summer travel
So, I made flight reservations for a trip to Albuquerque in June- heading out with friends for a camping retreat in the mountains. I'm psyched- haven't really been to the desert southwest in a while (and driving through on evac didn't really count, since we were too stressed and loaded up with animals to enjoy it).
I bought new hiking boots and and a new tent too- a bit of an outlay but since they are long-term investments, not too bad overall.
Snagged a pretty nice REI tent made for warm weather, since I expect most of our future camping will be done in summer, in warm climes, or you know, on top of a fucking house after a hurricane. So I went for breathability, portability, and also ease of setup, since most of the people I have been camping with in the past few years are less experienced than I am. That probably sounds kinda snotty, but frankly there's nothing quite like trying to set up an overly complicated tent with someone who is inexperienced, especially since they usually end up directing their frustrations at you, and also because tent setting up time often happens when everyone is tired and fucking hungry as shit. Most tents now are pretty easy, but still, it's one of those things that can lead to moments of pissiness that don't really need to happen.
The hiking boots are similarly oriented towards warm weather- a breathable gore-tex Vasque pair. On sale, and worth every penny at full price in any case. My last pair held out for over twelve years and stayed waterproof and comfortable until the bitter end, even under torturous conditions- like an ass I had left them out and they'd gotten rained on and then sun-baked. As I was getting into the car for a a prior camping trip with these same friends, the heel came away from the body- last minute save effected with the judicious use of liquid nails. Even after that they suffered along as gardening shoes until I finally took them out into the back pasture and put them out of their misery with a 12-gauge (ok, not really, but I did actually bid them a fond farewell as they went into the trash. Because I'm the lady who talks to her shoes).
Speaking of long-lasting hiking boots, I still have a seriously old-school pair of those big bulky suede-leather waffle-stomper motherfuckers with red laces- they probably weigh about five lbs each and look like they should only be owned by Frankenstein's monster, but since they were de rigeur as part of the high-school freak outfit- to distinguish all of us pot-smoking, Led-Zeppelin-listening types from the jocks and preps- you know I had a pair, along with a jean jacket and big-bell Levi's from the Gap, when it was still "Fall into the Gap." My jean jacket also had two secret pockets inside, each the perfect size to hold a 40 or a smallish bottle of liquor. Ah, 14, where did you go in all your streaked-blonde denim splendor? I was like a jailbait man-trap for all the nascent Brock Sampsons of St. Louis, let me tell you. St. Louis, where the early 70s didn't end until approximately 1983.
I bought new hiking boots and and a new tent too- a bit of an outlay but since they are long-term investments, not too bad overall.
Snagged a pretty nice REI tent made for warm weather, since I expect most of our future camping will be done in summer, in warm climes, or you know, on top of a fucking house after a hurricane. So I went for breathability, portability, and also ease of setup, since most of the people I have been camping with in the past few years are less experienced than I am. That probably sounds kinda snotty, but frankly there's nothing quite like trying to set up an overly complicated tent with someone who is inexperienced, especially since they usually end up directing their frustrations at you, and also because tent setting up time often happens when everyone is tired and fucking hungry as shit. Most tents now are pretty easy, but still, it's one of those things that can lead to moments of pissiness that don't really need to happen.
The hiking boots are similarly oriented towards warm weather- a breathable gore-tex Vasque pair. On sale, and worth every penny at full price in any case. My last pair held out for over twelve years and stayed waterproof and comfortable until the bitter end, even under torturous conditions- like an ass I had left them out and they'd gotten rained on and then sun-baked. As I was getting into the car for a a prior camping trip with these same friends, the heel came away from the body- last minute save effected with the judicious use of liquid nails. Even after that they suffered along as gardening shoes until I finally took them out into the back pasture and put them out of their misery with a 12-gauge (ok, not really, but I did actually bid them a fond farewell as they went into the trash. Because I'm the lady who talks to her shoes).
Speaking of long-lasting hiking boots, I still have a seriously old-school pair of those big bulky suede-leather waffle-stomper motherfuckers with red laces- they probably weigh about five lbs each and look like they should only be owned by Frankenstein's monster, but since they were de rigeur as part of the high-school freak outfit- to distinguish all of us pot-smoking, Led-Zeppelin-listening types from the jocks and preps- you know I had a pair, along with a jean jacket and big-bell Levi's from the Gap, when it was still "Fall into the Gap." My jean jacket also had two secret pockets inside, each the perfect size to hold a 40 or a smallish bottle of liquor. Ah, 14, where did you go in all your streaked-blonde denim splendor? I was like a jailbait man-trap for all the nascent Brock Sampsons of St. Louis, let me tell you. St. Louis, where the early 70s didn't end until approximately 1983.