In the summer of Covid 19 (and please let there be only one) we are not straying far from home. We are camping for just over a week and we are about 45 minutes from our front door. No matter. We are out here with the birds and the squirrels and we are close enough to run home for groceries and a shower. Why not? We’ve done some decent hikes that are new to us and some that we’ve hiked many times before.
Certain things are constant when we’re camping and one of those is the kettle I remember as a kid on camping trips. It’s light, has a wooden knob and handle, and has been with us on the Chilkoot Pass and in all of the camper vans we’ve owned. We could get a more elegant one, or a smaller more compact one but this one with all its dings has a history. Another item that has a history is the sparker R sometimes uses to light the stove. It has a knurled wheel and tiny flints that can be replaced when one wears down enough so that it no longer functions. We have two of these and I’m not sure where they came from. We also have BBQ lighters and good old-fashioned wooden matches.
Some things are relatively new to us with our current camper van. Among the most appreciated conveniences is the toilet. Neither of our other two camper vans had one and before that we camped in a two-person tent. We also have a water heater and a furnace both which are delightful when the weather turns chillier as it has in the last day or so. We started out the trip in +30 degree heat and we were doing everything we could to keep cool. The little propane fridge was working really hard to keep our food cold and we had all the curtains in the van closed and a reflector set up in the front windshield to keep the temperature down during the day.
Today the weather is more like fall. I’m sitting in a light fleece and my toes in the crocs are a wee bit chilly despite the wool socks. The sky is overcast and the air is still. R is reading a book that he managed to download last night overnight. We also have a few physical books with us. Neither of us is very ambitious on this Sunday. We had the alarm set for 6:30 and intended to get up and hike. Don’t laugh, we actually managed it yesterday. We had a very nice hike and were home and in the shade by 2:00 pm. I will grudgingly admit that there are some advantages to getting up and getting on the trails early.
On yesterday’s hike we saw a ruffed grouse. Richard noticed some movement beside the path and saw at least two birds. One of the birds hopped into the path, looked at us, and cheeped a bit while we talked to her and slowly, led by the bird, proceeded in the way we were going. She eventually hopped off to the opposite side of the path and then stood on a fallen log looking at us. I told her how beautiful she was and asked if I could take her picture. The answer was, “Not today,” and as i reached for my phone she turned her back and headed off into the bush. Richard already had his phone out and he got a picture of her as she turned away. We carried on and she, presumably, went back to her chicks.
We found a spot to eat that had a good view of the opposite hillside and watched as a few mountain bikers made their way up and down the trail. We were on a mountain bike trail and that made me a bit nervous at first. The bikers weren’t going that fast and, despite the fact that they were quiet, we had time to see them and step off the trail to let them pass. Walking those trails brought home to me that mountain biking would be, for me, an absolute nightmare. I’d be struggling to breathe going uphill and 99% terrified going downhill. While R said it looked like fun I won’t be taking up that sporty anytime soon!
We brought wood from home and most nights we’ve had a fire. Bill’s axe that I rehung at the end of last season, has been tested out and found to be satisfactory. Now I need to hang Dad’s axe which has a slightly smaller head and is better for splitting kindling. I don’t have a new handle or I could work on it here. I think I’ll do a better job having done one in the reasonably recent past.
The rubber treads on the van have, so far, defeated me. I spent a couple of days chipping and scraping the PL 400 that adhered very well to the fiberglass of the steps and not at all well to the rubber of the new mats. I’ll try using a heat gun to soften the adhesive when I get home. I’m afraid the steps will never look as good as they did when I was preparing them for their new rubber treads. In trying to remove the adhesive, I’ve damaged the gelcoat in places. I hope I’ll be able to get enough adhesive off that I’ll have a surface the mats will stick to. I’ll definitely scuff up the backs of the mats before I put them down this time and, I hope, that by the time the mats need to be next replaced Vinnie will be in the hands of a different owner!
This is a bit of a ramble and my phone, on which I’m writing this is down to 17% so I’d better call it quits for the moment and plug in.I can charge the phone from the recreational battery in the van, another advantage of having a van as a camping vehicle. Getting this text into Blogger may be a whole adventure of it’s one but I’ll take it one step at a time. At least I can write when I feel like it and I can use a keyboard, so much more successful than writing it out by hand. Perhaps by the next time we travel I’ll have a system that works and I’ll be able to do regular blog entries on the way even if I have to wait until the end of the trip to upload them. It’s all part of the adventure.
