Yep, that’s right. A few days ago I realized that back in October when we were headed back from our ‘out west’ trip, we folded up the tent with the internal ground cloth still in place. We had gotten in the habit of doing this in order to save folding and a few hours later unfolding the tarp when we were once again setting up camp. Seemed like a good idea then, perhaps it was because we were breaking camp in the dark with a giant green blow-up Frankenstein staring at us, (Remember this was October folks.) and it was but now, 6 months later I realized that we never unfolded the tent to air it out and remove the ground cloth in order to roll the tent in to its proper stuff sack.
So, yesterday I set up the tent in our ‘tree room’ (due to the threat of rain) pulled the tarp out and had a few moments of trip recall – the mountains, the sky, the chilly nights, the wildlife, the lakes, the canyons (there were all grand), the birds, the trees, their magnificent colors especially towards the end, the endless road that took us and delivered us back home, and the people we met along the way, not to mention the buffalo.
So I pulled out our green ‘floor’. Took it out on the deck to shake out. Went back in and realized that the floor of the tent needed to be swept out. Hmmm…could I use the vacuum on it? Well, yes I could. It worked like a charm. All the tiny twigs, dust from other states and feathers from Jerry’s down sleeping bag disappeared up the black hose. But, and I’m happy to say, the floor of the tent and all the memories are still strong – of good times and delightful experiences.
I like it when spring cleaning = tent preparation.
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