So, a great weekend that went by way too fast is behind us. Did we have a great time? You betcha! Did we get a good test of all of our gear? Beyond a doubt! Did we realize a few things we could tweak for improvements? Oh heck yeah!
First off I just want to say that it was SO great to get back to the outdoors and do some camping. It’s been FAR too long since I’ve been out and that relaxed and, I have to admit I honestly thing I enjoyed it 1000% more than I used to (which was already quite a bit)! Gena and I both got more relaxing sleep at night, despite the partying college kids a few sites over the first night, and the late night Russian duo setting up the second night. The dogs seemed to enjoy the outdoors and were pretty stimulated by being out of their normal settings, and were content with discovering every new inch of the place. The kids? Oh yeah, they were there too. Everyone had a great time and we loved everything except for the coming home portion of the weekend. About and hour or so was set aside to debate the pros and cons of calling in “sick” for the next 2 days of work!
The gear performed great, with a few exceptions. We quickly learned that some of the items we thought we needed, or needed alot of, didn’t really pan out as all that useful. We also realized that a few things we (ok, me) had doubted, came out to be pretty dang nifty out in the field. Pie Irons ftw. I’ll cover things more specifically in some individual posts in the “Our Gear” category as the week progresses and I get some pics to pair up with my thoughts.
One thing I think everyone can declare approval for was the large tents we ended up using. So much space, there was never a need to crouch when getting changed, or moving items around to make room to stand somewhere. It was great being able to keep the large dog cage in our tent with us, and barely having it intrude on our living space. The kids enjoyed being able to sleep all 3 in a tent, with ample room to move around too. While it’s not an RV setup quite yet, the ample room meant we were pretty comfortable, and could have remained that way for quite a long time if work schedules and supplies permitted.
We’re leaving the cars pretty well packed with the non-perisable supplies, and already discussing our return to Cachuma in 2 weeks. While site 311 was a winner in our books all around, we’re going to aim for another site next trip, to get a bit different of a view. Before then, expect many updates here on specifics, and oh yeah … TONS of photos!