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Camping

~vio

Me: I packed the 'C' batteries.

B: I call them 'Ocean' batteries.

We went camping with B's preschool school class this Saturday. We were late getting out, but it was only an hour drive, so it ended up being a pretty great day.

Recently, I've been playing Dirt Rally in VR- a fairly realistic offroad racing game. On the way, we drove about 10 miles down a well-maintained dirt road through the mountains. This looks familiar! I settled into the chair and gripped the wheel: '50 straight, then 2 left into 3 right, opens over crest, hairpin left...'.

I look over at Meg, now terrified. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!". Oh, shit, right. Sorry, I should explain, I've totally be training for this in the simulator. Don't worry, I'm basically a racecar driver now.

I slowed down, but both B and me grumbled disappointed.

I've been curious about the VR sim-to-real skill transfer. Am I dangerously overconfident? Or could I really land this Cessna 172?

Camping was unexpectedly a great time. I say 'unexpectedly' because these types of things with kids is usually HARD. But, the kids spend all day together playing in the woods anyway, so we were able to set up, make dinner, and chat without interruption while they ran around. It made me wonder if a tribal life would be easier in this regard, or at the very least a neighborhood culture where kids got together and ran around until dark.

We went on a night hike, and then another long hike in the morning, ending at what has to be in the top 10 for world's most scenic high school football fields, perched high in the mountains. I wonder how many balls they've lost over the cliff. We finished packing up right as the hail hit.

We took a wrong turn on the way home, and realized we were right near an old friend's place in the mountains. They live in a really remote place for random visitor pop-ins, and were extremely excited for visitors... but probably because they had COVID. We talked through the window and left.

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~akhet wrote:

There HAS to be some skill transfer, right? Despite no real substitute for feeling the G's, not to mention traction control and probable lack of performance of a consumer vehicle in comparison.

I think we are still a bit intimidated by the idea of taking the kids camping. My solo gear has gotten more spartan as time goes on - it's actually a form of therapy where I only provide for me - so bringing children will take some practice. But it feels like the inevitable next step in self-sufficiency as a family unit.

~tetris wrote (thread):

I've definitely felt the call of the woods, and considered living in an off-grid shack away from the woes of modern life. Also, yeah I reckon you could land a Cessna - I've heard stories of people who've landed planes with just prior Flight Sim gaming experience