Refashion - - - in a New Way

This weekend is the Ward Campout.  I'm super excite for two reasons: 1) I absolutely positively can't get enough of camping and 2) it's at the Lake House.  Growing up, we did LOADS of camping, but this is going to be really the first time I've done the prepping alone.

These basic steps I know I can handle:
1 - Tin foil dinner
2 - Make bedroll
3 - Gather equipment
4 - Load car
5 - Pitch tent
6 - Start decent fire (including prepping the coals)

THIS, is the newest and most foreign step in the process - Seasoning a Dutch Oven.  I've always known and had experience with Dutch Ovens as they were an integral part in our family camping, but what I didn't realize was the amount of work it takes to get it ready.  Another something to encounter - the Dutch Oven is MY Dutch Oven.  When talking with my grandma about how I excited I was for the campout, she asked if we were doing anything with Dutch Ovens.  When I said we were, she told me there was probably one or two old Dutch Ovens out in the garage (glorified machine shop junk yard, more like).  Off I went to scour and discover.  The oven is a smaller sized one and completely coated in rust.  What normally should be black was a bright coppery-orange.  When I brought it inside, my grandma immediately set me to work on cleaning as much of the rust off as possible.  It was a brand-new, never been cooked in Dutch Oven that had been set aside and forgotten, before it could even draw the first smoky breath of fire.

2hrs of steel-wool scrubbing and the light silver color was showing up.  Next, the "Seasoning" of the oven.  Over time, Dutch Ovens build up their own protective coating from the oils released by the foods.  Because this little guy had been set aside instead of prepped for use, I got to do this step from the very beginning.

Reader's Digest version of the process
*more scrubbing, this time with a milder scrubber to remove any residue - 20min
*bake on the self-cleaning setting of the oven - 4hrs + the time it took for the oven to let me in
*allow to cool enough to handle the Dutch Oven - 1 1/2hrs
*thoroughly rub-down/coat with shortening - 5min
*bake - 50min
*allow to cool - 15min
(at this point it was super late so the rest of the steps are the next day.
*rub-down #2 - 10min
*bake - 20min
*allow to cool - 20min
*wipe off excess oil - 5min

I like to say, this little guy went from day to night.  These kinds of projects/hobbies/transformations are my favorite because I like to see the progress along the way; not wait till it's all over.

Pic #1 After the 2hr steel-wool exfoliation (you can still see loads of rust...picture that, but all over)
Pic #2 - READY TO COOK