Fly me away to Camp!

 I know, I know, I know, last time I left for a week I promised to have posts set up and ready to go.  Then I leave for another week and here we are in the same place with me leaving you all wanting some awesome blog posts and I leave everything to go learn me some diabetes at the University if  "in."  This was a week at the UCSD in San Diego where we learned all sorts of things to think about when being active and having diabetes.  Then on Friday through Sunday the "Team Testing Limits" went into the desert and camped in Campo, CA where we all got our Wilderness First Aid certifications. 

 The "in" group offered to provide all the camping gear, just that if you have ever been camping you want certain things that are your own.  In the first photo I brought Julian my thermarest pad and also snagged my sons Big Agnes down sleeping bag since the nights get into the 40's and it compresses to about half the size of my bag.  So I broke things down into what I wanted with me at all times, what I wanted to have for camping, and things that I needed to wear during the week.  Of course I wanted my multi-tool and pocket knife, but knew I was taking a chance by first bringing them and having to pack them in my checked bag.  I always kept thinking about that line in The Hangover where he says: "Thanks alot Bin Ladden."  Then while watching that Rick Stevens show have learned to take clothes that are comfortable, resist wrinkles, and can be worn in a dressy invironment or casual. 

 Here you see some of the items I wondered about if they would make it through security.  My compass, magnessium fire starter, whistle, and other parts of my essential gear.  Lucky for me everything went through with no issues just a water bottle I forgot to take out.  Speeking of water bottle, this was the first time I took a water bottle and it worked out great.  The water could be drank at any time then when I came up to security the contents went into the trash and on the otherside I filled it at a fountain.  I think a compass is often overlooked on any travel plans because I could use it at any time to know which direction I was traveling and where to go.   My Mountainsmith bag is still the best thing on the planet with the strappettes.  The bag sits on your back in a comfortable position so you are not worn out from travel and it holds everything you could ever thing about having and it is built to last. 

Wow, diabetes and all their backups to backups.  I brought twice the pump supplies I needed, three backup meters, charging chords for everything, batteries, all sorts of snacks, various power bars, soap, band aids, water purification pills, and so much more.  The thing is to get what you have tried and like while traveling, prepare for most any situation, and work on ways to make it smaller.  Take for instance my gel, it comes in a huge bottle but I just squeeze some into a zip lock back and reduce.  This was my first time to fly, do activities, then go camping and there were all sorts of things I did really well when it came to packing and certain things I think next time I will for sure bring, and other things I might leave behind.  The end result is the government did not probe me and all my stuff made it there and back so this would be a win-win for the diabetic camper and a bigger win for diabetes all over the world.