Fear and Trembling: Camping

Camping Trip to Kickapoo

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 17:15:55 GMT

We finally got out to go camping and it was a great trip. It was Eleanor's first camping trip and it was as if she never left home. No fussing, minimal tears and seemed to love being outside. I also got to try out my new camp stove with the gi-normous griddle and I am getting all a-twitter just thinking about all of its outdoorsy goodness. I was able to cook Pancakes, bacon and eggs for about 15 people in about 20 minutes; All of this and it boils a huge pot of dishwater in minutes at the same time I am making a few pots of camp coffee.

We took along 2 of the church families with us (the Hodges and the Braggs) and it was fantastic camping with people who know how to camp. Jason Hodges and I make a great cooking duo. He is the general manager of a Olive Garden and has the same food service industry outlook that I have. We made a roasted chicken and vegatable dinner on the second night that was absolutely perfect. Roasted Chicken, green beans, potatoes, onions and mushrooms, with Baked Beans, corn Bread and Corn on the Cob. It was a Feast. I will be posting pictures of the meal later when I get a copy from Jason.

The kids all had a great time too and the 6 of them kept each other occupied most of the time. We will definitely be planning another trip in the near future. Maybe a Chili Cook off themed Camp trip when it is a little colder.

The Safari Trailer

Sun, 16 Jul 2006 17:53:11 GMT

I am designing a camping trailer to carry all of my camping gear (camping gear for a family of six and a family of six will not fit in the same car!). I am experimenting with alternate construction techniques using lamination and composite methods. The trailer will be primarily made of sandwich panels of thin plywood over both sides of 1 in extruded polystyrene. after the panles are assembled into a box it will be fiberglassed into a monolithic structure that needs minimal steel structure (only to mount the rubber torsion axels) The sandwhich panels are made with a special glue that I have talked an industrial supplier into giving me a sample of the glue (it comes in 55 gallon drums) and a vacuum bag press to get intense and even clamping pressure across the whole panel.

I have found inspiration in several "safari" trailers that are sold in Africa and Australia. These units have the tents on top of the trailer, but since I do not have to worry about lion attacks in Central Illinois, I will be using a traditional tent.

The Mother of All Camp Stoves

Fri, 14 Jul 2006 16:37:41 GMT

I just bought a new camp stove to be mounted, eventually, in my safari type camping trailer. This thing is enourmous and will allow me to cook for lots of people. The griddle is bigger than the griddle at the last restaurant that I worked at. It weighs 45 lbs alone andI can get about 2 dozen eggs at a time on the griddle (don't try that at home kids, I'm a trained professional) Why such a big stove for family camping? My family has 6 and if we have my brother in law's family with us that is 6 more. Eggs and Pancakes for 12 can be quite a challenge on a 2 burner coleman and a griddle from Wal-Mart. The timing is perfect since I am cooking for 30 teenagers and 6 or so adults next week for a church camping trip that is part of Vacation Bible School. Bring it....