Long drive back (not as long as Aaron's, though). I got up at dawn (about 5:45) and started to break camp, but since Aaron was still in his rack, I gave him a traditional Drill Instructor "get-out-of-the-rack" yell (the campground was empty except for one motor home way down at the far end). We spent a freezing hour and a half getting our respective gear loaded up and the tent trailer folded. My hot coffee made the temperature tolerable. New camping trick, self-learned: to wipe down a folding fiberglass table in below-freezing weather, dip a rag in your vehicle's windshield-washer bottle and use that solution to wipe with. Does a marvelous job.
For the camping, both of our faith in the Mr. Heater Big Buddy heaters is expanded to the max now. This expedition would have been a freezing, miserable torture without the heater, but with it, it wasn't only tolerable, it was pleasant. Ditto the Coleman inflatable beds for the tent-trailer. They are a joy to sleep on, and mine didn't need ANY extra air over three days. We had two Coleman propane stoves, and they are a dream also, easily capable of taking my 20" wide, 6-gallon dish-washing kettle (a 24-quart Bluestone boiling-water canner, actually) and heating the dishwater in a few minutes (hint: since it was too cold for bacteria growth of any amount, keep the water and just add to it by rinsing the dishes you wash with hot water from the coffee pot, draining over the washing kettle). We took a total of 38 gallons of water to the water-deprived campground (well is dry), but only used around 8 or 9 gallons of it, and gave away a few more gallons. That is what heavy-duty trucks do for you: you can bring more water. Our ice held up well, and I started with 18 pounds in a 94-quart cooler and got home yesterday afternoon with at least half that.
Got on the road at 0730, and arrived back at home at 1515. Gas mileage sucked on the 830-mile round trip, as I used about 60 or 65 gallons, but that is a Chevy one-ton maxi-van (350-CID V-8) I drove, and it had a LOAD! I probably only used about half the gear I took, but then, I could have sheltered and fed a lot more with what I had. Truck camping means never having to count ounces, or even pounds, and yes, I have done backpack camping, thank you very much.
Final thoughts on the shooting. Precision riflery is ALL about mind over muscle, and in all my life, I have NEVER had such a stark demonstration of it as I got with my new skills as a 1-minute-of-angle shooter.
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