Twenty Essential Camping Tips

I feel the need to impart a quick list of camping tips to help make your next camping endeavor a pleasant one. Every camper always picks up a new trick or technique on any given outing. Whether you copy something you saw from another camper or "invented" a new way of starting a fire out of necessity (i.e. forgot the matches). Have no fear. We have compiled a top twenty list to get you started and you can add things as you see fit.

1. Canning rings can be use to cook your eggs in for egg sandwiches.
2. Plastic butter tubs make good storage containers for your camp kitchen
3. Waterproof matches by dipping in melted paraffin
4. Make fire starters by filling paper condiment cups with saw dust and pouring paraffin into the cup
5. Put matches in corrugated cardboard strips (about every other hole) and dip into paraffin for fire starters
6. Prescription bottles make good match safes
7. Laundry lint makes good tinder
8. Cover the ice in a picnic cooler with foil to help it last longer
9. Run candle stubs along the edge of a saw to help it glide better
10. To help shed burrs easily, rub the laces of your hiking boots with paraffin before hitting the trail
11. Keep a dry bar of soap in your sleeping bag to combat musty odors which develop during damp-season camping
12. When handling evergreens or pine cones, they can remove the sticky sap from their hands easily if they use baking soda instead of soap to wash
13. To keep mosquitoes away rub the inside of an orange peel on face, arms and legs
14. Don't forget the heavy-duty aluminum foil. There are many uses for it at camp
15. Prepare soups, stews or chili etc ahead of time. Freeze and keep in cooler. Reheat for a quick meal
16. To avoid unwanted visits from animals, keep food stored away or hang above ground level
17. Put a pan of hot water on the fire while you eat so that it'll be ready for cleanup when you are done
18. To remove odors from your cooler, wipe with a water and baking soda solution
19. Check with the campground about security and quiet hours. Be respectful of others
20. NEVER forget your tent!

Plant a Tree For Arbor Day

Thanks to the Detroit Free Press I found out that today, April 28, is Arbor Day. The article in the Free Press has a handful of stories about people and their thoughts about trees and why they planted them. I remember when I was in elementary school and we had a field trip in the spring to the covered bridge in Centreville. They had all sorts of outdoor activities and information about the environment. We learned about planting trees to protect areas from erosion and received a White Pine seedling to take home and plant.

Looking back, I can't believe how excited I was to have a tree for a present. I planted and watered that little seedling and before you knew it that little pine was really growing.

Unfortunately, my little pine tree didn't make it too many years. I cannot remember the exact cause of its demise. It was either as a result of some free-range chickens roosting in it at night or the time our calves got out and one of them chomped the top of the tree clean off.

We had a few little pine trees at the time, so I don't remember which event killed my tree. I know that my tree was one of the two that were finished off by farm animals.

I wish we had more room to plant trees where we live. If we did, we would definitely be planting a tree today.

Video of Water Crashing Over South Haven Lighthouse

Here is a cool video showing a very windy day on the west side of our state at the South Haven lighthouse. I have seen a lot of photos of waves crashing over the lighthouse, but this is the first video I have viewed. Wouldn't it be cool to be at the beach as a summer storm rolled in?

If the video player does not display, just go to youtube.com and watch it there. It is only about 30 seconds long so even with dialup you shouldn't have to wait too long to see it.

An Environmental Governor

April 22, 2006, is Earth Day. A day to focus on ways to better the environment. In honor of this day, I thought I would mention former Michigan Governor, William Milliken, a pioneer in taking care of Michigan's natural beauty. I did not know it, but it was Gov. Milliken who campaigned for the $.10 bottle deposit law. Evidently, Milliken was disgusted with the amount of garbage along our state highways and wanted to do something to keep our state clean.

In addition to the deposit law, Milliken also saw the Michigan Environmental Protection Act in 1970, the Wetlands Act of 1979 and the Natural Resource Trust Fund come to fruition during his tenure.

Thanks to Milliken, our state is probably a lot cleaner than it might have been had we not passed those laws to help preserve Michigan's natural beauty and resources.

Read more about former Governor Milliken at the Traverse City Record Eagle.

Collapse of Miners Castle at Pictured Rocks

I just read on The Mining Journal that the northeast turret of Miners Castle at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore broke off and fell into Lake Superior last week. Evidently, the annual freezing and thawing had taken its toll on the crumbling layers sandstone and led to its ultimate demise. Miners Castle is probably the formation that most people remember when they think of their visits to Pictured Rocks. It is one of the most photographed formations as well.

I remember it from a family vacation from quite a while back. I snuck over the railing and leaned over the edge of the sandstone cliffs staring straight down the 90 foot drop into Lake Superior's icy blue waters. Pictured Rocks are probably one of the most picturesque spots in Michigan.

I'll be posting a photograph from flickr.com of what Miners Castle looked like with both turrets standing so you can refresh your memory of what Miners Castle looks (or looked) like.

When Moles Attack

With the arrival of spring comes the arrival of that destroyer of lawns - the mole. Moles are not all that bad. They do eat different insects and aerate your yard which is really a big help. However, tripping over huge mounds of dirt and having a lawn that looks like it is riddled with craters is not always aesthetically pleasing. If you have kids you can always enlist them to stomp down the tunnels for you before you mow the yard. Otherwise you end up sending chunks of turf and good-sized rocks flying when your mower makes contact with a large tunnel.

Two common ways to get rid of moles is through the use of poisons or mole traps. For a listing of the many ways you can try to get rid of moles check out this article in the Lansing State Journal or Jim Harding's critter website.