In 20 days I’ll begin my 2,650 mile journey from the California/Mexico border to Canada. On a scale of 1 to 10 my excitement goes to 11. I still have two weeks left at my job. It’ll be a bittersweet moment on my last day. I’ll definitely miss my coworkers but I sure as hell won’t miss the 25 mile commute with all the slow idiots in the fast lane. In 18 days I will be heading to California to see my cousin on my way to San Diego and then to Campo. The hardest part will be saying goodbye to my bad boy Loki and my kitty cat Suma. Luckily I have a friend that will take care of both of them and my parents will be checking in every other week. So I know they are in good hands.
Loki-Norse god of Mischief
Suma-The cross-eyed cuddle monster
With only 18 days left to get everything ready I still have lots of things I need to do. The last couple weekends I have been buying and sorting my food that will be mailed to me as part of my resupply strategy. This was not as bad as I thought it would be. Once again Excel makes everything in life easier. I made a spreadsheet that let me know exactly how much I need to put into each of my resupply boxes and spent the afternoon sorting while watching HGTV’s Tiny Home’s marathon. I’m sure those homes will feel like mansions after spending a summer in my little tent. I got about 3/4 of the way done before I ran out of the Priority Mail boxes that you have to order using a Click N’ Ship account with USPS. So I’ve ordered my boxes and hopefully all of my resupply boxes will be packed and ready next week for my Resupply Technician to add a few extra things (oatmeal chocolate chip cookies hopefully) and drop off at the post office.
I also combined peanut butter pretzels, quinoa rice tortilla chips (very tasty!), snap pea chips, wheat thins, and goldfish together to make a cracker mix. About 9 pounds of crackers. It was a good thing my dad was not there the day I put that together because I’m sure half of it would be gone. Fending off my mom’s cat was already hard enough.
For my non trail specific getting-readiness I’ve set up a general power of attorney, durable power of attorney, healthcare directive for when I get mauled by a cougar, and my last will and testament. Probably a good idea to have all of those set in place just in case. I’ve been slowly getting to some of the things around the house that I’ve put off for far too long. I still have lots to do on the home front with very little time to do it in. I can’t believe how fast the last couple weeks have flown by. Only 20 more days… I’m (almost) ready.
April 2, 2016 at 5:09 pm
Dibs on the mustang
April 2, 2016 at 5:12 pm
You’re next in line after my parents.
April 2, 2016 at 5:43 pm
Good luck on your adventure. Looking forward to following your journey!
April 2, 2016 at 6:51 pm
Thanks for you post !! Will be following and following. Perhaps see you at Vasquez Rocks! Glad you have such good help w/ Loki the kitty cat Suma.
April 2, 2016 at 8:51 pm
Please bring some of that cracker mix for me to try. What will we have for your second-to-last pre-trail dinner?!
April 2, 2016 at 9:16 pm
I’m sure my mom will want Emilio’s. 🙂
April 3, 2016 at 1:00 pm
Um, maybe something more special like Steve’s Burgers #32.
April 2, 2016 at 9:18 pm
But this excitement goes to 11!
April 3, 2016 at 2:43 pm
At least I know one person will get my lame jokes.
April 2, 2016 at 11:16 pm
Be thinking of you every day! Love you!! Aunt Deb
April 3, 2016 at 1:13 pm
I’ll be following your blog with envy. But I think you need more chocolate. Quick energy !! Have a blast!
April 3, 2016 at 2:41 pm
You can never have enough chocolate, that’s for sure!
April 6, 2016 at 5:50 am
Brother, I am jealous. You have planned well but I am worried. The power of mom’s cookies can not be dismissed so easily by hoping! They have the power of changing a shithole spot of desert in Iraq to Babylon, and even change a little rise of rock in Afghanistan to a great place to go for a run and look at the stars. So I would suggest that you give your resupply tech a well thought out spreadsheet on when the food of the gods should be in your resupply packages. I would also humbly suggest that once you are in the Washington state cascades, that your resupply tech, send a very good supply to my house, so I can attempt to deliver them to you. Looking forward to your adventure and anxiously awaiting the resupply to deliver to you!
April 6, 2016 at 4:26 pm
I hadn’t even thought of making a will before the hike…it’s a pretty good idea. I hope to glean a lot more of those from you this summer in prep for my 2017! Thanks for writing, stay golden.