'Be Prepared' and don't sweat the small stuff

Green River State Park campsite

From my days in the Boy Scouts many years ago, I was taught to "Be Prepared." I haven't always followed the motto although I do think about it a lot.

Especially when on a trip -- when on a long, long trip.

Because we camp a lot, there are items we always have in our van when on the road -- food, Coleman stove, pots, pans, dishes, water, snacks and a porta potty.

On long, long trips, I start thinking outside the box.

That was especially true on our roundtrip to California a number of years ago. We have learned from past trips out West, that places are few and far between --- very far between.

Therefore on our little more than 6,000 mile roundtrip jaunt, I took just a couple extra items.

When I look at people who run into trouble in strange places, the thought always comes to mind "If you are prepared, you usually don't need it. If you aren't prepared, heaven help."

I checked out our spare tire before the trip to make sure it was ok. I also took along another spare tire, just in case.

I knew we would always have food in our vehicle for at least three days, but I just couldn't resist taking along some MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) left over from our encounter with Hurricane Katrina.

We took along a 12-pack. That's enough food for two people for six days. There's even a heating element included to warm up the food.

MRE's include an entre, some side dishes, snacks including crackers and candy, seasonings and powdered drink mixes.

One packet is more than enough for one meal. It packs something like 2200 calories which is more than one needs for an entire day.

We made it to California and headed back.  Upon spending a long day going through Nevada and Utah, we decided to stop for the night in Green River, Utah.

It wasn't that late, but after finding a spot at the Green River State Park, we decided to dig into an MRE instead of going to the grocery store for more provisions.

Before the trip I did manage to cook up a couple and they were tasty.  To some people, they may not think so, but it is good enough on which to survive and in some cases, thrive.

The units now were about three years old. Reports indicate that if they are kept at cool temperatures, shelf-life is about five to seven years.

I opened a pack and started heating the entree. There were some sweet-type crackers in the pack and I opened them up and started snacking.

Wifey came along and picked up a cracker, put it in her mouth and after about a chew or two turned away and spit it out.

It wasn't her kind of snack, although I didn't think it was that bad.

We ate the entree and some other snacks and called it a day.

During the course of our trip, we didn't have to eat any MRE's in an emergency situation, nor did we have to use our regular spare or the extra spare tire.

After all, if one is prepared, emergencies usually don't crop up.

Next post: February 7, 2012