Precamping

Tomorrow Daughter, Husband, Daughter's-Best Friend (who will from hereafter be called DBF) and I are heading to Baraboo, Wisconsin to go camping for 3 days in Devil's Lake State Park. We go each year with a larger group of people and spend a *relaxing* weekend communing with nature. This is a tent camping excursion, not RV camping or hotel camping, so we're going to be going with just the bare essentials. Since we're leaving shortly after lunch tomorrow, today is precamping day. The day we start organizing our simple supplies.

First, DBF does not have a camping cot, so her family borrowed an air mattress from a neighbor. We wanted to make sure that it didn't have any leaks, so Daughter graciously tested it for DBF last night.

No leaks, works like a charm.

Next we start organizing the tents and tent related equipment.

Tents, cots, sleeping bags, chairs: check. We even had the foresight to get out our tent a couple of days ago and make sure that we would all fit in it. We could, in a major emergency, all fit in the main tent, but no one would be comfortable. The cots take up a surprising amount of room, and if you don't want to get wet you need to make sure NO ONE touches the inside of the tent if it rains. (Ask me how I know this. Or ask brother when he gets done laughing hysterically at the memory.) To ensure everyone's comfort, Daughter and DBF will be sleeping in their own tent this year. What? No I haven't lost my mind. Yes, I'm sure they'll stay in their own tent. YOU can stop laughing now.

Since there won't be anyone catering this particular event, we also need to get all of the cooking related items together, too.

Paper plates, plastic cutlery, cooking utensils, marshmallow forks, etc. All present and accounted for. Also accounted for are the multiple lists that make this whole endeavor run smoothly. Why so many lists? The first year of the camping trip, Husband and Daughter went without me. When they got home Husband mentioned several things that he forgot to take. I told him he should write them down so that he would remember next year. He scoffed. The next year we all went, and he remembered a lot of the things that he had forgotten the year before... because we had forgotten them again that year. I started making a list. I keep it in the camping box. Last year the only thing I didn't have was earplugs. Turns out Rock Cut State Park is 3.5 miles from the Rockford Speedway. Who knew?

After getting everything together I can only say that Lewis & Clark had less stuff to haul around while they were searching for the Northwest Passage. We are probably going to end up putting the spare luggage carrier on top of the Explorer just to get everything there. And we haven't packed the clothes or food yet. They're on another list.