the weekend tinkering away on that.
As far as key learnings from packing. We do now have a list saved off in Word that we can print out everytime for the standard items and check-off to ensure they are loaded/stocked. I will ensure to post this list in the coming days as I need to amend it for some obvious ommisions.
We forgot the kids' nightlight and I am a firm believer in routine. I think kids can sleep about anywhere if you have a routine and try to replicate whereveer your travels take you. Well, forgetting the nightlight was a huge ommision in replication and we had to hang out with them until they were well into ZZZ-Land. The nightlight we use at home and travels is more eco-friendly with rechargable batteries...a TykeLight.
We thought we were doing good by having our first aid kit...and I even packed aspirin for the post vino-invibation, but we had no meds for the kids. I didn't panic though as again we were on the trial run...close to home when my son starting running his fever and his digestional tract hit the skids. And luckily our partners in camping remembered their's and additional buy to my list from here on out...Children's Tums. After all the samores and other camping staples do tend to play tricks on the munchkin tummy.
Otherwise we had a great time. The kids enjoyed a tree swing, waving to all the passer-by rafters & kayakers, and painting rocks (not a state or national park, so we can take more than a picture). So with a few minor adjustments and we will be ready to hit the trails at least 3 more times this summer:
Other Camping Related Posts:
...Until next week...get your Child on the Go this weekend!
1 comment:
Great advice. I need the must have packing list. Tim left us a pop up and we are going to get er going this month....!
Post a Comment