Post-birthday notes

First: Yesterday I meant to mention a happy coincidence but forgot. As I said, I will be traveling to Texas for a few weeks spanning the end of March and the start of April. Somewhere recently I saw that the total eclipse would be happening on April 8. I knew that the path led directly through Indianapolis, about two hours from here. The family traveled to see the previous one in 2017, driving four hours into central Tennessee. It was very cool, but having seen one I blew hot and cold about traveling to see another one. Finally I checked to see whether I’d even be around to do it on the day.

Well, no–but April 8 is the day I will be leaving the campsite for the two-day drive home … and my route intersects with the eclipse path through Texas. All I need to do is make sure I’m packed up and on my way by 8:30am, and five hours later I will find myself smack in the middle of it. Even better, that point is in the middle of nowhere Texas-wise, with several more populated areas nearby that are sure to attract any crowds in the region. So: head home, pull off the road at 1:30pm for five minutes for a total eclipse of the sun, then drive on to the first night’s stop.

Second: I don’t need a lot of stuff to camp comfortably, have acquired nearly everything I need, and what I have I like a lot. Still, there are a couple of areas where I’d like to fine tune further. One is cookware. For my cooking, frying up meat or making a cheese omelet, all I need is a frypan. One with a folding handle is preferable. As is a solid, relatively heavy and battleproof one–I don’t need to worry about weight, since I only carry it between the car and stove. Most camping pans don’t qualify, too small or too flimsy. But a couple of years back OXO began making a set of carbon steel pans with detachable handles, intended for camping–perfect! Unfortunately I think they decided against them, at least they have gotten harder and harder to locate.

I bought the 8″ version from REI last year, tried it and liked it, but it was just too small, so I wanted a larger one. I probably would have opted for 12″, but couldn’t find one anywhere. REI still has the 10″ version, but in my searching I came across a site which was selling them for about 30% less. So I quickly ordered one. Too quickly. Not having gotten a shipping notice after a few days, I took a harder look at the website and saw that it was a scam, basically items copied from some other site (possibly REI) with the prices marked down. It was also accused in a couple of places on the internet of being a scam. Then I went to PayPal, which I had used to make the payment, to look at the invoice and found that they had removed it “because the seller was possibly a scam.” So, we all seemed to be in agreement about that. And PayPal will refund you if you’ve been scammed. But apparently they won’t take the initiative. I hadn’t received a refund automatically, but after I reported the situation and answered a few automated questions they immediately issued one. Two lessons learned: if the deal looks too good to be true, it probably is, and it won’t hurt to look a little longer before deciding. And, don’t worry about getting a refund from PayPal, but don’t expect one automatically.

I ordered a 10″ pan from REI, and expect to have it in a few days.