Equipment

The most valuable piece of equipment I brought were wet wipes. Yes, you read that correctly, bio-degradable aloe vera wet wipes These can be used for several things other than the obvious of wiping your ass with them These came in handy for cleaning used dishes, wiping off Theo’s feet, showering, mending rashes, and cleaning the stove. Along with wet wipes were reels of bamboo biodegradable toilet paper which worked great as napkins and paper towels. I did bring a portable, foldable shitter which I had to use at The Badlands National Park because there are no bathrooms

The stove I used was a Coleman 2 burner collapsible propane stove which worked great for everything I needed to cook. The cooler I used was a Lifetime cooler like that of a Yeti but way cheaper, I loaded up all my food and beverages Saturday night and packed it with Ice that lasted until Tuesday the next week, though there was ice left I would say half of it melted; I’m unsure if I would’ve had more success with a Yeti but this performed admirably.

Water is always essential and the 7gallon jug I brought did just fine for both Theo and I; we did stay at a campsite that has potable water so I became a bit more liberal with the use of H2O but I could’ve rationed it easily for a week long trip without a water source. I brought a Jerry can that holds 5 gallons of gasoline but was never needed as I wasn’t too far away from civilization

Flashlights are key especially later in the year when it gets darker sooner, the ones I brought did the trick including the magnetic one that I can just throw anywhere on the truck or canopy There was only one night I slept in my tent, the other nights I slept in the back of the truck on a Coleman self-inflating sleeping pad; though it is self-inflating I used my Ryobi air pump which has an air mattress attachment to inflate the sleeping pad The canopy I brought saved a lot of my other equipment from the rain since in order to sleep in the truck I had to remove a lot of items from it. Binoculars, lawn chair, med-kit, shovel, table, go-pro, blankets are other items I brought which came in handy for obvious reasons The worst item I brought was a cheap set of aluminum camping pots and pans; they didn’t disperse heat evenly and everything I tried to cook ended up stuck and burnt to the bottom of the pan. Next trip I’ll be bringing cast iron or non-stick pans

The food

Soup is king, chunky soup with the lids you can open without a can opener were great almost every night for dinner, just throw it in a pot and heat it up and you have a good hearty meal. Most mornings I cooked eggs which didn’t turn out so well due to the cheap cookware. Mio with vitamins was a great supplement to the water Bubblr for morning energy was great, I was considering bringing a coffee grinder and all the necessities to do that, but it seemed like a lot of work. Sandwich meat, bread, cheese, mustard, lettuce was the choice for most lunches. Of course, what’s a trip without beer? Being that I was on vacation I would end the day with a couple of Busch Latte’s which I think were well deserved

The clothing

Though I thought I prepared myself for everything I soon came to find out I didn’t prepare enough The days when the sun was out came close to 90* and the nights were approaching 40* On cloudy days it was 55* the entire day. I would’ve packed more shorts had I’d known The two heavy sweatshirts I brough did the trick during the cold days. Comfortable foot ware is always a must and the two pair of hiking boots worked well. For those of you who don’t know Salomon (the Ski company) makes boots and they are comfy AF.

The dog

Theo was such a great travel companion; he somehow knew when the trips would be long stretches and when they would be for site seeing. I packed more than enough food for him in a sealable container and him and I would drink water from the same 7gallon container I brought Most days he would wake me up (as he always does) around 6:30 and we would go for a walk I brought treats for him to chew on, toys to play with, and two leashes (one extendable, one not). Though he was allowed most places he was not allowed inside buildings My original plan was to leave him behind with my folks but I am so glad I brought him with, he is my buddy and instead of talking to myself on the trip I had my best buddy to talk to and look after