Then I found Tracy.....

Base Camp at a remote RV Park can be great.  It’s never very 

crowded, your neighbors are typically friendly and the Camp 

Store always has ice cream!  

One element tragically missing from my Base Camp is the hearty 

home cooked dinner that would be welcomed by starving 

adventurers.  My talents lie in just about any other arena of RV 

camping that doesn’t involve food. I Realized my cooking 

limitation one day and went on-line to look for “great ways to 

cook in your RV”.  Most of what I found involved food out of a 

box. Yes, the food has a long shelf life.  Yes, the boxes 

usually fit well in the Airstream pantry. But let’s face it, 

boxed food just doesn’t taste as good as home made. Something 

else to consider concerning prepackaged food. It does create a 

lot of packaging waste and although many RV Parks now have 

recycle bins, store bought heat and serve food still creates a 

lot of trash. 

Dilemma:  How to cook a great tasting meal that does not involve 

hot dogs, hamburgers or other meals that come straight out of a 

box? 

Solution:  Tracy. 

Tracy is a chef who loves camping, hiking and sea kayaking.  

Tracy and I have a similar ideology:  Reuse, repurpose and 

recycle.  Tracy is an expert in adventure cooking and has agreed 

to teach me how to cook in my Airstream. 

Prep – 

The first step in preparing food for an adventure is to create a 

menu that fits the expedition.  We are taking Freedom to the 

Kern River to do a little rappelling.  It’s a short overnight 

trip.  Because the gang will be in water all day and come back 

to base camp pretty cold, Tracy suggests comfort food – Beef 

Stew.  

Second, we need to make sure I have the right cooking gear for 

our menu.  Tracy asks if I have a Dutch Oven.  I reply with, 

“What’s a Dutch Oven?”  Turns out a Dutch Oven is a heavy iron 

pot that you can cook with over an open flame.  I’ve seen one, I just didn’t know its proper name.  My Mom and Grandmother own 

one.  

Pack-  

Tracy is going to teach me how to prep and pack our food into reusable resealing bags.  She seems to think we are cutting potatoes the day before we leave.  I’m interested to see how she keeps them from turning brown.  I’m also very curious about what foods can be packed together and which foods need their own little baggies. 

Play- 

Seven Tea Cups is a canyon located in Kern County, California on the southern end of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range. The name Seven Tea Cups refers to the shape of this canyon created by a river that plunges over seven steps of granite creating a series of closely spaced waterfalls with deep pools located at each base. Our group of adventurers will bring along their wetsuits to wear as they rappel down the middle of these seven waterfalls. The wetsuits will help protect the crew from hypothermia while they spend most of the day trying to negotiate the unpredictable currents of this section of river.  

See you on the road, 

Kaylene 

oxoxox