One Week and Counting!

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” – Lao Tzu 

Packing, planning, shopping, and list-making!

The big question in the plan is whether or not to camp along the way.  Some considerations:

1) We don't own any camping equipment.  This is kind of a big expense for something we may never use, but I know if we don't buy it we'll certainly decide we want to camp

• (Problem solved.  Thanks, Chris and Jeanne for lending us the tent!  See photo for practice run.  In the trial set-up we vowed that we cannot decide to camp when we're tired and grouchy, or we may not be speaking to each other through the next several states! )

2) As much as I like to think of us as "sports," we're not really campers.  Yes, we've camped and gone backpacking, but our record might not be the best in this regard.  Some memories:

• Camping at Green Lake and not seeing another soul for 3 days.  When standing under the sun shower in all my glory, a group of male hikers came around the bend for a how-dee-doo.
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• Camping in Yosemite -- the longest night of my life.  Our air mattress had a leak, and we slept on the COLD, hard ground all night.  The prospect of another night of misery drove us to ask the incredulous clerk at the Yosemite Lodge if they had a room for the next night ("Excuse me, madame, people make reservations here a year in advance."). Miracle --  someone checked out early and we slept in our dirty clothes with no toiletries, but in a soft, clean, warm bed.
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• Backpacking down the Grand Canyon, and planning to ride the horses back out (Mimi's post-Brady Bunch dream). After  waiting hours with FOUR backpacks (Anne & Cyndi left theirs with us to pack out on the horses, while they took the helicopter out -- smart girls!), we abandoned the packs to hike into the reservation and found our guide, Buddy Jones, passed out on the trail with 4 horses, a young woman, and a large bottle of Jim Beam!

3) We've really only camped with experienced, strong, well-equipped friends!  No one seems to be encouraging our ability to do it on our own.  Jeanne:  "I worry about you guys just checking into a hotel."

We shall not be deterred!  Off we go to buy tent stakes, a tarp, and an air mattress (don't worry, Lisa, we've got the headlamp packed and ready to go!).