Utilitech 2 pack Headlamps - (Girls Road Trip 2018)

  

My husband knew my daughter and I were going to get some LED headlamps for our road trip at some point, as not only will it come in handy walking around camp at night in pitch dark while leaving our hands free but mostly I wanted them for a cave we are going to be exploring.  It isn't a cave that is 'run' by anyone and you can visit on your own but there is no electricity, lighting, or any comforts.  In the research I did, it was highly suggested to have a headlamp to leave your hands free to catch yourself if you should stumble on the rocky paths. 

The Husband surprised me one day by bringing home a 2-pack headlamp set he picked up at Lowes for me.  I ended up really loving them. 

It's a 2 pack that comes with 6 batteries already included and the options for the LED lighting are solid white, red, green, and flashing red.  Love the red and green options so I won't lose my night vision when it's turned off.  It has the strap around the head as well as the 3rd strap to go across the top for a comfortable yet secure fit.  The lights both worked immediately out of the package (after you remove the little white battery tab) and the lights are bright on all settings.

Although the lamp doesn't pivot to the sides, it does tip forward and back so you can adjust the lighting based on your needs; whether you need to straight ahead, or tipped down towards your walking path, or whatever you are working on.

Here is the link to the 2 pk of Utilitech headlamps we bought at Lowe's for about 12 bucks.  (https://www.lowes.com/pd/Utilitech-30-Lumen-LED-Headlamp/1000197595)

Bulb Type	LED
Brightness (Lumens)	30
Length (Inches)	2.9
Housing Material	Plastic
Color/Finish Family	Red
Manufacturer Color/Finish	Red/Black
Warranty	1-year
Package Quantity	2

Battery Included                   Yes
Battery Size                           AAA
Number of Batteries             3

Pull the battery tab and you are ready to go.

    

Bright white

 

Red

Green

Comes in a two pack. 

Rambling over Coffee: I really MUST get serious about the packing for the Girls Road Trip 2018

Tomorrow starts a brand new week and also is a good starting point for me to get my head in the game and start to truly plan our Girls Road Trip 2018.

I did a bit of planning a couple months ago - enough to plan out a couple destinations, map the route, order or buy a few things I knew we'd need this time; and then got busy getting the required reservations made for the places that required them. 

This also takes care of a concern of mine;  I don't really care what goes on during the day - what plans might change - where we go - what we do.  But I like to know where I'm going to sleep that night.  That's all I did though; the reservations and some ordering of things I knew we'd need.  As they arrived or as I bought them I threw them into a plastic bin and put them into the garage.  I was far too busy to worry about for the time being.

I never did invest in a cell reception booster; only because of the cost.  However, I did get a second cell phone a couple months ago to 'test' as our family has Sprint - which is the worst (worst worst worst) for reception.  Sprint doesn't even work at our house much less on the road and last year during our trek across South Dakota, my daughter and I often had little or no reception on our phones.  I now have two phones - the lousy Sprint (which we'll be dropping once the last family members 'contract' is up in a couple months) and I have Verizon, which gets 100% better coverage than Sprint, even if it's not perfect.  The cell booster would be nice but at $199-499 it just isn't going to happen.

I also didn't invest in a power source.  Ugh. That topic. I researched this for months.  I researched, read, took notes, watched informative videos, took more notes, read more...  so much my brain would hurt.  And in the end, I never did make up my mind, or find the 'excess' funds to invest in some sort of set up.  (I have a solar panel that works with Goal Zero products so I considered the Goal Zero Yeti 400 power pack or the larger one - as I can recharge them using solar power; no electricity needed. But OUCH on the price.  Also considered deep cycle marine battery set up but recharging is a problem with no electricity in most of the places we'll be at.  And... blah blah blah.  Pros and cons that never did work in any one favor - coupled with budget, weight, space and what I already had to work with. 

So tomorrow I need to start lugging up some bins from the garage.
Go through the camping gear we have and decide what we need on this trip.
Not even thinking about clothing, shoes, etc.  That will come later.  First I need to start with the basics; which tent, which packs. Mess kits and emergency kits. Tarps and cots. Sleeping bags and air pillows. Duct tape and tools. Food options, menus and the ever important coffee options.

No electricity, ground fires or water in some of the destinations this time.

I checked the temperatures and we will be down to the 20's at night and up to 80's during the day.  In other words; freezing our butts off at night and sweating during the day hikes.

Apparently there are a lot of road issues and construction in the area as well - I just glanced at that today.  Tomorrow I'll be printing off the newest road closures and detours.  Oh joy!




....  this post rather disjointed and all over the place.  Eh.  It's just the coffee talking again.

Having little ones means you start to appreciate a good cup of coffee! Or... any cup of coffee. Good or bad!

We've had little ones here all week but Mr. Coffee has today off so I have another adult here to tag-team for a bit and I sent him outside with them with goal in mind: to shower.  Please, oh how I really just want to shower! 

The toddler is a typical todder - average, normal, good little kid.  Sure, some temper tantrums, might get into something he shouldn't every now and then but for the most part is just a regular little toddler and not too difficult.  The 3 year old however is basically a miniature 20 year old college student.  The brains in that one - wow.  So he is constantly on the move, on the go, having to touch everything, do everything and watch everything.  He wants to know how things work and if he watches someone do something once he will imitate it and try to figure it out himself.  And he usually does.  His 'toys' are all far beyond his typical age-group and some of the best toys are things like figuring out locks, doing science experiments, cooking (he can make things like pancakes, waffles, scrambled eggs, cakes, etc. almost by himself; just a little help with the measurements and the 'hot' cooking parts of the recipe); padlocks (yes, regular padlocks adult use to lock things up) and items like that - he loves to figure out how they work and then will put them on things and take them off again.

And sneaky.  And fast.  If I leave the room for a bit to go around the kitchen to grab a glass of water I know the toddler will probably keep playing with toys, wander to a new toy, watch the cartoon playing on the tv, etc.  I also know the 3 year old will immediately (within 2-3 seconds - not joking) run to do something naughty.  This might be sprinting to disassemble the wi-fi router, sneaking into the storage room, grabbing the pool table cue and balls and throwing them around, body slamming his little brother to the ground, stealing his toys or standing on top of toys he knows will break...  you don't and can't leave the 3 year old out of your sight for more than 7 seconds or he WILL be into something. 

Uh, I'm rambling again.  Sorry.  I've got a few cups of strong, hot coffee in me.  You know how the coffee makes me ramble a bit!

Back on track:  He keeps me on my toes.

And if there is anything having multiple little ones around makes you appreciative of, it's the ability to enjoy a hot cup of coffee.

I can't count the number of times I've put a k-cup into my iCoffee brewer only to have it sit, unloved for 2 hours until I was able to get back to it.  How many times I've attempted to get up early in the morning and silently brew coffee and sneak to the office to check emails before the little ones wake up, only to have the 3 year old and his stealth hearing call out to me within seconds of me sitting down and raising the hot mug of coffee goodness to my lips. 

A cup is brewed, set down to play blocks, change a diaper, reprimand, teach, help, sing, count, color, draw, play...  and it's not remembered until it's gone cold and tastes like ashes.

Ah... the ability to sip a hot cup of coffee is something I can appreciate when I have little ones around the house again.

This morning I got up at 4:30 am.
I was a ninja in my own home, silently maneuvering my way around and brewing a cup of hot, strong, black coffee.  I was successful.  And it was a beautiful thing.

And to top it off, today is now a glorious day.
Why?

Because not only did I get a hot, strong, black cup of coffee this morning but I got time to check my emails and I managed to get a nice, hot shower in.  I even got to shave my legs.  Glory be!  I got to shave my legs! 

It's a good day.