we’re really going to do this

i think it was sometime last november when i looked at the calendar and decided my last day of work this spring would be may 2. and that date has been firmly lodged in my mind ever since. i realized recently that i was counting down the days until may 2 last year as well… the day i flew out to start my cdt hike.

it has finally started to sink in… we’re really going to do this. we have one last carload of boxes to put in storage, one cabin to clean, one roadtrip to north dakota… and then we’ll have nothing to do except get in the kayak and start paddling north. well, there’s all sorts of other things we could, and maybe should, do but regardless, we’ll be setting off. soon, very soon.

i can hardly wait.

-bethany

ps – see that picture that dean posted of him looking all calm and cool paddling? see who’s not getting any dishpan hands on the water?

t minus 3 weeks

Roughly 3 weeks to go, and we’re running out of items to cross off the to-do lists. We have 3 1/2 months of food dehydrated, vacuum sealed, and stacked in the corner of our spacious 250 sq ft cabin. We’ve tested our new gear in the course of a few practice runs, and flipped the boat a few times for experience’s sake. Our maps are marked and annotated, folded and ordered, tempting us daily to paddle away…

It seems odd to feel so well prepared with only weeks left to go. Last year, when bethany and i were prepping for our respective hikes, we were still buying and dehydrating food at this time, working on final gear lists, wrapping up personal affairs, and generally running around with our heads cut off. This year, we started early enough that we’ve yet to stress ourselves out, at least in regards to our time line, or our general level of preparation. We still have to tackle the unpleasant task of moving all of our belongings into storage for the summer, but considering how little we own, it’s not that bad.

Beyond that, we just have to make it through a couple more weeks of work, and a 2,800 mile road trip.

Hope we can make it.

dean.