I suggested to Marlene that we hop on the scooters and head to Cabela's and she agreed. The funny thing is, both of the girls wanted to go too. I can't remember the last time they wanted to go anywhere with us. Of course, since lunch was involved they may have had some motivation.
Anyway, we headed down to the store and spent what seemed like a couple hours in the camping supplies section. The girls wanted to buy dehydrated ice cream... but it's gotta be 10x more expensive than regular ice cream at the Dairy queen and I can't imagine it's as cool and refreshing on a 90 degree day. The girls said something about me being "no fun" but they always say that. By the end of the day Patti got her ice cream anyway, so she certainly wasn't "deprived".
I eventually tried out several different self-inflating sleeping pads on cots and on the floor and selected one that was the same size as my cot and 4" thick. OK, so the package said 4" but my tape measure said 2-1/2"... never trust the box I guess. Anyway, it was the softest of all of the ones I tried that cost less than my tent. That was my threshold - The pad shouldn't cost more than the rest of my gear. They did have this one that was $200 and was like a regular mattress, but weighed a ton.
I also spent some time picking out the right travel pillow. I didn't want one of those wimpy little rubber blow-up ones - I wanted one like I have on my bed... Well, after going back and forth over the stupidity of paying $30.00 for a lumpy collapsible travel pillow I decided to put it back and just use my pillow from home and get a stuff sack for it. But there, next to the stuff sacks was yet another kind of pillow and it was perfect. No lumps, collapses down small in a stuff sack, and about 3/4 of the size of the pillow I normally use. Better yet, the pillowcase was removable and washable, and I'll be able to sleep on it before I head out on the trip to get used to it.
Finally, I saw that the camelback style Hydration bags were on sale for about half what Academy sports wants for them, so I found one that matches my riding gear and tossed it in the cart.
While we were at the store Patti managed to lose her debit card for the third time in the last 9 months. She wears skinny jeans with little pockets and can't seem to keep from losing things. At least it wasn't a bunch of cash like the first time. Now I have an app on my phone that can let me cancel her debit card and order a replacement in about 15 seconds... but before I could do that she managed to find the "lost and found" and someone had found her card. I didn't get to use the app this time, but I've still decided to keep her card for a week to try to reinforce the lesson. Obviously it didn't work the last two times.
Now I just need to test this new gear, but I think I'll set up the bed in my office or something this time since it's so darn hot outside at night and I never did figure out what was snorting at me in the yard. It sounded like a bull, and there is one out there this week. (Marlene almost walked into it in the dark the other night when we were walking the dog) That falling tree was also a little too close for comfort - and now I have a bunch of chainsaw work to do but at least we'll have plenty of firewood this winter.
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