The Long Road Home

I’m currently packing the van for our return to Pittsburgh. We’ve spent the last few days relaxing in Colorado, spending time with family, and (in my case) working. While the trip has certainly been good–beyond expectations, really–we are all ready to be in our home, in our beds. (Of course, this hasn’t stopped us from planning our return to Hueco Tanks next spring, however.)

My finger is feeling better, and I’m looking forward to climbing again when we get back. I’ll need to take it easy in the gym, but I’m hoping that by the time we get back on real rock in a week or two that all will be well with it. I’m also looking forward to getting back on the bike. I didn’t miss it much at Hueco Tanks, but I certainly would have like to take a ride here in Colorado. I’m also considering doing a few of the Yellow Creek races, assuming I can get a few dirt miles in my legs before the end of the month. Those should be good fun, methinks.

We also racked up some good information on what we could do better for camping in the van, particularly on longer trips:

* Get Reflectix panels for the pop-top. This has been on the list since last year, but I really need insulate the upper bed.
* Figure out a way to power the cooler with shore power. This was a big one on this trip. Our site at Hueco had an electrical hookup, but we couldn’t power the cooler with it directly. That, combined with the 6:00PM curfew at the campground and no ice availability on site, meant that keeping food cold was a challenge.
* Get a new stove. The trusty two burner Coleman has treated us well for over ten years, but it’s time has come, methinks. Performance is horrible in colder weather, and I had to constantly fiddle with the position of the gas canister to get a good flame.
* Ditch using the big espresso maker. It’s nice to have several cups of coffee in one shot, but on the camp stove, it takes forever to make.

One other minor annoyance: the van has a screen for the rear hatch so we can leave it open when it’s warm. The screen, however, doesn’t connect to the van at the bottom. We keep our food below the bed (rather than outside, for obvious reasons), but every night we slept with the hatch open, some critters could be heard/seen sniffing around the screen. It’s only a matter of time before one resourceful raccoon figures out the screen isn’t fully closed. Also, after a night of camping in Arkansas, I found footprints on our rear luggage box, meaning some critter was sniffing around MY HEAD while I was sleeping.