Just because outfitters are busy cranking out entire lines of matching designer camp wear, sleeping bags suitable for Arctic expeditions, and tents big enough for the Brady Bunch, doesn't mean you have to invest in it for a car camping trip. We have friends who bought oodles of upscale gear and trendy gadgets for their inaugural camping trip--and never used them. Remember, the object of camping is to get closer to nature, not to recreate your home in the outdoors.
More important is knowing how to use what you have. Practice assembling and using the gear in your backyard or driveway. It's better to fumble around there than to arrive at a campsite tired, hungry and clueless. Examine your tent for holes and other defects by setting it up in your yard and running the sprinkler on it. We once awoke in the middle of the night to discover that centipedes or possibly millipedes had invaded our fraying tent. On another pitch-black occasion--in a brand-new but leaky tent--we were found ourselves lying in a rising swell of rainwater.
Be sure to bring lots of clothing to layer--sweatshirt and windbreakerwear over T-shirt, sweatpants over shorts. Fabrics such as PolarFleece, wool and polypropylene wick away moisture. Cotton, which should be avoided, absorbs it. Sneakers, sandals and sturdy hiking boots are also essential. And don't forget rain gear, swimsuits, towels, insect repellent, sunscreen and any prescription medications. We once found ourselves in the wilderness without Grael's asthma medication, and by sheer luck he didn't have an attack.
Of course, no matter how much you prepare, you can never count on the elements. We've been caught in torrential rainstorms, unseasonable snowstorms and howling windstorms. But those times can make for memorable moments.
When Lia was four, she and her seven-year-old friend Nicole were playing happily in their tent on the Sonoma, California, coast when a gale picked it up and sent it--and them--sliding fifty feet across the sand dunes.
Catharine and I raced to the rescue. When we looked inside, however, the joke was on us. The girls were giggling. "That was the most fun we had all weekend," Lia said.
