Morning Idaho.

 

Good afternoon, everyone. I'm enjoying the rain today. (We need a "sarcasm" smiley for some of my comments.) Are you?
Oh no you don't. You don't get to make a statement like this and not post a picture. How are you feeling? Does the doc think you're healing well?

 

Howdy Craig. Doing good other then my knee and a cold. How are you doing?

 

Doing quite well at the moment, Shaun. Spring break is over this weekend. My little one is heading back to EOU early Friday morning. My trailer is in the shop and will hopefully be ready this weekend. I've been barbecuing and grilling for my ladies all week. Even though it's raining today, I'm gonna throw some steaks on the grill, as long as the rain stays light like it's been for the last hour or so.

 

The semester will be over before you know it and she will be back home Craig. Sounds like a good end to the day. Hope the trailer doesn't need anything major. The University I work for had our spring break at the beginning of March. We only have Easter break next month and then it is pretty much the end of the year.

 

Not too major work being done to the trailer. On the trip up to EOU, the fiberglass covering on the door delaminated from the foam insulation. I pulled over and pulled it completely off so it would stop flapping in the wind. I was going to pull in at a hardware store to get a roll of duct tape. Unfortunately, before I could do that, the foam insulation blew out on the interstate, so we continued on to Oregon.

Rocking R Campers is a sponsor/member of my local truck club. I pass their shop on the way to EOU, so I stopped in and had a chat. They're rebuilding the door for me. It should be ready this weekend or early next week.

 

Sounds good Craig. I have to go into my shed soon so I can start getting my camping equipment out and inspected. I have one or two trips planned for this year. I also need to get another cot and another tote or two for holding stuff for my camp kitchen.

 

I hear ya. I replaced the single 12-volt with two 6-volt batteries. Those, plus my existing single solar panel setup, should help extend my dry-camping time. I keep the trailer plugged in when it's "home" to maintain the battery charge. I'll put a full-charge on the 6-volt batteries and unplug the trailer to see how long the charge might last.

My truck club schedules two to four camping/shooting trips each year. I'd like to attend a few of them this year.

 

Sounds like fun Craig. I havent used a trailer yet for camping. Have always just loaded up a tent,cot, and my totes along with a sleeping bag and cooler and hit the road.

 

We've gone from open-sky camping, to tents, a camper, then the trailer. We still have tents, too, just for extra outside storage and camping for the younger crowd. I have a smaller tent that is used for the "Prince's Tent," if you're familiar with that term. If you're not, let's just say the ladies don't always appreciate the proximity of trees or bushes for certain bodily functions.

 

I can understand that one Craig. I have 2 tents a 4 person tent and a 6 person tent. I might look into a trailer at some point but it is not in the cards for the forseeable future due to a lack of a storage place. I use either canvas tents or modern nylon tents. The canvas tents are 6 person tents.

 

We got lucky. Mom gave us the trailer seven years ago as a 20th Anniversary gift. It's been great. I've made a few repairs and upgrades here and there as funds allowed. With the addition of the new 6-volt batteries, she's ready to head out for a weekend or a week of camping/fishing/hunting. I have two 7-gallon propane bottles for heating and cooking purposes that came with the trailer. I'd like to put larger propane bottles on there, but that really hasn't been necessary so far.

 

Thats cool. For propane I use the small disposable 16 oz. tanks. Mainly for my propane lantern and the occasional use of the camp stove I take with me. For the most part all of my cooking is done in cast iron cookware over the camp fire.

 

I prefer cooking over a campfire, too, but sometimes I need to stay on the couch in front of the TV, whether at home or in the woods. With my multiple surgeries and back hardware, medications are involved in my camping trips now. I've come to terms with that and adjust accordingly.

 

I know how you feel sometimes Craig. Usually I will do pretty much everything when I go camping from setting up and tearing camp down to cooking. But thee are times where I'm just going to light the propane stove and make something quick on that and be done with it. The stove I can set on a picnic table which puts it at a good height to cook at.