For Emergency Use Only?

Oh that darn Costco place. You can never walk in and just buy gum. You can go in, with every intention of just getting laundry soap and toilet paper, and leave with over 200 bucks of crap you didn't intend to get.

That's what happened on our last trip to Costco.

The shopping list:

Gum
Facial Tissue
Batteries

What we actually bought:

Gum
Facial Tissue
Batteries
DVD
Books
Bread
and this:

Yes, we bought an 8 person tent. This huge thing was a "steal" at $115. And check it out, I can actually stand up in it.


It's sort or like a two room tent, one side is more of a screened in "porch" for either 3 more people to sleep (5 in the main part), or you can store gear in it, or you can set some chairs in it and actually use it as a porch.

It's called a Ridgeway by Kelty. I've heard of Kelty, they make a backpack I swear by for touring, so I thought this tent must be good. And at $115, it's just that much better. After some research on the ol' interwebs, this tent is not made by Kelty, but by Ridgeway, they just use the name, and the tent only seems to be sold at Costco.

No matter, we bought this thing for emergency use only. We do live in an earthquake zone, and if the big one hits and the house falls down, at least we have this fine tent to sleep in until help arrives. And there's enough room for the dog and cats.

Although Nicole surprised me with something this afternoon after I had set the tent up (had to make sure all the parts were there). She said, "Now I want to go camping!" That's surprising considering how much I enjoyed what little camping I've done in my life and want to do again. Now we have a suitable tent for us to go out in. Maybe we will...

So Matt and Sue, something to consider once you settle here in the Southland... It's an earthquake zone. You're going to need a tent. Costco has one. So if you need gum and detergent, you also need a tent.

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