Thanks for the replies everyone...
When are you going?
I see you will have an awning,some tarps and tent poles would be handy as the sun starts getting lower in the afternoon.
watch @ 21.40
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXHwsGMJ_hY
Ronny Dahl puts his eggs into a bottle at home.
http://www.4-wheeling-in-western-australia.com/easy-breakfast.html
We will be going at the end of March this year during the little guys Spring Break. That is a good tip about the sun setting low and having extra shade on hand. I had not thought that far along yet.
Bring plenty water.. Scepter can work great...
This is what I do with one of my scepter water cans....Post 52 & 60.
http://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/64344-Scepter-water-can-pump?p=1103841#post1103841
For eggs I use the packaging that costco uses for their brown eggs.. its bomb proof.....
a good thrasharoo bag for the spare tire if you dont already have one....
I have some of those collapsible camping chairs...
I have also moved away from transporting firewood, and bring a propane firepit....ease of set up is great...just gotta make sure you gots enough propane ...
We dont have a table, but instead have sliding shelves that come from under the drawer....this makes set up supper easy and fast..
liquids like milk & Juice we store them on stainless steel containers for space saving....
Water is my major concern right now (food is the other). I'm not real sure on how much I need to bring and then where to store it all. In the Jeep all of the weight is a concern. It is already pretty heavy when loaded up for a day of wheeling, so adding a weeks' worth of camping gear raise challenges. I'm seriously considering removing the 3/16 steel skid plates as I doubt they will be need in DV (I'm on 37" tires and have 4" of lift) and removing them saves me 100 lbs. The Scepter cans look really nice, but I think to keep costs down on this first trip I'll just have to use the 2.5 gallon jugs with the spouts that drinking water comes in ... if I can find them anywhere.
Are you talking about the clear egg container from Costco? I think I've seen one of those before and remember it being really sturdy. I'll have to have the wife grab us some eggs from there so we have one of those to use. I've also been thinking about the thrasharoo for this trip as well. The collapsible camp chairs we have already as well for general use.
I think a lot of our camping is going to be "backcountry", so no camp fires will be permitted. But I do plan a couple of nights at campgrounds, so I'll have to look into the wood issue for those occasions.
From your list, you have most everything except water. 4 years ago we pulled in to a camp sight on a misty cold evening and a guy in a pick up pulled in to the site about a hundred yards from us about 10 minutes later. By the time I got my trailer disconnected I looked over and he had a cot, sleeping bag and a tarp thrown over it. By the time I got set up he was cooking dinner over a camp fire, by the time I started getting dinner he was finished, had crawled into his bag under the tarp and appeared to be asleep. Heavy frost when I got up the next morning, he was still bedded in. About the time I got breakfast started I heard a engine start, looked up and he was driving off and camp was clean.
Doesnt take much.
For solo trips the minimalist approach is great. I've spent nights in the Jeep with just dry food and blankets before. No setup or break down required at all. While I'm just fine with that type of camping, it is not really feasible with my son and father.
A lot of happiness camping is derived from food. If you're cooking simple, a pot, a fry pan, a coffee pot,stack of paper plates, cups, and a package of plastic sporks will get er done. Bring some hand sanitizer. I bring LOTS of crap when I camp, but I've also been the guy with the tarp and the bag and been totally happy. your kid at 7 is going to get bored of the DV scenery pretty fast. Here electronics are your friend... Leap pad or DVD player or whatever you use at home will help. Small water bottles to fill from the big one and keep in the fridge are nice. Even in winter the sun is intense, large hats, sunscreen, etc... A camera or two will help keep the memories. music from your dads era.
What will you do if your dad has an episode?
My dad and I have started road tripping each summer for at least a week. It has really helped us connect again after I've been out 25 years. Sometimes my daughters join, sometimes not. I highly encourage this type of trip. This year, my dad and I are going to take our biggest risk yet... He invited MOM! Neither of us is sure that will be a good idea....
Luckily (logistics wise) none of us going on this trip are "foodies". That will make the food side a little easier. I imagine lunches will be sandwiches for the most part and breakfast will be probably be cereal bars half the time and eggs the other. Maybe some bacon a couple of days. Dinners are where I'm going to struggle the most. I'm not much of a cook and the thought of figuring out a weeks' worth of dinners, cooking them and cleaning up after in a camp setting is not something I'm looking forward to. Lol
Boredom for the kid is something I've been thinking about. I have a rough itinerary laid out, but I think to keep things interesting for him that we are going to be doing a lot of stopping and exploring. That said, he will have his iPad with him and the Jeep is setup so he can have it plugged in while we drive. I'd like to give the little guy a notebook journal as well so he can do things like keep track of how far/how much time we travel without seeing a car, how many animals he sees. Things like that. I've also decided that this particular trip is about the journey and not the destination, so if things get too boring for anyone we can always break plans and head somewhere else. I've already looked into alternate places to go along the route for just this reason.
Music for the three of us is going to be rough. My dad is a country and western type, my kid likes his mom's music (top 40s) and I'm a rock and roll guy. I think there might be some common ground with my dad on some classic southern rock. I'm also thinking about some audio books.
So far my dad has not had any episodes. No wondering off or feeling lost as of yet. That is one of the reasons we are doing this trip now and with any luck, we can get a couple more in before things become difficult.
Filling small bottles of water to put in the fridge is a good tip. Thankfully, all 3 of us really like water, so that will cut down on how much room/weight has to be dedicated to drinks. I've also got the cameras covered. I used to do photography back in the day, even shot for a couple of car magazines. In fact, my camera gear is going to take up more space then I would like it too. lol
Load your jeep with what you think you'll need and do a test camp out in your back yard.
That's actually a really good idea. I'd have to tweak things a little as the weather here in CO is much colder than when we will be in DV... by about 30°-40° for both highs and lows.
Ditto the "when are you going comments" as weather will be important. I would look at the daily highs and lows and then assume 20 degrees colder as a buffer (being cold is a lousy way to spend a night and with a smaller vehicle not easy to just jump in the vehicle to sleep if it gets cold).
Also how far are you looking to travel during the trip once you are there? If you're going to be more heavily loaded than normal you may find your range is less than anticipated so a 5 gall. Jeri can may be important.
I would definitely do a short run, maybe a weekend with all the same gear as a trial run. It will help you get a feel for how the jeep handles when fully loaded too (maybe you already know bur basing this on your comment that you've typically rock crawled). And you may well find out that you don't need "X", or conversely, gee I really wish I had "Y".
Good luck. Lost my Dad almost 2 years ago and it's never easy. Good you're taking your son. It will be a poignant trip I'm sure. Make sure you dont try to do too much, just being together and being able to spend time is the key, not racing from one place to another. Sorry....I'll shut up now. Have fun!
Late March with the average temps in the mid 80s during the day and high 50s at night. My son and I have camped overnight in the RTT this past year as a "shake down run" in nearly identical temps and did alright.
The rough trip plan is to enter the park via Titus Canyon and then travel counter clockwise to Eureka Dunes, the Race Track, and then do a Bad Water to the Rogers Peak (probably stop and stay at Thorndike campground) area. We want to go from well below sea level to as high as possible in a single day. Depending on how things go, side juants to places like Darwing Falls and Marble Canyon would be cool. But as you mentioned, this trip is more about spending time togetehr than seeing all the park has to offer in one trip.
I've always got 2.5 gallons of gas in a Roto pack on the Jeep, but I'm going to have to get a couple more of those for this trip.
And you do still need some gear once you get out there, hence this thread.
