Are we there yet?

After way to much thinking, hrrmphing, changing our minds and other distracting and energy sapping activities, we finally decided to indeed make our way to the big city.

You might think this is a small thing, but one does not take a 8 hour round trip drive lightly. Especially when petrol is still at $3 a gallon.

But it was a great trip- even if we had to get there in two vehicles because of conferences and meetings in various locals. It involved fantastic Neapolitan pizza, yummy breakfast corn pancakes, amazing Thai curry (noticing a food pattern here...)

But then, after much research, study and walking up and down staircases: a long awaited addition to my gear geeky-ness:

Ain't she purty? This is my new best friend all ready for me to take her out west this summer! And the best part, I still get to add more geeky stuff like hydration tubes and stuff- you know, backpacking stuff. Everybody's doing it: Titanium silverware and neon orange bear boxes.

Now: Since I'll carry an extra 35 lbs when we backpack... I just need to lose 35 before we go. Right? right.