Friday, June 21, 2013

Getting Ready

I was planning on clearing the garden today but it rained.  Instead, we went into planning mode for the Canada tour.

I dug around for a while and finally found my passport.  I was pretty sure it hadn't expired and thank goodness, it hadn't.  I will have to renew it in the fall of 2014 before we go to New Zealand. Meanwhile it is in the glove compartment where it will stay until I go over the bridge at Sault Ste Marie and enter Canada.

In the next couple of days, we'll put up my $29.95 tent, the one I've been using for over fifteen years. Gary will spray it again to seal the seams to keep out the rain.

Gary insisted on going to DePere to shop for a bit of carpeting to lay down on the back of the car. The rear seats will be folded down to create my emergency sleeping area.  Even if the tent is rain proof, I will have to take it down every morning to .  A wet tent is a horrible thing to keep in car.  The interior becomes humid and on a hot day the tent smells musty.

On top of the carpet goes my self-inflating air mattress.  In my younger days, I slept on the ground but these days my old bones need a softer surface. On top of the air mattress goes my cold weather sleeping bag and on top of that the cool weather bag.  Once I arrive at a campsite, I back the car in, set up the tent directly behind the car, open the rear hatch and slide the sleeping area into the tent. Easy.

The other side of the back area is for camping gear and clothes.  I have a set of drawers that I can access through the side door behind the driver's seat. That's where my clothes go, especially the performance clothes. Behind that is camping and cooking gear.  I'll take packages of dry packaged food and tea.  Nothing else, I don't want to attract animals. These will be cooked over my one burner stove using a set of aluminum pans that nest into each other.  One cup, one bowl, one spoon, one fork, one knife. There is no point to over packing.

Gary is insisting that I take a ten inch tall lantern but I am opting for a three inch lantern I've used in the past. Since the sun won't set until around 10:00 up in Canada, I don't see the need to worry overmuch about light. I think I will win that argument.

Bungee cords always come in handy, so I'll have a set of those.

Need I mention the "piss pot?"  With old age, that's a necessity.  It goes into a corner of the tent for those darn midnight emergencies.

The first aid kit, the bag of toiletries. The autoharp. My Nook with at least a dozen new books to read. Paperwork for the venues that includes invoices. Those go in the seat and floor in the passenger area.

Plus my computer so that I can continue to post on this blog every night.


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