To cheer myself up I focus today on addressing my food and sleep needs during the forthcoming camping trip.
Can we resume a search for the perfect sleeping bag? – I ask Ed. We are now only two days away from our departure. The last time we looked was back in April – with no success. Ed thought I should be governed in my selection by weight and price, I thought I should be governed by color. We did also agree that it should keep me warm. No bag satisfied all the above.
At REI, I am overtaken by panic shopping. Forget (for the moment) about sleeping bags. Let’s get back to the eating issue.
I purchased Annie’s packets of mac&cheese at Whole Foods. But we need a big pot to boil water in.
I have a pot. It holds probably a cup and a half.
Annie’s says you need to boil the mac in 6 cups of water!
Maybe we need different mac and cheese. Or, look at this:
We are heading into the wilderness with only one pot that boils only one and a half cups of water at a time? What happened to the rip roaring fire with a nice hefty pot suspended over it and potatoes roasting in the embers?
You do not light campfires these days.
No pots? No campfires? Okay, fine. I will use this opportunity to lose the handful of pounds that joined me in southern France.
You can’t diet on a camping trip.
You can’t camp with a pot that boils only one and a half cups of water at a time.
At least there is success at the sleeping bag front. I love the pale pale green cloth with a touch of orange inside. I’m not too crazy about the idea that sleeping bags are described as mummy-shaped, but I will try not to think about that as I am lying there in the wilderness among savage beasts and poisonous plants. The bag feels cozy and soft – a great place to hide with my sorrows each night if sorrows there be.
testing bags on the REI floor
At Willie Street co-op, we shop for the essential snackie foods. Ed tells me we need about a half a pound per day.
How about dried papaya? I ask
How about trail mix? He asks
How about mango bits? I ask
You get the feeling that there are some very different taste buds going out camping together in a couple of days.
No lattes, no wine. No computer, no shower. Freeze dried salmon and one and a half cups of boiling water per sitting.
Camping sounds fun.
You know what I always loved about camping? I loved that my mummy bag and my (former) sweetie's mummy bag zipped together. Very cozy and romantic, especially when there was a thunderstorm.
ReplyDeleteBut do take along some good sausage. Tuna travels well too.
Okay, you're joking about the "no wine," thing, right? TELL ME YOU'RE JOKING! You can't go into the woods without wine!
ReplyDeleteYou've just helped me build my ongoing case for never going camping. Looking forward to some good photos, though!
I hope you bought a sleeping bag for the right temperatures... I thought I was sooo cool buying a sleeping bag for subzero nights.
ReplyDeleteIt turns into a sweat lodge in ordinary montane nighttime temperatures. It's awful to wake up soaked in your own sweat in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere.
tonya: I should wish for a thunderstorm? Maybe not.
ReplyDeletejenny: this dinner without wine thing is killing me as well. What better time to sip a chilled rose wine then when eating such delicacies as freeze dried salmon with bits of pesto noodles?
me: in truth, I have camped. Lots. When I was MUCH younger. I liked it THEN. Before I discovered fluffly white towels after hot showers and chilled rose wines on summer evenings.
chuck b.: that has been a concern for me. I bought a bag that's good for down to 15 degrees. I did it because for only ten dollars more and four ounces more of goose feathers, I bought myself ten more degrees of comfort. Seemed worth it at the time since everyone knows I get chilled easily. Now I am reading that they are experiencing a warm week in the Rockies. But, ever mindful of your comment, I bought many wet, sealed towelettes to wipe up the sweat on nights where it may be too stuffy. In a tent meant for one and a half, in a sleeping bag meant for 15 degree cold spells.