Oh wow that's wild that they cancelled on you! I don't know what I would do if that happened to me, we would be DEVASTATED lol! But that's awesome that you had such a great back-up plan and can still have an amazing time.
Yes, it was crazy! But the crazier part was, once we got up there, there is a Christian Camp on one side of the lake and while in "town," I overheard some people talking about how they just got kicked out of their campsites by rangers because they were closing the loop for a few days of repairs. They then cancelled those people's reservations on them which opened up their reservations for other people to book (there is no internet access up their so they couldn't re-reserve their campsites for when they reopened in a few days) so they got cancelled completely but after they had already arrived and set everything up. That would have made me even more upset than what happened to us. I couldn't believe the story when I heard it.
My friend who got me and a bunch of families in our co-op into camping (and organizes our co-op camping trips) recommended this tip for ice. If you have freezer space (and looks like maybe you don’t haha) freeze a bunch of water bottles, old juice containers or whatever with drinkable water. Put those on the bottom, then put in food and freeze most of it like you did. Then use a little loose ice on top and in the empty spaces between the items. The water bottles are like blocks of ice that don’t melt quickly BUT they don’t leak so less water in your cooler! Plus it’s free lol! And when the do melt you have nice cold water to drink. I tend to use a mix of smaller 8oz bottles and large 64oz to make best use of space. This year I think I’ll actually skip the loose ice altogether and purchase the freezer shock long life ice packs that are supposed to be colder than ice and stay frozen for way longer and don’t leave a watery mess. I’ll put those along the edges and maybe a few like a divider in the middle of the cooler and see how it lasts for a 6-7 day trip! There’s a camp store with block and cubes ice so if it doesn’t last I can always buy ice. Thanks for these videos they have very helpful. Lots of tips!
I have frozen water in old containers before but, for me, it never seemed to keep everything as cold as ice does so, besides not having the freezer space, that's why I don't do that. Freezing as much food/drinks ahead of time definitely helps a ton, though. Sounds like you have a good plan in place for your ice chests too.
I love the ideas and love watching your camping videos.
Thanks!
Oh wow that's wild that they cancelled on you! I don't know what I would do if that happened to me, we would be DEVASTATED lol! But that's awesome that you had such a great back-up plan and can still have an amazing time.
Yes, it was crazy! But the crazier part was, once we got up there, there is a Christian Camp on one side of the lake and while in "town," I overheard some people talking about how they just got kicked out of their campsites by rangers because they were closing the loop for a few days of repairs. They then cancelled those people's reservations on them which opened up their reservations for other people to book (there is no internet access up their so they couldn't re-reserve their campsites for when they reopened in a few days) so they got cancelled completely but after they had already arrived and set everything up. That would have made me even more upset than what happened to us. I couldn't believe the story when I heard it.
My friend who got me and a bunch of families in our co-op into camping (and organizes our co-op camping trips) recommended this tip for ice. If you have freezer space (and looks like maybe you don’t haha) freeze a bunch of water bottles, old juice containers or whatever with drinkable water. Put those on the bottom, then put in food and freeze most of it like you did. Then use a little loose ice on top and in the empty spaces between the items. The water bottles are like blocks of ice that don’t melt quickly BUT they don’t leak so less water in your cooler! Plus it’s free lol! And when the do melt you have nice cold water to drink. I tend to use a mix of smaller 8oz bottles and large 64oz to make best use of space.
This year I think I’ll actually skip the loose ice altogether and purchase the freezer shock long life ice packs that are supposed to be colder than ice and stay frozen for way longer and don’t leave a watery mess. I’ll put those along the edges and maybe a few like a divider in the middle of the cooler and see how it lasts for a 6-7 day trip! There’s a camp store with block and cubes ice so if it doesn’t last I can always buy ice.
Thanks for these videos they have very helpful. Lots of tips!
I have frozen water in old containers before but, for me, it never seemed to keep everything as cold as ice does so, besides not having the freezer space, that's why I don't do that. Freezing as much food/drinks ahead of time definitely helps a ton, though. Sounds like you have a good plan in place for your ice chests too.