Pseudo Camping

David and I are leaving on a trip on Friday, so we're busy with preparations. After his maternity final tomorrow morning, David has a week off. We're going to visit David's father in Louisiana for a few days, then his sister in Florida for a few more (with a quick stop in New Orleans to say hi to family). If circumstances allow (which means, if I am not an ice cube due to cold temps), we plan to camp two nights in Kisatchie National Forest.

With great foresight, David planned a visit to a nearby campground this past Sunday so we could familiarize ourselves with all the great camping gear we received as wedding gifts (or purchased with gift cards). We enjoyed the weather, the scenery (daffodils are blooming here!), and the time together. And we learned some things. For example: when you fill the water jug, make sure you screw the lid on tightly before putting it in the car. Water bottles cannot be refilled by water that has spilled all over the floor of the car. They can, however, be filled by campground pumps - at least the ones that have clear water. Second lesson: let the pump water flow out onto the ground to check its color before putting your water jug under the tap. If you accidentally get yourself a jugful of brown water, just dump it out (but not on your shoe!), rinse with clear water from the other pump, and say a prayer that your immune system exhibits great strength.

All that, and we hadn't even gotten to a campsite yet!

But when we did:

We figured out how to clear the ground, lay out the tarp, and unfold the tent.

We got the tent up, covered, and staked.

We sealed the tent and fly seams and let them dry.

We took a break to sit and pray.

David burned the lantern mantles (they took forever to turn white!).

And we brainstormed ways to get the lantern to light (the little matches didn't reach up close enough to the mantles, so David held a match with pliers, lit it with a lighter, and carefully guided it through the hole).

It worked!

We also learned it's not a good idea to spread the tent fly out on the ground, even on a dry day - the underside was wet when we picked it up, so we hung it out to dry on the clothesline when we got home.

Please say a prayer for a successful camping experience for us this weekend, in addition to safe travels. Things will be quiet around here while we're gone.