Prius Camping?!!!

This is way overdue.

We had decided to take a trial run for our trip out west in the Prius with Bandit. This time we only stayed overnight one night just to see how the car would get packed up, what it would be like to sleep in the car, etc. Yes, I said sleep in the car. We wanted to see if the three of us would fit in the car for the night because most campsites allow dogs, and it can be difficult to find a hotel that allows an 85 lb. dog. This will make it easier to keep our schedule flexible for our long trip in August. No hotels, just campsites. So we packed up the car, 2 pillows, 2 sleeping bags, 3 small blankets, a twin sized air mattress (deflated), a pump for the afore-mentioned air mattress, dog food, bottled water, a small cooler, dog bowls, dog treats, 2 large rawhide bones, a stuffed dog toy, a duffel bag with a change of clothes for both Danny and me, and finally my camera bag, because we all know I go nowhere without my camera. So did I remember to mention we were in a Prius? Not a big car by any means, but loaded with lots of little places to hide things.

So we got on the road around 8:30 am (about an hour later than I wanted to start) on our trip to nowhere in particular. We had a tentative goal for Mississippi, but who knew where we would actually end up. We set a new rule early on that on any trip through the Midwest we would each only do the "Look, a bunch of cows. . . ." joke once a day, or it would get very old, very quickly, and wouldn't be fun anymore. We also found this works for goats, sheep, and horses. Try it. Replace "cows" with these other animals (which were all frequently seen on this trip), and you will see I am right.

Several hours into the trip we stopped at a rest stop for all of us to stretch our legs and to go potty. I of course had to take some pictures of the surrounding area and of Bandit. At one point I was sitting/kneeling on the curb and Danny gave me the leash while he went to go do something, I don't remember what. Now before giving me the leash Danny reminded me there were other dogs around and to make sure I had a good hold, because if Bandit saw another dog he would take off running and I needed to stop him. I assured him I was fine and he went to do whatever it was. Within seconds Bandit saw another dog and tried to run over and introduce himself. I was on my knees at the time trying to take Bandit's picture and when he took off, so did I, pretty much a face plant into the grass. I managed to hold onto the leash, only because I had wound it around my hand several times (can you say nylon leash burn?). Ouch! While protecting my camera from hitting the ground I smashed a few of my acrylic nails into the dirt and broke them off painfully low. Double Ouch! The camera was fine. Thanks for asking. Danny heard all of the commotion and came to see what happened with an "I told you to hold onto the leash, because he would run." Thanks Hon, I think I got it. After that we got back in the car and continued on.

After a full 12 hours in the car, we found a KOA and pitched our tent. Oh wait, we don't have a tent. We're sleeping in the car. We had brought along a sheet to cover up the back window, and some bath towels for the side windows, and we used the sun shade in the front. OK, now no-one can see in. Could you just imagine waking up to some stranger staring in your windows trying to figure out why you're sleeping in your car in a campground? Now both front seats are pushed all the way forward, and the back seats are flipped down. The three blankets are layered in the front passenger seat like a little nest for Bandit. The air mattress is blown up and the two sleeping bags are put on that facing head to toe. Those of you who know Danny know you don't want his head right next to your head when you're sleeping, especially in a little car. Did I fail to mention I wore ear plugs? Danny laid head toward the front of the car (poor Bandit), and I laid with my head toward the back of the car, kind of tucked a little into one of the cubbyhole areas. Now because this is a Prius we could have the car on with the heat running all night and use only about 1/4 gallon of gas.

What did we learn from this little experiment? 1) Pack a tent, just as another option for sleeping arrangements. 2) Stop before it gets dark, setting all this up at night tends to attract the unwanted attention of all the mosquitoes in the area. Which leads me to 3) BRING AND USE BUG SPRAY! Even in late fall the bugs are nasty.

I have to admit it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I'll let you judge for yourself from the following pictures.