Cross Country Camping (and Cabin): Part Une

I'll be honest: the first stretch of our cross-country trip was exhausting. It's tough to set up camp and then take it down in 15 hours or less, especially after a long day of driving.  Plus with extreme heat, lots of mosquitoes, and surprising sources of stress (Paco shivering from fright on curvy mountain roads, spotting a black bear a couple miles from the cabin in Montana, yellow jackets infesting our campsite in eastern Washington, tempers flaring, etc.) I arrived in Portland dirty, tired, full of bug bites, extra freckles, and chapped lips that remained a lovely (but painful) deep red color until I finally was able to recover from my dehydration days later.

That being said, there were some lovey moments on the trip. Lola turned out to be a champion car-dog as she would nap or stare out the window. We got faster at packing up camp in the morning and we made some delicious food even for being prepared on a one-burner propane stove. We saw beautiful scenery, witnessed a bison and the full moon in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and had lunch with Jessie and Dori at a state park in Wisconsin as we crossed paths going in opposite directions across the country.

The surprisingly pleasant little enclave campsite at Minneapolis' NW KOA

More beauty at Teddy Roosevelt

Bison at Teddy Roosevelt

Lovely, semi-secluded campsite in Teddy Roosevelt National Park

Badland-esque geological features at Teddy Roosevelt

Action shot of Lola at the Little Missouri River near our campsite in Teddy Roosevelt National Park

The hunting cabin in Montana

A man and his campfire breakfast

The view from the cabin in Montana: our car, corraled

Lola and I hiding from what I thought was my second bear sighting of the day

The "bear" turned out to be a herd of cattle. We were surrounded by cattle.

This place is hell. Too many mosquitoes and yellow jackets. Get me out of here. -in Liberty Lake, WA

Jessie and Dori in WI

The gals do  lunch

Camping, Proud Lake, Michigan

This weekend we did a trial camping run with our new gear, the dogs, and luckily for us, some friends. My friend Kyle and his family joined us for a night in Proud Lake, per his suggestion. It seemed like everyone in the greater Detroit area also went camping at Proud Lake, which makes sense as it was a holiday weekend.  Though the campground was crowded with many other tents, campers, dogs, and families with children who played chicken with cars on their bikes, in a way the "village" aspect of the campground was nice. I don't see (or hear!) my neighbors in Bowling Green with as much frequency as our neighbors at the campground. Perhaps because there are fewer, or at least thinner, walls separating folks, and we're all sharing a lot of dirt and meddlesome storm clouds and beautiful fireflies, some folks were perhaps more friendly than in their normal day-to-day lives. Having our beautiful brindle babies didn't hurt in making acquaintances as Paco and Lola received plenty of attention and the usual "What kind of dogs are they?" question with also plenty of guesses.

It seems as though we figured out the camping thing pretty well our first time around, with only a small list of purchases or items to add to the car trunk before we head out on the road (small broom and dustpan for the tent, plus a mat to wipe our feet, for example). The tent is HUGE! We easily fit an inflatable mattress, a dog bed, our duffle bag and, when it rained, our collapsible chairs, plus two humans and two dogs, and we had room for another dog bed.  The Coleman burner was a dream as it cooked or boiled super fast. The collapsible ice chest was cool looking and a nice size, though the ice melts in a day, which I thought was normal, but Javier said there are some that preserve ice for two days, and I overheard some neighbors talk about their electric cooler (granted, their car battery died as a result of running this electric cooler).

So our roadtrip out west should prove to be a success. While I will miss not having friends with us while we camp--Kyle, Katie, Teddy and Lydia were so much fun to be with--we will get to see plenty of friends in Portland, Seattle, L.A. Tucson, and points elsewhere, and we'll have this camping thing down pat once we return to BG in August.

The Conway/Castillo & Pawlowski/Westfall human and dog family portraits

Dogs on a hill

The Castillo castle

Antics

Javier waiting for his dinner

Proud Lake: dogs not allowed on beaches

Campsite

Teddy and Paco pose for the camera

Lydia not amused with Javier's antics (let it be said that, according to Lydia,  Javier and Lola --who knocked Lydia down in her excitement--are not allowed to visit us at our own house in BG when her family comes to town. Paco an I are welcome, though)

Some serious looking dudes

Lola licking something up from under the picnic table

Food Diary

NY Whiskey Sour

Peaches and green beans

Rhubarb hamantaschen

Eggplant sandwich with beet salad and feta; probably the best sandwich I've ever had

Not the best photo, but this is a peach dumpling with bourbon sauce

Javier's eggplant calzone

Wheat raspberry scone

Thanks again, Smitten Kitchen, for the recipes--you're the best

Cross Country Cruise Part II: Food

Okay, so food is more important to me than gear, that's why I'm leading with this post. Here are ideas for do-ahead meals (r.e. pre-made in BG, packed in a cooler, and good for a couple days) so we can eat luxuriously on the road. We're taste-testing many of these recipes this week, and so far they're all winners. Where did I get the recipes? From BA, of course.

Roast Provençal Chicken; probably the best roasted chicken I've made yet

Chicken served with some marinated veggies

Cherry tomato Vinaigrette: Amazing on pasta with feta

Noodle salad with pickled vegetables

Cross Country Cruise: Plans, Part I

Javier, the dogs and I are headed on an epic road trip mid-July. The first major destination is Portland to see some dear friends get married. Next, Los Angeles for a film conference, then Tucson, and finally we'll circle back to ol' BG before the school year starts (and before my sister, nephew, and mom come for a visit!).

What's special about this trip is that we'll be camping part of the way. Javier and I have never camped together before, the dogs have never camped at all, Lola has never been in the car for long distances... Will tempers be tested? Yes. But until then I'm having a blast planning everything out. I love to plan in general, but I love to travel plan best.

My favorite part of the planning process has been figuring out driving distances, mapping our route, and finding places to stay.

Here's our route:

The first day on the road will be a doozy. Ten and-a-half hours just to get to a KOA outside Minneapolis. Propping up a tent in a glorified RV park isn't very appealing, but I figure it'd be better to get a big chunk of the mileage done on the first day so we can enjoy our time in the national parks down the interstate. Also, Javier is severely afraid of ticks, and WI (the closer camping option) is a hot spot for those Lyme disease-ridden buggers.  Plus, this KOA in Maple Grove, MN (sounds lovely, doesn't it?) has putt-putt golf (see below), so that's all we'll nee to unwind, right?

The next day, though, it gets really good: the Badlands of North Dakota and Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park:

Looking at this, I can imagine myself queuing up Springsteen's Darkness on the Edge of Town

Hopefully we'll see some of these, preferably at a distance from our tent.

On day three we'll be in Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest outside Butte, Montana. Specifically, we'll be staying in High Rye Cabin, built in 1919 near a mining district in the Fleecer Mountains. There's a creek nearby, but no running water in High Rye, which is fine because we chose to stay in a cabin to avoid bears. And according to all the warnings on the forest service website, there's a lot of bears in Beaverhead-Deerlodge. No thanks.

High Rye Cabin

Then off to Portland, with perhaps a brief stop-over in Seattle to see Kari and Collin. If anyone can recommend a good pet-friendly hotel in the City of Roses, or a good dog sitter for that matter (we need Paco and Lola watched for a night while we're at Beth and Chris' ceremony), that would be fantastic.

After the reunion with old friends, and after a bit of urban dwelling, it's back on the road, this time on the Pacific Coast Highway.  We'll camp for a night (or two!) in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. I did some research, and Hidden Springs campground seemed like a good bet, but we'll see what spot catches our fancy when we get there.

I'd like to see this, please, among the redwoods.

Depending on Javier's schedule at the conference, we may have another night to camp along the PCH. I need to do some more in-depth research, but so far Limekiln State Park sounds pretty sweet. 

Then off to L.A., or Orange County more precisely, where the dogs and I will be chilling while Javier spends his daylight hours at Chapman University. No camping in SoCal, unless we stop off in Joshua Tree on the way to Tucson. 

I don't think there will be any camping on the return trip. It costs more to camp in the Sandias outside Albuquerque than it does to stay at a Motel 6, and there's no way I'm camping anywhere near Oklahoma City, especially after the disaster this week. Same goes for camping near St. Louis, which is our normal penultimate stopover before our arrival home.

In "Cross Country Cruise: Plans Part II": Gear

A preview: Should we buy this tent?....

Food Diary VII

All recipes courtesy of Smitten Kitchen or Bon Appetite

Smörgåsbord open-face sandwich with smoked salmon; potato, horseradish, yogurt, lemon and dill spread; topped with radishes and dill

Maple bacon, pickled onion, fried egg, sriracha/mayo sauce, plus arugala 

Spring risotto with poached egg

Minestrone soup with homemade turkey meatballs

Roasted poblano peppers stuffed with corn risotto

Homemade meatballs with tomato glaze and brown butter mashed potatoes

Zucchini, corn, black beans and corn tortilla with poached egg

Food Diary VI (Biscuits)

Berry/Apple Cobbler with Buttermilk Biscuit Topping

Chicken Dumpling Soup with Chive Buttermilk Biscuit

Acorn Squash with Lime, cilantro and pepita dressing

Honey, Lemon, Rosemary roasted chicken with shallots

Sourdough Loaf

Hungarian Fennel Farmhouse Loaf