Packing

Packing for a ten week trip is difficult. During the trip we will be in all the following climates: beach in the gulf of mexico, mountains of georgia, desert in new mexico/utah/arizona, rain forest in washington/oregon, the pacific ocean in washington/oregon and the mountains in montana. So we need clothing for all those scenarios.

We are camping most of the time with some legitimate shelter mixed in occasionally (a beachhouse in florida, a cabin in the az mountains, christine's aunt's house in seattle and a cabin in montana). So we have two tents and an additional shelter. We have a grill and a stove and a lantern, etc.

Then we have a bunch of miscellany we need to bring as well (dee's stuff, reading material for two months, food, etc.). And the element isn't that big.

We entertained purchasing an rv for the summer and then selling it after the summer. We even went and looked at one out in selma, nc. It looked something like the one in the picture.
It was $6,000 and it was a junker. We decided against buying the RV, but did learn a valueable lesson from the seller Sam Jones - "Never, ever look a dog in the eye." Ultimately, there are two kinds of campers - those that roll around in an RV and those that tent-camp - and we fall into the latter category. It opens up a bunch of places where RVs can't go and it's just better all around. It's also cheaper. And gas is going to be a hefty chunk of change just getting the element around so i can't imagine what it would be in an RV.

RV aside, I decided that the element needed a little more storage. I went to u-haul and got a hitch put on for a couple hundered dollars then bought a hitch platform and a massive tupper-ware box to sit on the hitch platform. In this box goes the camping gear so it doesn't stink up the car. It looks goofy and scrapes on the ground when we drive through dips but it helps for cargo.

Our approach to packing is compartmentalization. We have a designated spot for almost everything we are bringing. And once we are loaded up, we are going to print the inventory and use it as a reference for unpacking and repacking when we stop.

In addition to the tub on the hitch platform, we added some drawers to the back of the element. And removed one of the rear seats for extra storage. It is a bit out of control.

Once we got done loading up, I was still wanting for organization. So I went to REI and bought a couple caribiners and some rock climbing rope. I ran the rope around the ceiling of the element and connected it to the caribiners. This allows us to hang all the bags around the back so they aren't laying every which way....











Below is the current version of the inventory:

Location	Item	Loaded
	Bottled water (drinking and jugs) (nalgene bottles)
	Laundry Bag	X
	Lunch Cooler Bag
??	Firewood
??	Coolers
B1	T-shirts, Shirts, Long-Sleeve, one polo	X
B2	Shorts, khackis, jeans	X
B3	Undies / socks	X
Blue BB	Gloves, Rainhat	X
Blue BB	Camera
Blue BB	Tripod	X
Blue BB	Radio
Books	Cascse / Olympia Natural History	X
Books	Glacier	X
Books	Kate’s book	X
Books	Tent Camping in Oregon / Washington	X
Books	Backpacking	X
Book s	Field guide to weather	X
Books	Calculus	X
Books	Algebra	X
Books	The End of the Alphabet, A New Earth, The Secret Life of Bees	X
Books	New Yorkers (2)	X
Books	Bleachers	X
Camelback	Gadget knife	X
Camelback	Hand sanitizer	X
Cooler	Cooler
D1	Tine’s grundies	X
D2-Supp	Utensils	X
D2-Supp	Cork screw/bottle opener	X
D2-Supp	Wire Brush	X
D2-Supp	Dee bag: bowls, food, water bottle, leash, treatments, rabies info
D2-Supp	Plastic Plates	X
D2-Supp	Salt and Pepper	X
D2-Supp	Plastic Bolws	X
D2-Supp	Plastic Cups	X
D2-Supp	Pots – Small / large saucepan, skillet	X
D2-Supp	Can-opener	X
D3-Food	Oatmeal	X
D3-Food	Granola	X
D3-Food	Coffee	X
D3-Food	Peanut Butter	X
D3-Food	Chippies	X
D3-Food	Potatoes – instant	X
D3-Food	Rice	X
D3-Food	Canned Veggies	X
D3-Food	Trail Mix	X
D3-Food	Beef Jerky	X
D3-Food	Pasta	X
D3-Food	Diced Tomatoes	X
D4-Supp	Matches	X
D4-Supp	Paper plates	X
D4-Supp	Garbage bags	X
D4-Supp	Baggies	X
D4-Supp	Paper towels	X
D4-Supp	Toilet paper	X
D4-Supp	Foil	X
D4-Supp	Blue Dawn	X
D4-Supp	Sun Screen	X
D4-Supp	Laundry Detergent	X
D4-Supp	Bug Spray	X
D5	Towels (Bath Towels / Dry-Towels)	X
Floater	Chairs	X
Floater	Sleeping bags	X
Laptop Bag	Laptop
Laptop Bag	Vaca folder (passports, checkbook, receipts)	X
Laptop Bag	Hard Drive	X
Laptop Bag	MP3 Players	X
Laptop Bag	Wireless Accessories
Passenger Door	Journal	X
Rear Driver Door	Petrified Forest Nat, Flathead Forest, Hungry Horse Resevior, Canyonlands, Arches, Glacier	X
Rear Passenger Door	Bear Spray	X
Rear Passenger Door	Dry Sac	X
Rear Right	Dog Bed	X
Small BB	Gadget knife	X
Small BB	Batteries	X
Small BB	Sweet sunglasses	X
Small BB	Video Camera / Charger / Tapes	X
Small BB	Headlamps	X
Toiletry Bag	Toiletry Bag
Tub 1	Grill	X
Tub 1	Charcoal	X
Tub 1	Lighter Fluid	X
Tub 1	Small Tent Footprint	X
Tub 1	Tents	X
Tub 1	Kitchen	X
Tub 1	Extra propane	X
Tub 1	Tie Downs
Tub 1	Roll a Table	X
Tub 1	Stove	X
Tub 1	Tent Hammer	X
Tub 2	Bug spray	X
Tub 2	Rain Gear	X
Tub 2	Lantern	X
Tub 2	Sheets / Pillows	X
Tub 2	Coffee Press	X
Tub 2	First Aid Kit	X
Tub 3	Air Bed	X
Tub 3	Air Pump	X
Tub 3	Bladder	X
Tub 3	Hammock	X
Tub 3	Big Tent Footprint	X