Lynne: Kristin and I spent a week camping at the Indiana Dunes State Park. I will try to chronicle our trip in the most interesting way possible. I am never bored camping with Kristin or talking about camping with Kristin, so others will have to let me know when they have had enough.

The photo above is the accumulation of things that we feel we must have with us to both survive our trip and make us feel cool camping. As Kristin says: “We love our camping bling.” Give us a Coleman catalog and we both go giddy.

Much of the stuff has accumulated over time. The yellow bags are waterproof as usually we have to float the river to a campsite. The bags take easily to being packed in nooks and crannies; and your clothes and bedding stay dry no matter how hard it is raining when you set up camp. The coolers are super cool and keep ice for 5 days. We use the 5 gallon buckets for dry goods and there is the new lantern and well, I could go on, but I won’t.

Well, just a little more. We were able to add cots to the bling and my knees are very thankful. The cot puts us at seat height off of the tent floor and I no longer have to be embarrassed; as I have to roll off an air mattress to make it to my knees so I can begin to stand up.

We usually camp on the river with no amenities like water and electricity. We rely on a large number of batteries and carry our own water. There is little human distraction and you gradually adjust to living a little more wild. Time is not meaningless, but it has less significance. You eat when you are hungry and you rise and sleep with the sun. And while that has a magic all its own, we were willing, this year, to be wooed by showers and an electrical outlet. I mentioned the Dunes and Kristin made it happen.

But can she make everything fit into her Subaru? Well, of course she can. Those are special packing genes that my daughters have inherited and the photo below proves it. The Subaru is full and we are on our way.