Friday -a wonderful word.

Today is Friday. Yay!

Mr. Chrisman (my husband) and I are going camping tonight. After he arrives home from work, we'll jump in our car and zoom away towards Tahoe. I have been camping since before I can remember, and so, I have a fair idea of what to bring and what not to bring on such trips. My mom and dad have it down to a science. I decided to imitate their method of camp-packing, which is: leave it packed.

Not everything of course. But the essentials are pretty much constants, so leaving them packed makes for much simpler trip preparation. Since Mr. Chrisman and I were camping last weekend too, we are already halfway packed for this weekend.

My camping supplies are packed into two smallish crates, and contain items which I am accustomed to using while camping -I suppose I am used to my parents style of camping, which was always fun, but also thrifty, and didn't include bringing lots of stuff because, really, you can only cram so much stuff into a van already filled with 11 people.

So here's what I'm going to keep packed in what I call my "Camping Boxes":

Frying pan or griddle
Saucepan or Pot
Kettle (pot alone can be used for boiling water, if tight on space)
Cutting Board
Spatula
Spoon
Knives (2)
Melita
Coffee filters
Oven mitt
Plastic baggies (great for all manner of uses -keeping matches dry is one of them)

Dish Towels (2)
Dish Strainer
Small Bucket
Dish soap
Sponge
Trash bags

Coffee mugs
Plates
Cutlery
Paper napkins
Bowls
Table cloth

Salt & Pepper
Tea (individually packaged tea bags work well)
Sugar (just a small amount)
Bottled Water (sometimes you can't know ahead of time if a campsites water is drinkable -it may need to be boiled. It's nice to have something on hand for drinking!)

Camp stove fuel (and funnel)
Matches
Bug spray
Sunscreen
Wipes (baby wipes work well)
Deck of cards (or similar small game)

And that's about it! Of course, these things change a bit depending on what I'm cooking, how long we're staying, etc. But in general, it's nice to have everything in one place in case I'm short on time for packing.

Another thing I've done for several months (since my honeymoon, actually), is keep a toiletries bag packed at all times for both my husband and myself. I have found that it majorly cuts down on packing time if I can just double check that I have everything there that I need, rather than round all our toiletries up for every trip.
So there it is: my shortcuts to easy-peasey camping trips. Now I'm off to go camping!