2/9/12
     Today was the day to check out sleeping equipment. I had found a nice cot that just requires unfolding. No poles to put together, no vice grips necessary and a decent height off the ground. However, it collapsed on me at the head end when I went to crawl into my sleeping bag. Apparently it is very wise to stay more to the center in case the ends are not fully extended. If fully extended, I experimented and can sit on the end.....carefully.
     With the cot arranged I was thinking of making a liner to help keep the bag clean. I was going to use an old flannel sheet but realized that that could possibly create a chilling affect if I am hot. Cotton just gets wet and doesn't wick. I found a good bag liner at Campmor that is made of Coolmax fabric. Coolmax wicks so that the body stays more comfortable. Once the liner arrives I may add a zipper so that my feet can escape. I also tried to put my summer mummy bag into the rectangular bag I intend to bring and got claustrophobia just getting into the mummy. I think I will save it for my grand children. I have two small down comforters that I will sew together to make a generous thin blanket to throw over for cold nights. The more I look into where I am going, when and at what altitude I will be, I think nights will be cold for most of the trip.
     I sleep on a Tempur Pedic mattress at home so I wanted to see how my foam pad and the cot work together. Not bad for supposedly roughing it! I may even sneak a backpacking Thermarest under the foam. The more I have under me, the warmer I will be. This sounds like a lot of fussing, but if I don't sleep I won't function. So I think I am set for sleeping.
     For evenings when it is dark, but not bed time I came up with a nice snuggly fleece thing that has arms but is a rectangle at the foot end. The foot end has cuffs for the legs at the corners. It was short on me and rode up when I was lounging, so I purchased some more fleece and added it to the sack. Then I sewed up into the rectangle between the legs and cut out some fabric so that I can walk comfortably. It is pretty funny looking but so nice and warm with its one piece construction and front zipper. I can even curl up inside with my feet inside. If I stuffed paper inside I would look like the Michelin Man.
   Odd Lots had a nice 8x10 tarp for $6.00. This will go under the floor in the sleeping area and keep it clean. I have learned to stuff the edges under the tent so that no rain seeps between the tarp and the tent. It will be wet in the morning but it will dry quickly if spread out. Rain is a recurrent theme in my dreams. There isn't much worse than rain, except sleet and snow, to  make putting up and taking camp down a  real chore. I was just going to cut up a piece of heavy plastic but this has grommets and I can use it for something else if necessary.
     There is nothing funnier than to go to a campground and watch and listen to a group of campers come in with a new tent. Picture the scene. It is near dusk and the "men" open the box and pour out the poles and tent and you can hear that there are a lot of poles. Then someone finds the instructions, but most "men" don't read instructions. So they start putting the poles together and trying to figure out how they attach to the tent. It is getting darker and the flash lights have to come on. Then the "women" start fussing about how long it is taking. Meanwhile they have all popped a beer to get the job done. So they pop some more beer to help. Finally one of the "women" gets hold of the instructions and the real fun begins because they need to group the poles by size to see what they have, then locate the holes or grommets or whatever they have to go in. If the tent has long telescoping poles they have to fit into sleeves and it is tough to not trample all over the tent and get the poles in the sleeves while still holding a beer can. Well you get the picture. Marvelous entertainment. If there is no snow on the ground this weekend I will practice with my tent because  the first time I put my tent up was very funny and I wasn't drinking beer and I was trying to read the instructions from the get go.