Date: 2014-07-26
To: ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂWeÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂre baaack"
Miles today: 0.0

244 days and holding. We; that is: my daughter, my wife, and my mother-in-law all went to the local outfitters so that I could spend my birthday gifts on equipment. We pulled into the parking lot; I turned off the car and said: ¢Before we get out of the car I have a few things I would like to say.¢ ¢First, I would like to thank you all for your gifts.¢ ¢You¢re very generous and very kind to give me funds for the purchase of some more hiking gear, THANK YOU!¢ Since this is the first visit to the outfitters for my wife and mother-in-law. I went on to say: ¢I don¢t mean to insult anyone or in any way make you feel bad.¢ ¢But, I have some ground rules I would appreciate you following before we go into the store.¢ ¢Please do not say a word about the prices to me.¢ ¢Don¢t indicate that there are cheaper ones elsewhere.¢ ¢Don¢t roll your eyes,¢ ¢Don¢t make noises, sighs or clicks.¢ ¢Feel free to look around the store, but, please don¢t indicate that you saw one just like this at Wal-Mart or Sears or Kmart and even Dick¢s.¢ ¢Okay?" ¢Everybody in agreement?¢ ¢Then let¢s go and have some fun!¢ With spead-sheet in hand my daughter and I went into the outfitters and immediately up to the second floor where the sleeping bags were located and started looking for Nicole, the sales person who actually successfully Thru-hiked the AT. I knew that she should be there because I had done what the old land-line companies had asked us to do¢¦¢Call-ahead!¢ Not having a cell phone (yet) a few days before we were to go to the outfitters I picked-up my land-line and telephoned them to see if she was working on Saturday and to ascertain her hours. We found her on the first floor and she genuinely seemed happy to see us. After salutations, pleasantries and small talk we got down to business. "We¢re here to look at sleeping bags, sleeping mats and a pillow.¢ And yes Bill, there was a water bladder (option) missing from the backpack I had purchased last time. So, ¢we will also need a water bladder for the backpack as well.¢ Nicole got right to it asking what I was looking for in a sleeping bag. ¢Well, I was thinking something that was good for around 20 degrees.¢ ¢AND, from my readings I understand that Down, when it gets wet it loses its ability to keep you warm and, IT WILL GET WET!¢ ¢So, I was thinking of fiber.¢ ¢Okay!¢ As she began pulling down the demonstration sleeping bags from their hangers. ¢Well, they now have Down that is sort-of waterproof.¢ Okay Bill, I know what you¢re thinking, here is that nebulous word ¢SORT-OF again!¢ ¢What do you mean sort-of waterproof?¢ ¢Well, you would have to sleep in a puddle in order to get the Down wet.¢ As she began lying sleeping bags on the floor. ¢OH!¢ ¢A puddle.¢ ¢I see.¢ As I was taking off my shoes to climb into one of the bags she had placed on the floor. ¢This one is the fiber one and it is rated for 20 degrees.¢ Now I knew what the guy was doing when last month, I went into the outfitters for the first time and almost stepped on him while he was rolling about on the floor in a sleeping bag. I was about to do the exact same thing! I tried zipping, synching, rolling, and scotching in all of the bags she had placed on the floor. There were about 6 all told, and I tried every single one multiple times. My wife even came up to see what I was doing. She leaned over to talk to me as I was lying and rolling talking to Nicole and my daughter at the same time about the sleeping bags. And she said: OH! ¢That¢s a nice one.¢   I just gave her ¢THE LOOK!¢ And she said: ¢Well, I have your wallet and your paper and I will be downstairs if you need it.¢ I thanked her. I chose the SEATO SUMMIT, Talus TsI ULTRA DRY Down 750+ Loft with a comfort of 34degrees F, a Lower of 23 degrees F, and an extreme of -8 degrees F, a total weight of 31 oz, a fill weight of 14 oz, with the zipper left Regular. Then it was onto sleeping mats. I rolled on and off several mats each getting better and better as we went along and the price rising in a geometric progression to the thickness of the mat. I finally settled on the EXPED SYNMAT UL7 MW, 19.6 oz, it takes 1 to 1.5 minutes to blow up, and it has 60 grams of Texped loft insulation with an r-value of 3.1, it also comes with a pack sack 117 cu. in. and repair kit, the pack sack weighs 0.49 oz, the mat is 71.5 by 25.6 inches. Now for the pillow ¢ Well Nicole told me what she had done on her Thru-hike however, I had some definite views on the subject. I spent some 39 years in the Army and other than weapons and ammo the only thing that was not negotiable was a blow-up pillow that I always had with me; in fact towards the end of my career I had 2 blow-up pillows. So, a pillow is very important to me. She offered me laundry bags, using my laundry as the pillow, a blow-up pillow, a pump for my sleeping mat that would double as a pillow, a Down pillow that packed into a bag and finally a FEATHERED FRIENDS inside-out pillow/bag or CEDDUCK PILLOW. Okay Bill we finally came to the missing item from the backpack: the water bladder. And of course we had choices: 1, 2 or 3 Liters. ¢So, Nicole?¢ ¢What did you do?¢ ¢Well, I used a 2 Liter bladder with a 1 Liter water bottle that was a spent container of water, Gatorade, Tea (which incidentally is a diuretic (me)) or some other type of thirst quenching drink purchased the week prior to use as a water bottle.¢ ¢Why?¢ ¢Well, it serves several functions: it is an easy to use water bottle, it is used for shallow water dipping ¢ easier then dipping the bladder, it pours easier than the bladder¢¦etc, etc, etc.¢ ¢Okay, I will take the 2 liter bladder¢ ¢Which one would you like?¢ Of course more choices, it can¢t be simple¢¦this reminds me of a book I read: The Upside of Irrationality by Dan Ariely. ¢Okay, what are my choices?¢ The Osprey, which has a rigid back and weighs more than the CAMELBAK ANTIDOTE RESERVOIR with quick link system.¢ ¢OKAY, I¢ll take that one!¢ Finally, four decisions had been made and it only took about 2 and a half hours. Now it was time to settle-up. Nicole rang-up the four items in no time ¢ it came to 600 plus dollars. My wife was apoplectic, I had to make sure she was still breathing¢¦ she held fast and did not say a word as she handed over my wallet, gift cards and paper. I gave Nicole the gift cards totaling 100 dollars and I gave her the cash of 300 dollars; and then silence. Nicole just looked at me as if to say ¢you know, you have to pay for it all or put something back.¢ Her words were ¢there is a balance of 200 plus dollars due.¢ ¢How did you want to pay for it?¢   ¢Oh¢¦ here ¢¦¢ as I handed over my MasterCard. Nicole bagged everything up and bid us a farewell until next month.