Date: 2008-03-08
To: Final details
Miles today: 0.0

Yesterday was my target date to have everything ready. Lydia and I plan to leave a week from Monday to head toward Maryland and I wanted to have this last week to spend with Greg and Caleb not thinking about hike prep. I think we did pretty well. Of course last night I went to bed and started thinking about all the things I had forgotten. The packs are ready. We¢ve been weighing them gradually over the last few months, but there were always those one or two things that just didn¢t get put in. So we set out earlier this week to gather EVERYTHING and check the weight. I had been running right around 23 pounds, but with everything, except food and water, this time my pack weighed 35 lbs. YIPS!! How did that happen? It was time for some serious review. All the contents of my pack were dumped out on the floor, any remaining tags cut off, Tracy and I reviewed our first aide and repair kits looking for duplicates¢¦   In the end I had to rethink carrying the Hubba Hubba tent for River and me. We headed over to REI and I spent my dividend on a Seedhouse 2 saving about a pound and a half. Reweighed the packs, this time WITH water and food for five days and came up with 35 lbs. I can live with that.   Lydia¢s pack is a little lighter. The first leg or two we may be carrying River¢s food for her until she adjusts to the trail, but that shouldn¢t be too bad.River is just about ready. Got all her shots and boosters up to date. We had to have the Lyme special ordered because apparently they don¢t have that problem in Colorado. (Which is pretty cool) I¢ve been assembling a first aide kit just for River and treating her paws with Pad Tough. She doesn¢t like it much, so I have to sneak up on her. All the tech stuff is ready. We ordered the Pocketmail. I¢m not sure it was a great idea. I went back and forth between using Pocketmail or getting a new Smartphone for keeping in touch through email. I finally settled on the Pocketmail just because changing my phone means changing the whole families phone service¢¦. I HATE dealing with the cell phone stores! I always walk out feeling pretty sure I¢ve just been taken. Using the Pocketmail will keep my trail stuff separate from the family cell phone plans. Then I tried to set it up. Three customer service calls later (not real helpful) I gave up trying to connect with cell phones and went to the mall to try connecting with a pay phone. With a land line my Pocketmail device works fine. Not really what I had in mind since it was advertised to work with cell phones, but I¢ll deal with it. For those not familiar with the Pocketmail¢¦ it¢s an electronic device that I will keep my journal on, then when I have access to a phone line, I connect the Pocketmail to the phone and I can send and receive emails. Hopefully it will work.We have extra cell phone batteries charged and ready to go, extra Pocketmail and Steripen batteries. Lydia has loaded my iPod for me¢¦. I¢m clueless. Thought about buying a nice Altitude, compass, weather type watch but decided against it when I realize Tracy is carrying her GPS. Most of that I can get from her. Taxes are done. Filing is done. I¢ve shown Greg where everything is stashed. Shopping is done. Yesterday I drove over to Buckley to do a Commissary stock up run for Caleb and Greg. I¢d been asking them for weeks what they would like for me to get them and I couldn¢t get a serious answer. So I bought toilet paper, deodorant, toothpaste, soap¢¦ they may be hungry, but they¢ll be clean. I think that¢s it. I¢m ready to relax and enjoy the week. Tonight Greg and I have reservations at Keystone for their Fondue Dinner. The McPeaks gave us a gift certificate and we thought this was a good time to take advantage of it. Eighteen days until the start of our hike. Nine until Lydia and I start our trip east. Wow!