This week I’m down in Arches National Park helping my dad do a nighttime photography workshop.
Mostly my job consists of running around and setting up lights and carrying stuff (though I did press the shutter for him a few times when he was light painting, I joke that I’m going to claim copyright on those ones).
We’re living out of a hotel room which has made for some interesting logistical issues. I brought a week worth of People Chow and a bunch of blender bottles but I still need to wash the containers. Before I left, my wife told me to bring along a small container of dish soap and I wish I would have done that along with a scrub brush. Instead I’ve had to use washcloths and whatever soap I can source. Soap is absolutely necessary because of the oil. Hot water will get much of the residue but you need something to get the oil off and only soap will do it.
As expected, eating powdered food has been (except for needing to wash the containers) exceptionally convenient. It’s also forced my dad to stick to his diet since I’m not eating fast food with him (though I did make an exception and had biscuits and gravy with the workshop group this morning =). I’ve found that the kind of hiking we’ve been doing works fine with powdered food, I’ve been mixing up enough containers to last me however long we’re going to be out and either mix it with a bunch of ice or refrigerate it for a few hours to get it cold enough to last. Tonight we’re going to be going up to Delicate Arch just before sunset and staying until around midnight so I’ll drink a blender bottle of people chow around 4:00pm and bring one up with me to drink while waiting for the sky to get dark enough.
This experience has been good for an additional reason: next month I’m going to be going to San Francisco for 7 days for the DreamForce conference. I’m planning to pack about 8 days worth (just in case), a little in a carry-on and the rest in a checked bag. I’m also going to bring a little soap and a brush =)
