[HPFGU-OTChatter] VERY OT!

[Saitaina]

Anna wrote:

<I need some moral support!
I about to embark on my first ever camping trip **what do you mean I 
can't bring my hair dryer?** 8-(>

My advice is to ENJOY IT.  Don't think about what you don't have, think about what you do, your with your family, in the beauty that is nature.  Forget about the life waiting you back home, just enjoy the moment you have then.

More advice, Pack books, extra batteries for flashlights (even if you are in the cottage, trust me on this), hell pack extra batteries for everything that may need it.  Er..that's about the only major things I can remember beyond needing two sleeping bags a person (reduces the cold), and not to be hasty in putting up tents (unless you LIKE rocks in your back) but those don't apply too well.

As for recipes my favorite is campside eclaires.  Refrigerated dough (can't remember which kind but you should be able to figure it out), vanilla pudding and chocolate sauce.  Roast the dough like a marshmallow, fill with pudding and cover in chocolate, tastes awesome.  

Also there are more things you can cook in aluminum (tin) foil then you could imagine so I recommend playing around with it.  Think of the campfire as a giant grill and you can cook practically anything with it (always helpful to actually bring a grill rack but not needed as the rocks around a campfire can be used just as well.

I hope this helps.  I've had years of camping under my belt (some good...some awful) but I've never once regretted a trip...except the one where my foster father threw a wrench at me but that's another story. :)

Oh, and advice for anyone reading this w/out indoor plumbing...invest in a camping porta potty.  Their a bit expensive but as they flush and you can create privacy....much better then the outhouses some camp-grounds have.  They were a godsend in my early, shy years.

Saitaina
Who has been camping since she was old enough to ask "Are we there yet?"
****
Oh hell, someone wake me when my happy ending starts... I wouldn't want to miss the flying pigs and ice skating demons.   


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