The Daring Book for Girls - Andrea J. Buchanan [60]
You’ve just made your home outdoors. Here are the basic furnishings:
♦ The sleeping bag. To make things a bit more comfortable, add a sleeping pad underneath and bring along a pillow or just a pillow case you can stuff with clothes. Sleeping pads have gotten softer, longer, and more elaborate, and can even involve air pumps, which your parents will undoubtedly appreciate if you invite them to sleep out with you. If you don’t have a sleeping bag, a jellyroll does the trick. (That’s when you roll your sheet and blanket together inside your pillowcase, and sling it over your shoulder for the journey to your tent.)
Flashlight and bug spray. Enough said.
A cooler. Filled with lots of drinking water and camping food staples like fresh apples, dried fruit, trail mix, and beef jerky. Marshmallows are a necessity, too, if a campfire’s involved, as are the other ingredients for s’mores: chocolate bars and graham crackers.
The anti-litter mantra for sleeping and camping outdoors is: take it in, take it out. Since there are no garbage cans in the wilderness, bring a bag for your wrappers and other trash.
Once you’ve learned to pitch a tent and roll out the sleeping bag in your backyard, you can graduate to the full-out camping experience, where the refrigerator and indoor toilet are not close at hand.
Camping is gear-intensive and takes careful planning, especially if you’re hiking, a few miles out. You must carry in several days’ food and water in your backpack, not to mention a camping stove and mess kit, soap and a toothbrush, and so much more. When you’re ready for a first experience at a wilderness campground, find a friend whose family are pros, and learn from them.
Whether you are in your backyard or the Rocky Mountains, remember the whole point of sleeping out is to breathe in the night air, listen to nature’s songs, and drift off to sleep under the stars.
The Sit-Upon
THE SIT-UPON is a homemade waterproof cushion that makes the perfect seat for around the campfire, near a tent, your backyard, a sporting event, or any use you can imagine.
The Very Simple Sit-Upon
Needed:
Plastic bags, the kind from the grocery store, about 12 inches by 12 inches with the handles cut off. Can be larger if you wish; any size bag will work.
Lots of newspaper for the padding. The more, the comfier; try a pile 1½ to 2 inches high.
Duct tape, or other strong and wide packing tape.
Stack the newspapers neatly. Cut or fold them to fit inside the plastic bag. Place them in the bag. Squeeze the air from the bag and fold it tightly around the newspaper. Use a second bag if necessary, to catch the other side of the newspaper stack. Tape all sides of the bag to keep out water and debris.
The Fancier Sit-Upon
Like most everything, a Sit-Upon can be made fancier and more decorative. The newspapers in the plastic bag can be covered with a waterproof cover.
Needed:
The Very Simple Sit-Upon, as on previous page.
Pieces of old wallpaper make an excellent cover, as do squares cut from a vinyl tablecloth, oilcloth, or a shower curtain. Be as creative as you’d like; the only guideline is that the material should be as waterproof, or water-resistant, as possible. Cut into 15 by 15 inch squares. If you prefer an even larger sit-upon, choose any measurement, cutting the squares 1½-2 inches larger on each side than the newspaper-and-plastic sit-upon that will fit inside.
A hole punch.
Cord, twine, lanyard, or other strong string, measuring six or seven times the length of one side of the cover.
To Construct:
Cut the square covers to size. Punch holes every inch or so around all four edges of the covers, doing both at the same time, so the holes match up. Then place the Very Simple Sit-Upon between the two covers. To sew, string the cord through the holes using an overcast stitch (start on top, enter the hole, pull the cord through and out to the side, take it over to the top, and then sew in from the top of the next hole.) If needed,