Just a quickie today; Dad came to visit recently, and I have lots of pictures from that week, but I haven't had a chance to put them together in a post yet, because the day after he left, I went to Cleveland for a double bachelor party, and got back Sunday night. Tuesday night through Wednesday evening we had a pair of visitors playing Legos and coloring on our floor (I fit in well with those activities), and Friday afternoon we left to visit The Girl's nephew for adventures which I can only surmise at this writing (I hear a zoo may be involved).
What happened during that free day in the middle? Sadly, Labor Day sales happened at camping retailers, and they were clamoring to get what remains of my money.
I think my gear is pretty well settled at this point, but there are a few remaining details. I'd like to upgrade my camera and bed. With the guidance of a fantastically talented photographer friend in Oregon, I found (ok, he found it, but I really like it) a camera which is not only "adventure rated" (water- shock- and freeze-proof), but has a generous aperture and sensor, allowing for better performance in low light. It also has special features for really really close photography, which I enjoy. It's a bit bigger and heavier than what I have now, but considering it will probably survive the trail in better shape than me, I consider it a reasonable trade-off. Plus, should I decide to get fancy at some point in the future, it can support additional lenses. Today, on a whim, I checked at our closest Best Buy and found one on display, then spent several giddy minutes playing with features, reading every menu and sub-menu, and closely examining every aspect of it that came to mind.
A little after I returned, my order of two new camp pads arrived. The plan was to try them both inside and return the one I didn't like as much. I'm going have to spend a couple nights on them, because so far there is no clear favorite between the NeoAir Xlite and the ProLite (both in the smallest size available, both made in USA by Therm-A-Rest).
I rolled, unrolled, and stretched out on both pads, then spent the better part of my afternoon researching down backpacking quilts. The last one I checked was made by a company suggested by someone I met in college (I don't think either of us realized at the time that we were both backpackers), and quickly emerged as a favorite in the field. I sent an email to the company with a couple questions, and hopefully I can place an order soon.
I'm very excited about all of this. I'm a little concerned about what I'll obsess over for the next few months if I get everything figured out by the end of September.
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