Product Review: Coleman Thermoelectric Cooler

Coleman 40-Quart Thermoelectric Cooler - PowerChill

This weekend, we will be headed out for our first camping trip of the season. It got me thinking about my favorite camping item. The Coleman Thermoelectric Cooler has been wonderful for our family. It works great for both camping and road trips! It has paid for itself many times over because we have lunch from the cooler instead of a restaurant when we're on the road.

This cooler fits just right in the back end of our Dodge Grand Caravan and plugs into the van's nearby power supply. We keep it horizontal (with the door opening on top), but it also works vertically, if you want it that way. At the campground, we leave generally leave it in the van but plug it into the campground electricity. When we're staying in a motel, it's easy enough to carry into our room to plug in.

You will want to make sure you get the optional power supply so that you can plug it into a standard electric outlet. It comes with an removable/adjustable shelf, but I always leave that at home. This cooler doesn't hold as much as our old Coleman Green Steel Belted Cooler, but we can pack just as much (maybe more!) since we don't need to have room for ice. And, there is no more yucky water in the bottom of the cooler making our lunch meat and Hershey bars soggy!

The cooler keeps the food about 40 degrees below the ambient temperature. So, most of the time that is plenty cool enough. Once in awhile, if we are camping when it is really hot (above 90 degrees), I take a little extra care with the cooler. By mid-morning, when it is really starting to get warm, we put the cooler in the shade and cover it with a couple of towels. Also, if I know it is going to be a hot weekend, I start out with some things frozen (like hot dogs, scrambled eggs, water bottles). They help keep the cooler chilled, and they're thawed by the time we're ready for them.

It is so great not to have to worry about keeping enough ice and dealing with the water mess. We've owned our cooler for more than 5 years, and it is still going strong.

Read-Aloud Story Time in the Car or Van

In a recent post, I mentioned that we have pieced together a microphone system that allows me to read books aloud in the van so that everyone can hear me through the vehicle's speakers. Before having this, I would sit in the front passenger seat and twist myself to be heard by the kids in the middle and back rows. In addition to turning my torso, I had to speak loudly. The driver (Paul) felt like I was shouting right in his ear. My back ached, and my voice quickly grew tired. Now, I can sit comfortably in my seat, speak in a normal voice, and be clearly heard throughout the van.

The first piece of this puzzle is the FM transmitter that I highlighted here. There are two more pieces necessary to make it all work.

This is the speaker/amplifier from Radio Shack.

And this is the clip-on microphone from Radio Shack.

This is what worked for us. There could be better and/or cheaper solutions. One thing to note on the microphone is that it needs to be a mono (phonic???) as opposed to a stereo (phonic???) microphone because the speaker/amp requires that to work. We had to figure that out when getting our setup working.

Now, Here's a Handy Little Gadget

Paul received this Sony Car FM Stereo Transmitter as a Christmas gift from his employer, and it has been a great addition to our vehicular travels.

Here's how it works. You take the audio output from something like a CD player, MP 3 player, or DVD player and connect it to this gizmo. This device then transmits the audio signal on a short-range FM signal of your choosing. Then you tune your car radio to the corresponding FM frequency, and presto!, the audio is heard through your vehicle's sound system.

We first used it with our portable DVD player to broadcast the sound throughout the van. Next, I got the bright idea that it could save my voice when reading aloud in the van. Paul did a little work with Radio Shack and came up with a clever system for doing just that. More details on that to follow.

Now That Camping Season is Pretty Much Over...

I've just re-worked my master camping list. Want to see it? Download it and take a look.

Keep in mind that I don't take all these things on every trip. About a week ahead of a camping trip, I print off the list and start crossing off things that we will not need. The same goes for the food. I have all my ideas on the list, but we don't take all that stuff every time.

There are some things we take that aren't on the list. For instance, I have some pots and pans that stay in our pop-up camper. The lantern and tablecloth are in there, too. So, those aren't on the list. I have a wooden camping box with kitchen utensils, mixing bowl, measuring cup, matches, etc. I haven't listed out every thing in there--just consumables to replenish.

You can see the list in MS Word format or as a PDF file.

Something to do in Springfield, IL

We were camping in Springfield, IL this past weekend. We needed a short afternoon activity to occupy ourselves, and we didn't have enough time to do justice to the Lincoln Museum or to New Salem. We found something that was just right: The Illinois State Military Museum. Admission to the museum was free.

Our kids enjoy military equipment like real tanks and helicopters, so they admired the outside exhibits. Then, inside the museum, there was an area for trying on real military camouflage. Paul even learned about a previously-unknown-to-him camo: desert night camo.

We spent an hour or so at the museum, and stopped by Lincoln's tomb for a walk-through before heading back to Riverside Campgrounds.