prepping for February

January is out. We're not camping this month for multiple reasons (none of them good when you want to be in front of a campfire).

February boasts an early 3 day weekend trip. We're already hashing out the menu- but Mama and my sister tried to cut me out!! They tell me this afternoon they've got most of it planned out. Humph. That's my only real duty besides towing the Covered Wagon. I don't give up my responsibility easily- especially because I'm now on a diet and they're just watching what they eat... Double humph.

It's been fairly cold the past couple of days- I even put on an extra blanket- but nothing that equals Silver River at Thanksgiving and that's where we're going again!! :)

the bear facts

So, like I always say- we don't eat or store food in the Covered Wagon as there's a few state parks we stay at which advise when they have "active bears." If you've realized the item on the right in the photo is an RV you'd probably consider this bear "active" as he's in their site. They were inside with their dogs. Our site was directly behind my sister who took this photo. We were literally across the street. The next night my aunt stayed in the site just to the right of this one and found bear "scat" on the path which led from her site to the bath house. He is just a young 'un but old enough to be away from his mama. Unfortunately, he wasn't really scared of anyone and that's bad news. Bears need to be scared of people so they'll stay away and not have to be tranquilzed and hauled off somewhere- which is probably this little one's fate in the near future.

home again

So my sister and I went out two nights ago but did the "lite" camping thing- no cooking. LOL Here, we are- food hounds with incredible menus- and we've had 2 mini camping trips with limited cooking in a row... I'd hang my head but my big, fat belly's in the way!! We ate at a fastish-food Mexican place after setting up camp. We stopped to get a few things at her house on the way back. We had a small fire and went to bed. For lunch on New Year's Eve my sister and I went to a different chain (fastish-food Mexican) which has a hot sauce bar. [evil grin] I chose to add a hot sauce called "Endorphin Rush" to my meal: it makes my tongue swell for about 5 minutes and I blow a few tons of mucus out of my nose. Pity my poor sister. I think the memory will help her diet, though.

Mama and the dog joined us for New Year's Eve with great food. My aunt had a site nearby. Last year they'd been rained out for part of the trip but we had great weather this year. It was a bit chilly but nothing like 36 degrees. (the 40's, I think) We had a nice night in the campsite though there were issues with the fire. My theory is the wood wasn't "dry" enough (though it wasn't wet- I think it was too fresh and there was too much sap). My aunt did a great job of keeping it going by poking and prodding it and making sure there was air flow under the logs.

We all slept pretty well and the three of us had a nice breakfast. My aunt went bike riding in the AM vs. breakfast with us- she's the active type who kayaks and bike rides regularly. We are slugs. :)

My sister will make the reservations for next year's New Year's Eve soon. We all agreed to meet back there!!

Menu:
New Year's Eve
turkey burgers for the carnivores
soy sausages for the veggie-vore
grilled corn
grilled onions
veggie baked beans from a can (I love those!)
nice wheat buns and condiments

New Year's AM
scrambled eggs in butter
grits with butter and cheese
coffee for the 2 freaks
rich dark chocolate cocoa for me
(water for the dog who did get a bite of eggs and grits)