Friday, September 5, 2008

Cold Camping








Now that’s I’ve finally warmed up, it’s time to tell you about our camping adventure.

First, some history. We had a motor home but found that since we moved into the horse world, we didn’t use it much so we sold it a few months ago. We have a modified stock trailer with a largish tack room so we planned to stay in it if the need arose.

In June we went to a wedding in the Glenwood Valley and stayed in the trailer. It was a VERY hot weekend but the trailer worked out great. With a port-a-potty in the tack room we were set. We didn’t have horses with us so we just pressure washed the trailer and set up cots. We used a couple of bungees to keep the doors closed while we were in the trailer. Over all, it was a nice set up.

Now for this past weekend.

We had a great time with our friends and took a couple of real nice, relaxing rides. Just the ticket for the end of summer. What we didn’t have completely planned out was the weather. We knew it was getting cold at night and even talked with some friends in the valley and heard that the temps over night were in the low 30’s. No problem. We have good warm clothes and a double sleeping bag. It was a bit crispy getting to bed but with hoods and socks and several layers, we were tough. Dennis wanted to take pictures of us bundled up for the night but I said no. I didn't need pictures to remember looking like the 'michelin man'. What we hadn’t planned out was the ‘weight’ of our sleeping bags. They had been really good bags for our motor home. But those ‘good to 40 degrees’ bags were no match for 28 degree over night temperatures. About 2 AM, after not being able to sleep for quite some time, I finally called uncle and told Dennis I just had to get warm. We climbed into the truck and drive around for about 20 minutes to unthaw. It is quiet and dark way out there in the middle of the night. No all night minit marts either. We spent the rest of the night sleeping in the truck covered with the sleeping bags and turning the truck back on occasionally to warm up.

I am game for sleeping in the trailer again but it either needs to be warmer over night or we need to shop for some heavier bags.

Note for future trips in the horse trailer:
- Don’t look into the living quarter trailers of others camping with you.
- Put down pelleted bedding with the horses so it is easy to clean out the trailer before we move in for the weekend
- Take a battery lantern for light in the trailer
- Take along some throw rugs to walk on in the trailer
- BUY NEW BAGS

Someone once said that the worse the trip, the better the stories. The trip wasn’t bad but that was certainly a night to remember.

Stay tuned ......
And Blessings to you all,
Jody

No comments: