Getting Prepped for Our Trip

February 17, 2016

Getting Prepped for Our Trip

Yes, it’s early. We aren’t going on our cross country camping/fishing vacation trip until early summer when the kids are out of school. But you have to prepare for trips like this in advance (click on any of the product/video pics below for links).

Every camping season I do the same thing. I go into our finished basement area where we store our camping stuff, organized and in a special open area where it won’t get ruined. I pull out our linens, towels, bathroom floor mats, etc… and start to separate what needs to be washed for our first trip out.

I check our pantry and see what foods need to be thrown out, what dishes should be re-washed. Make sure the heater, grill, etc… is still working. And of course I wash linens between every trip but when items are sitting from late summer/early fall one year until spring the next, it’s good to freshen everything up.

This year I decided to do some massive camping upgrades. We already have a large 2 room tent, 2 queen size air mattresses, a mosquito canopy, pantry, dishes, cookware, grills and more. But I had a few things that I’ve decided over the years I really want too…

A grilling station where I can prep and cook. A cleaning station for dishes so I don’t have to squat at water areas. And I wanted to move all that stuff under the mosquito canopy so if we end up in a swarm like we did one-time last year, I can shut myself in and still cook for Jaime and the kids, no problem.

So then we needed another canopy for shade to go over the picnic tables, or our new portable picnic table. It’s for shade and in case it rains so everyone can still come out and enjoy the outdoors. No getting shut in for us.

I actually broke down and got an A/C unit for this year. Last year we were stuck in a heat wave that was well over 100 degrees and we were all sleepy and had heat exhaustion. I paid $$ fast to get in the local pool and we were all so red faced. I’ll rock the hot weather until it’s unbearable and then our tent has a cool vent in the back where you put an A/C unit. I’ll feel better knowing the kids have a safe cool place to hide out if it gets too hot.

And besides the other things pictured like oversized beach towels for when we hit Tybee Island, GA and the FL Keys it’s pretty much everything I upgraded. Now I can’t wait to hit the road. And I can’t wait to hit the Florida marinas that we are staying at! So the last thing I’ll get in a few weeks here is our fishing licenses for Florida so we’re all legal and legit.