I did it again....camping

Well, I did it again. I camped.  My first attempt was in September 2012 and after that, I figured, sure, I could sleep in a tent.

So, when I started looking into Moab, the hotels were selling out fast and I didn't want to spend $200 a night for hotels when I wanted to be there for at least 4 days.  It seemed I either had to wait or suck it up and try sleeping in a tent.

I remembered my last experience when I was freezing.  This time I researched sleeping bags and ended up buying one of those mummy 0 degree ones and a sleeping pad.  I borrowed a tent and lantern from my room mate.

Site.  See how close the neighbors are.

I had full days planned, so really, this was just a place to sleep and I chose this RV resort because it had a bathroom/shower and other people close by, since I'd be alone, this seemed safe.  (And I didn't want to chance the non reservations at the parks...but also that is real camping, I am not ready for that).

yea, finally, a mallet.  Now we can get this up

My friend ended up joining me.  She never did this before, so it was the blind leading the blind with me some how being the 'expert' since I booked the trip.  When we arrived at the campsite, we attempted to put up the tent.  Tent assembly is relatively easy, however the ground was as hard as a rock, and a mallet was not included in my roommates tent bag.  We struggled trying to get our posts into the ground.  I asked a neighbor if they had a mallet I could borrow, but he said they also didn't bring one and he struggled to get his in.  We continued for about 20 minutes trying to swirl and push and pound the pegs.  My friend didn't stop complaining and kept saying we needed a mallet, but yet was unwilling to ask anyone.  I finally got up and asked the other neighbor if they had one and they graciously let us borrow it.  Then it was fairly easy.  Note to self, buy a mallet, maybe keep it in the car.

The reservation at the campsite was for three nights, so once the hard part of putting it up was done, it was little work.  The following day my friend said she wanted to BBQ.  Yikes, this was not on my to-do because I didn't bring any of this equipment.  I hadn't started a fire except for in a fireplace at Mountain Man's house a few years ago.   I was dreading it, but it was something she really wanted to do, so we'd figure it out.    After the day at Arches, we were worn out and knew it would be an 'early' night, perfect for grilling.  We went to the store.  Spent like $25 on food.  Another $5 on wood and $5 on matches and Vaseline, oh and $1 for ice.  As I was dicing up the veggies and chicken, she begins the fire.  But it started to downpour; hard.  she runs into the car and I am left to clean up and get things in the cooler.  I sat in the car too and after 15 minutes we decide to go to the brewery to wait it out.  Along the way is when we got the ice so we wouldn't give ourselves food poisoning.  I ask Mountain Man how to start a fire when our wood was drenched.  He suggested the Vaseline.  Once the rain stopped and we headed back, friend needed to use bathroom and make calls.  Instead of just waiting around twiddling my thumbs, I figured I'd start on the fire, it was already 7.  It was slow, but I started to get it going, but let it die out when friend looked extremely upset that I started the fire when she wanted to.  So, after about 45 minutes, our fire was up and going.  We cooked our foil packets of chicken with vegetables and by 8:30 or 9:00 pm we were eating.  Since the fire was still going, we decided to make smores, because what kind of camping didn't involve smores?


All in all, I really enjoyed the 'camping' thing.  I can totally handle more than just sleeping in a tent at this point, but not ready enough to camp in an area that had no facilities.

My sleeping bag was so hot and restricting for someone who sleeps flamingo; I couldn't sleep in it this time but used it for padding and when the occasional chill happened.  I know it will be a good bag for the future.  The sleeping pad was good, and considering I got it at Costco for $36 instead of a place like REI for $120....because I wasn't sure if I'd do it again, it worked out perfectly and I didn't feel the rocks and uneven ground under me, which is kinda the point.

I left those few days thinking that if only I was willing to try this sooner, my moving trip from NY to CO could have been a lot different, longer and even more enjoyable.  I could have really taken my time, visited places and stayed in places longer than I could have by renting a hotel room, I could have seen more.   But, I try not to believe in regrets and what could have been, I just need to remember this for the future.