Sunlight through the trees on a morning walk at Los Padres National Forest.
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Tag: Camping
My dog Loki splashing around at Los Padres National Forest.
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Sunlight Through the Trees
Nature is magical to me and I find myself entranced by it every day regardless of whether I’m camping or not. The next few posts will be pictures from my week at Los Padres National Forest.
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Campfire Chicken
This is one of the few times I’ve ever been camping in an RV and it is pleasantly strange to have things like a microwave and a fridge. However, the fire pit on the site had a grill rack on it and I was excited to do something with it. Enter campfire chicken. Once I had a decent fire going (and I felt the rack in the pit was sterilized enough) I seasoned my chicken breast with mesquite seasoning (just used a packet I brought) and put it over the fire. Luckily, the rack was adjustable so I could ensure that the chicken was far away enough from the fire so that it cooked and did not burn. Also, the chicken needed to be close enough to the fire to get some char and cook in a reasonable time frame so that it did not just taste like smoke. If the rack were not adjustable, I just would have had to be really thoughtful about where and how I built the fire in the pit so that the rack was in the right place.
I don’t remember how long the chicken cooked for, I didn’t really keep track. I just flipped it a few times and took it off when it was the proper firmness. I believe the cooking time was something like 15-20 minutes. The chicken had a great smoke flavor from the oak wood we were burning and it was perfectly crispy. It was also a nice break from eating burgers. I lost count on how many burgers Gar and I grilled up and ate with our small propane BBQ.
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The White Tree of Gondor
You know you’re a dork when you go on a stroll in the woods and you stop, gasp, and say, “I’ve found an ancestor of the White Tree of Gondor.” For those of you who don’t know, the White Tree of Gondor (I’m sure it has another name, I just don’t feel like getting out my books and looking it up) is a thing in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth and Lord of the Rings books. Now the cat is out of the box or hat or however that saying goes. I am a BIG Tolkien fan.
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Our Campsite
We made it to our campsite… and it was underwhelming. We had to reserve a spot because we’re in an RV this time. The site we picked looked great on the map but not so much in real life. I could have been happy there, but as soon as we parked I asked Gar to grab the dogs and come on a walk with me to scope out other sites. That’s the beauty of off-season camping, the camp isn’t crowded and you can basically choose any site you want. Sure enough, two sites down the road we found this beauty. It was entirely secluded, all you can see are trees in all directions. Also, it was right above the creek and you could hear running water no matter where you were standing on the site. I LOVE woodsy camping.
The time finally came for Gar and I to go on a camping vacation! We went to a creek-side, woodsy area in the Los Padres National Forest and this time we took all three dogs. To prepare for the trip I decided that I should organize everything I could and put it in small plastic bins. This would make loading and unloading extremely easy. I realized how crazy I am and how crazy about the dogs I am when I began to pack their things. I made a bin that was devoted to bandaging and also contained clotting gauze packs. This bin is separate from the bin that includes the general, human first aid. I made a dog medication bin.
When I put together a doggie first-aid kit for camping, it got me thinking about what a basic kit for dogs should be. Each kit would vary depending upon the individual needs of your dog and your destination. However, I think there a few things that are essential for any kit.