Monday, May 01, 2006

A strange kind of camping

On Thursday, I have to get up way before the crack of dawn to drive to the airport. I will then fly to Phoenix, Arizona (a state I've never visited before) to meet up with my husband (that's so fun to say!), and we'll fly together to Flagstaff (With all the flying time I'll be logging this week, maybe I'll actually finish those Samus sleeves). So, why are we going to Flagstaff? Because it's the closest airport to Grand Canyon National Park and we plan to spend the weekend camping, hiking, and celebrating Taz's birthday. I am sooooo excited!!!


Photo thanks to this site.

My parents took me on my first camping trip when I was four years old. I have owned my own tent, sleeping bag, backpack, and cook kit for years. I have had to scare black bears away from my campsite, I've canoed against my fair share of headwinds, and I've been to parts of Canada that many Canadians don't even know are there (Pickle Lake, anyone?). I like to think I know a thing or two about camping. And this trip is just three nights of car camping, in a campground with hot showers.

However, I am feeling strangely baffled when I confront the idea of packing for this trip. I am completely at home in the woods of the North, but high desert plateau is a climate utterly unfamiliar to me. I checked the weather forecast, and it's supposed to be sunny and low humidity everyday. Highs in the mid 70s. Sounds awesome, right? Well, there's one little issue: The lows at night will only be in the high 30s!!! That's just a few degrees above freezing! I'll want shorts and tank tops, but we'll also need long underwear, wool socks, and probably extra bedding for inside the tent (This is only Taz's second trip, and I don't want him to be put off camping forever because of three nights of frostbitten toes!!!). If this were a normal car camping trip, I wouldn't have to worry about doing a good packing job, because whatever didn't fit in the trunk could be crammed into the back seat, or even tied to the roof. But since I have to fly there first, I have to fit a tent, two sleeping bags, extra bedding, pots and pans, and oh yeah, clothes, into two suitcases and/or large backpacks and a carry-on. I can't begin to tell you how strange it feels to be packing for a camping trip using a regular suitcase.

OK, so maybe knitting's not the only thing I get obsessive about...

Anyway, that's my big excuse for not having any knitting- or book-related content for you today, and for the fact that I haven't yet gotten around to uploading the pictures from our wonderful weekend with H and her husband.

Now, to close, I offer you some gratuitous cat photos:


A slightly dark shot of Ivy chilling on the bookshelf.



Ben wrestling with his favorite chair.

3 comments:

claudia said...

Husband. Very nice.

Zarzuela said...

Whoa. Sounds cool. Hope you manage to get everything in those bags and have fun!

Jessica

Joanne M said...

Don't forget to pack the wool hats to sleep in and keep you warm! Good luck packing and if you check your camping backpack as luggage, take one of the big plastic bags they offer to put it in so the buckles don't break off (can you tell that happened to me once?)... sounds like a fabuloso trip!