Vacation Gratitude…

 I would truly be remiss if I wasn’t grateful for this trip. Before this, I wasn’t sure I could have done this. Like, really not sure. You see, I was raised by a single mom. My mom was courageous, and a warrior in her own way. She blazed many trails, and she was also periodically a victim, which never really seemed to slow her down, she was just a tad bit more cautious.

All that to say, I didn’t discover “camping” as it were, until well in to my 20’s. My mom made sure we saw beautiful things, she took us to the lake, several, actually, we live near Pyramid Lake, Lake Tahoe and Lahontan, all of which we visited, but she was afraid of being hurt, or us being hurt or being a victim again, so we never stayed the night.

By the time I was introduced to camping by my first husband, I was well into my 20’s and already had kids. I had SO. MUCH. TO. LEARN. Camping is exponentially more complicated when you have children. You generally end up hauling around about 3 tons of shit because, you know, you have to like, keep the small humans alive, reasonably clean, they have to have stuff to eat and entertain them, and it’s a right mess.

This road trip, for me, was a HUGE departure from what I was used to. I embarked on this journey believing, because *I* am a very giving person, that my travel companion, who was pulling a trailer, would be sharing, there would be tons of sharing happening, and that I would only sleep in the car if I had to. She is a particular type of person and likes to have her space, and everything has it’s place. She gets VERY upset when that doesn’t happen, so there was no sharing. That mean, 14 days, essentially living in my car. For me, it was fun. I wanted to see if I could do it, and I did, I survived and I thrived, having a grant adventure.

This was the little “nest” I made in the back of the Subaru I borrowed from my kids for the trip:

I loved this experience and this car so much! I took this because it has a newer engine in it and we knew the trip would be long, with lots of miles, wanted something that was reliable and also would be able to carry me and my companion on the day time trekking, and be able to be all-terrain enough we would not get stuck. It did all of these things fabulously. It was our trusty steed and I will love this car forever. Long term, I personally need JUST a tad more space. My feet were sort of cramped on the bottom. I am 5’6 1/2″, and I have found my Murano SUV to be just that much MORE comfortable.

Here’s what the entire setup looked like, glancing in:

Now, I spent almost the entire Summer, car camping in my Murano SUV. I even bought a tent to go off the back hatch because where I camp while volunteering at a place that has 191 bodies of water, has a number of bugs during warm weather to make one cringe and be very uncomfortable and lumpy for at least a week, with no bug protection. Here is that setup:

I have a new hobby, a new love, and a new sense of freedom now! There are a few items I want that will complete my “solo camping” setup. I added a butane stove shortly after the April trip that I LOVE! The two remaining items are a smaller multi-day cooler. All ours our giant because Burning Man. And, a 500kW or so solar generator so that I can charge devices, run a heater or portable AC if needed, and have it for emergency uses and purposes as needed. So concludes my journey in to solo car camping. Overall, a 10+, would definitely do again, and go, me!

Peace.