It's about 6 weeks away from our start date, Dec 24th and the excitement is increasing as we continue to prepare. A 4-day trip over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend will be an excellent warm up for the main event. Much of the preparation we are doing now is for that trip as well. Due to a very hectic schedule, I do not see myself having any real days off just before the 24th. Usually, I am out of the semester a good week prior to the trip, but this year we had a late start which means a late ending. And I will spend some time with my mother who lives about 4 hrs north of Miami. Typically I spend 2 full days during the few days before the trip preparing and packaging all the food. This year, I will have to do most of the preparing much sooner than that. So, for the next couple weekends, I am not going out of town and the time will be partly devoted to getting our food ready for both trips.
Before getting into the food part of the preparation, we had some other things to work on, namely the first aid kit. I use a 1250 pelican case for all the first aid supplies. Each year, I go through the leftover supplies from the previous year and replace anything that has expired. Medications typically have a 2-3 yr shelf life, so if none get used, I still replace expired drugs. Some things do get used more regularly, such as ibuprofen or even benadryl, for instance. I even take the benadryl on day trips because of the regular encounter with mosquitoes and no-see-ums. Other drugs are rarely used, but I take them with me anyway. If I am out there for 10 days, anything can happen; a bad case of the flu or diarrhea, allergic reaction, or an accident. So, like a girl scout, I am always prepared.
Here is a list of my first aid supplies:
- one small tube triple antibiotic cream
- one small tube hydrocortisone cream
- children's benadryl
- Cortaid poison ivy care cloths
- small bottle ibuprofen
- anti-diarrheal pills
- alka-seltzer tablets
- roll of tums
- daytime flu tablets
- nighttime flu powder for mixing
- coughdrops
- tooth filling
- eye drops
- Tiger balm
- gauze
- blister relief pads
- assorted bandaids
- ace bandage
- tape
- a couple latex gloves
- tweezers
- eye glass repair
- small scissors
- mirror
- notes with directions for use of medications
A quick trip to Walgreen's and I'm good to go. The next entry will be all about the food preparation.
