Doug Goodman

We returned from camping a day early.   A cold front came through on Saturday that was a bit more than we could handle.  It meant we couldn't make campfire steaks, but it was worth coming home early.

Day One:

11:30 am

Packed up and ready to go.  Out the door and on the road.

11:35 am

Realized I left my allopurinol at home.  I won't eat much red meat if I don't have some.  Heading back home.

12:30 pm

Guy in truck on I-45 honks at us to let us know that our kayak is dangerously close to falling off.  At the next exit, we pulled over and adjusted it.  I think it would have made the trip, but the cords were really letting the sit-on-top shift.  I added two more lines (one up front and one in the back) for just-in-case.

2:30 pm

Yeah!  Lake Somerville!  The ranger reminds me that it will get really cold and rainy on our last night.

3:00 pm

While setting up the tent, I notice that the rain run-off would go straight through the tent.  We move the tent a few feet to the side.

6:00 pm

Chili.  Yum!!!  I use one pound of chorizo for every pound of turkey meat.  The chorizo makes for great flavoring.  I wished I had made some cornbread too, though.  (This is a meal you cook before you go camping, so all you do is heat it up.)

Day Two:

10:00 am

 Kids go on a hiking trip.  My wife and I take our youngest kayaking.

10:30 am

We get the kayaks unloaded and down to the lake, only to discover that the waves are really choppy.  Despite the non-existant weather conditions back at camp (not 100 yards away), the lake is a completely different story.  We make a few attempts, but eventually have to give it up.  Next time, we need to run a more complete weather forecast.

6:00 pm

Quesadillas.  Yum!!!  I bring a griddle which I used to cook the tortillas.  For cheese, chicken, green peppers and onions, this is a great meal.  It is also relatively painless to make, so I recommend it for family camping trips. 

7:00pm

Somebody at the campfire asks me about "that thing you do with the dogs."  That leads into some really interesting conversation.  One thing about being a cadaver dog handler, you never lack for a conversation piece...

9:00 pm

Guys love to sit around the campfire and throw things in it to watch it melt.  Especially bottles.  Earlier in the day, I went to the store and bought back bass bait, popcorn, and vaseline.  That night, I learned that vaseline is a fire retardent and not an accelerant.  The bass bait nearly exploded.  Also, I learned that popcorn does not pop well in extreme heat.

Next time, I need to further my experiments by throwing in raw popcorn, and I also need to try pork rinds.  Maybe beef jerky, too...

Day Three

1:00 am

What I should have done is before I went to bed, I should have put up the tarps and checked the rain fly. 

4:00 am

I get up to go to the bathroom.  It is sprinkling.

8:00 am

It is raining hard.  I am using twine and my scissors multi-tool from the SAR pack to tie tarps to our shade stand.  What I create can only be called Tarp-Mahal.

9:00 am

My wife points out the water run-off.  As predicted, where we originally were placing the tent would have put it right in the middle of the run-off.  Kudos to us, we will be much drier now.

10:00 am

My cameras are delivered.  They had been sitting out in the rain all night and all morning.  Fortunately, they were in a weather-resistant case, so even though the case is wet as a monsoon, the cameras are dry.  Good product...

12:00 pm

We get the news that a windstorm is also coming through, so everybody else is leaving early.  My youngest is shivering, so despite the coziness and warmth of Tarp-Mahal, we are leaving, too.  No reward is worth this. 

2:00 pm

We load up the kayaks last.  The cords work much better this time.  I think I was putting a loop in them when I loaded the kayaks for the trip up.  This allowed for more shifting room.  This time, the kayaks don't budge.

4:00 pm

We arrive back home.  Tired, wet, and weary, but we had an adventure, and we expanded our comfort zones.  We did a lot of things right, and we took extra precautions (extra tarps, twine, etc.) that really paid off, but we also paid dearly for not having gotten the right clothes.  It all goes back to the ten essentials.  We were prepared on nine of them, but not ten.  None of us had proper footgear, my wife had a rain jacket only because of my SAR pack, and my children had nothing. 

8:00 pm

I go to feed the dogs.  It is freezing outside, and the wind is knocking things over.  I'm glad we decided to come home.