Tag: Eurovan Camping

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A Picnic Lunch

Now you have all those salad recipes, here is what we do with them … we go for a picnic. No, really.

For starters, pick up some deli cups (and lids) at a restaurant supply store. We use two sizes 16 and 32 ounces, which is basically two or four servings.

The clear plastic cups chill quickly, don’t break, but still allow you to see what’s inside. And when empty they are are very stackable. They aren’t dishwasher safe, but they do wash easily. We’ve gotten numerous re-use out of an initial purchase.

The cups also freeze nicely so you can put several frozen dinner offerings into the cooler and they help with the chill.

On the most recent camping trip, a week on the road, we had a salad smorgasbord for lunch and dinner

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A little JULY heat

When you head out on a road trip in July you expect some hot weather,

Well … at least you should.

Add to this, the southwest corner of Idaho is your first night’s camping destination and HOT moves to a new level.

Bruneau Dunes State Park is on the edge of the Snake River plain. It is an area created fourteen thousand years ago when Lake Missoula’s ice dam breached and the Bonneville flood reshaped the landscape of Idaho, as well as eastern Washington and Oregon … the end of the ice age. 

A reservoir completed in the early fifties to supply irrigation water raised the water table and caused small lakes to spontanously appear. Idaho Fish and Game stocked them, fisherman showed up, and by the seventies there were camping facilities opened.

The State Park’s campground was a logical stopover on the journey east. Montana is really too far for us to reach in a day. This put us at the campground around three in the afternoon and even with scattered trees and the awning in full shade mode it was hot (95 degrees).

We did get to use Tip’s new ‘swamp cooler’ jacket. I know it seems counterintuitive to put a jacket on an already hot pet, but when this is soaked with cold water evaporation brings a natural air conditioner to Tip’s back.  It really worked!  

We depleted the ice supply, took advantage of camp shower facilities, and were aided by an evening thunderstorm. By ten that night the desert camp was a comfortable 65 degrees. 

Up with the sun, we started the second leg of the journey looking forward to tree lined sites along the Gallatin River … leaving the sweltering desert climes behind, for now.

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Ice a la tube

Summer is ice chest season. That means you’re loading up on bags of ice that inevitably turn to water. The hassle of soggy picnic supplies is actually an easy fix … more annoying is no ice cubes at cocktail hour.

We’ve got a solution.  ice tubes. If you add these frozen PVC  tubes to your cooler it will stay cold longer, there will be less mess, and you’ll have ice for your drinks.

So I headed over to Ace Hardware to pick up some 2 inch PVC pipe and end caps (2 per tube). You may find short cuts of pipe or if you ask they’ll cut one of the 8 foot lengths down. You’ll also need a can of PVC cement, hack saw, coarse grit sandpaper, a sharpie and a tape measure. These tube will soon be filled with tap water and table salt.

Start by measuring the cooler(s) to see how long the tubes need to be. The end caps will add to the overall length of the finished tube so you need to subtract this extra amount when cutting. There is also some air pressure resistance in the final capping that can add to the finish length. If you make your pipes about an inch and a half shorter than the desired length, that should work.

Measure and cut the pipe into pieces and then use some coarse grit sand paper to clean up the rough ends and rough up about an inch of the outside ends of each tube.

Using the dabber on the PVC cement spread a generous amount around the inside of the cap and fit one to the end of each of your tubes. Now let that set for a couple of hours.

You’ll need some way to stand the tubes on end … a wide mouth mason jar works. Sand all the tubes up on their capped ends and add a table spoon of salt to each tube. Fill about ¾ of the way with water. Repeat the cap sealing making sure you push the cap firmly down against the air pressure so you get a good seal. Leave them standing for a couple of hours.

Throw them in the freezer and they are ready to add to your ice chest. These ice tubes will work to keep things cold as is, but will also extend the life of any ice cubes you bring along.