Friday nght was my daughter's Girl Scout family camping trip. We decided to go on it to meet the other families and have some fun camping. We had all the things needed to camp (well maybe i forgot a few things). I had to take down our tent that has been up in the backyard for the last few weeks. I loaded up the truck with everything and we headed out. Got to the campground around 7:30 and started setting up. We got the tent up and as we were placing the poles there was a ripping sound. there were a couple 3-4 inch tears in the wall of the tent. As I went to the truck for the roll of duct tape in the toolbox, my three year old son saw the tears and decided it was a doggy door. Before i could get back to the tent he had opened the rip into about 3-4 feet long and then proceeded to come out of the tent by way of another rip in the other side.

Murphy strikes again.

I left the campground and drove the hour to the nearest WalMart (where else am i going to go at 8 o'clock at night). Bought a new tent and a head lamp (nothing special made by Energizer). The head lamp was a great thing to buy as I then spent from 9:30 to sometime after 10 putting the tent up with some help from the other Girl Scout parents. As we start to put our stuff in the tent we realize we are one sleeping bag short. (That would be one of the things i forgot). As it ended up my son and girlfriend used one sleeping bag and twin size air mattress. My daughter and her friend (who is also in the Girl Scouts and came with us because her mom couldn't go) slept on a twin size air mattress with their two sleeping bags. I slept on the floor of the tent with a sleeping bag because i forgot my inflatable mattress. I think I need a list to go by next time I am packing the truck. We didn't pack enough warm clothes for any of us.

Things learned:

Make a list
double check the list
Bring extra clothes for everyone
A trangia stove will not make my percolating coffee pot boil but it will keep the coffee warm after the propane stove makes it
When using a cast iron griddle make sure to bring a metal spatula
Head lamps are a very useful tool

Next time should be more fun (I hope)

Oh well, in five years they'll look back fondly on the adventure.

-Blast

Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt. I am still the object of great fun when the family talks about past trips and the things I forgot.

So, I add an item between "make a list" and "double check the list": "Go over list with DW".

Frank2135