Wow! One week from today we leave on our great southwestern excursion. I don’t know how someone can be so ready and yet so not ready at the same time. The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind for everyone. I’ve been planning and purchasing in between work. Randi just finished her semester of piano lessons. The boys are in finals as we speak. We have spring piano recitals on Monday and Tuesday, the boys drive home from Florida on Wednesday, we pack everything up on Friday, and leave on Saturday. One might ask, “Where is this chaos to which you allude?” Well, let’s go upstairs and take a look.

For those who have previously undertaken a journey such as ours, there would be previous experiences and knowledge from which to draw. Exactly what equipment and how many supplies do I bring. Stuff like that. This is a fairly new endeavor for us and we may be making things a little more complicated than they have to be. But that’s just how we roll.

Right now the upstairs sitting room and our master bedroom are a disaster. Tents are being tested. Because nobody wants to put the tent up for the first time in the wilderness. Packs and their contents are being organized. We are deciding what to bring and whose pack it goes in. Of course, we are trying to figure out everything we are bringing before we actually put anything in a pack. So, needless to say things are a little strung out all hither and yon.

One main idea we have been running with is the assumption that we can pack lighter if we don’t duplicate items that can be used for all five of us. For instance, a single backpacker would need a mess kit to prepare food. But it would be redundant and much more expensive for all five of us to have our own mess kit. By simply adding the necessary items like silverware and a bowls, a slightly larger mess kit can take care of all five of us. That has been the thought process. Two larger tents rather than five individual ones, and so on. Anyway, that has resulted in a camping equipment tsunami that has swept through our house leaving a good bit of disorder in its wake.

One thing for sure, come hell or high water, we’re leaving for Utah in seven days. And after the rain we had this week, we’ve already got the high water.

Wish us luck,

Mike