We tried 2 different things for sleeping last year, and were happy, with neither. The first thing we tried was our daughters queen size blow up bed, with a battery operated pump. It took up the whole tent, and we kept rolling towards each other all night. 2 nights of that was enough. A friend came and picked it up and took us to the store to look at other options, which weren't many. We ended up with 2 Coleman self inflating, camping mats. They were OK to sleep on, but took a long time to deflate each morning. However, in the event of a flooded tent, they do float.
This year we are trying the Luxury Lite Cot. It folds up very small, and weighs less than 3 pounds. It is pricey, but it has a life time warranty. The web site says it can be assembled in 3 minutes. It took us a bit longer than that, mostly because the directions didn't match what had been sent to us.
The cot has a unique support system, with bending supports, that lock into each side of the cot, at regular intervals. It is sturdy, yet adds only a little weight to our gear.
There were openings for 8 supports, but we had only 4. I called the company to find out why and to get some clarification on the directions. They said that they had been experimenting a bit with the model we purchased, and that is why the directions and package contents did not match. They generously said that if we returned what we had, they would upgrade us to the deluxe model, with 6 supports, at no additional charge. (a $60.00 value.) There will still be places to put 8, simply because people sometimes want to move them around. I was concerned about some puckering in the cot, but according to the company spokesman, "It is supposed to pucker a bit, that is what helps make it so comfortable to sleep on."
We ordered the mesh cot, which should be cooler for sleeping in warm weather. If we want to use it in cool weather, and still have a warm back, we will want to put a pad of some sort on it. Tony was happy to try it out, and was so comfortable, that he wanted a pillow. I could hardly get him off of it, when it came time to pack it away.
We bought only one cot, to start with, because we wanted to try it out, before investing in 2 of them. Now Tony is saying that he wants to buy another before we ride PALM. That will be determined by our pocketbook. If we can't afford one this year, we'll add it next year.
We are slowly trying to get all of our gear together for the independent cycling tour we want to do from MI to Bellingham WA, in a few years. (The good Lord willing, of course.) The idea for the tour started out as something we wanted to do for fun, but since our twin grandsons were diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, the genetic eye disease, that claimed Tony's vision, our focus has changed. Our trike attracts lots of attention, so why not use that to do some fund raising for a cure? We hope to get some corporate donations, and perhaps some sponsors to help pay our way. We are still in prayer about all of this. It's a lot to take on, and we certainly know, we can't do it on our own. We will need the Lord's blessing and his help, for all the planning and every mile of the ride.
3 or 4 years might sound like a long time in advance to plan such a thing, but we figure that if we do it bit, by bit, the expenses will be spread out. Our biggest expense will be a new trike. Yes, I sadi, a new trike. As much as we love Rosie, she wasn't built for this kind of touring. She's more of and around town and country type trike, not up to doing 2 big mountain ranges. For that, we will need a Greenspeed touring trike. A very expensive trike, way out of our price range. Here is a link. In case you aren't into John Deere green, it comes in other colors. Yellow seats, show dirt, but are great for making the riders, high viz.
http://www.greenspeed.com.au/gtt.html
We are hoping to find a good used one, that will suit our needs. Used ones can be hard to find, and our needs are quite specific. We have started a GS savings account, it has a long ways to go. For those of you that pray for us, would you please add "finding and affording, just the right trike," to your prayer list? Thanks. We believe that if this tour is meant to be, the Lord will provide the things we need, when we need them, but he also expects us to do our share.
We still have to figure out camping stoves and other things. There are many camping stoves out there, and having never used one, how will we know which one is right for us? Since we will be camping along the way, we will need some type of a light weight cart to pull. We've already learned that it needs to have 2 wheels, or it can cause instability on cornering.
Last spring I took a bike maintenance class, but I will also need to take a trike specific one. Some things are the same on bikes and trikes, but other things are very different. Those of you that know me, know I am far from being mechanically gifted. Did I mention we will be relying on the Lord when we do this tour?
Our daughter recently sent us a blog about 2 blind people that are riding a tandem bike across the America's. It's been interesting to read. The tour that Tony and I want to do seems like small potatoes. when I see what this couple is taking on. I remember when Tony's vision was at the same point, the captain of this team is experiencing now, and I'm telling you, there is NO WAY, (even if you paid me money!) I would have ridden behind him on a tandem bike. We had one at that time, and after Tony smashed it into the tree in our front yard, he was not allowed to captain it at all. Here is a link to the blog Two blind to ride.
http://twoblindtoride.org/
When I started writing this today, I was figuring I would get a head start, and consolidate this with our next blog entry. On thinking on it a bit more, I decided to just post it as is. Thanks for sharing a piece of our dream with us today. With God, all things are possible.
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