Quick, Turn Off The Butane!

O.K. Just to let you know in advance, I'm having one of "those" days and spelling was not one of my better subjects in school, so... here goes. I have been sick with a glandular infection and finally went to the doctors . Needless to say, my hiking prep for a week and a half has been nada, zilch, nothing. I can only clean one house a day but then feel like a 90 year old needing her oxygen tank and wheelchair. Anyway, we did do alittle hiking prep with the crew regarding our kitchen skills, tents, and safety skills. Here's how it went. Here's our stove.
Dan, a.k.a Thunderbolt, lite the stove in our living room to see how easy or hard it would be. No, problem, it's very easy to use just don't get too close while lighting or you will get a very ODD odor seeping up your nostrils. We also tried one of the soup mixes that we will have on the trail.
If you like Cheddar and Broccoli then this is for you. For those of you who are amongst the normals and despise the green stuff, your better off eating a granola bar and peanut butter instead. We worked with our tents to see how long it would take to set them up.

We had no manuals and eventually we got it. Dan, Tammi, and Alex donned their packs on and hiked 3 miles last Saturday. Dan made it in 52 minutes. I asked later if he was planning to keep the same pace when we are on the trail, and thankfully he said no. He's in training now, so he's whipping his body into shape. Alex, according to both Tammi and Dan ,said the kid was jumping around after this hike. He had no problem with the hike and his pack that weighed about 25 pounds. This has put my mind at ease. My baby will be o.k. on this adventure. I thought for sure we would have to carry his load and maybe him at times, but he can handle it. Oh youthful energy, how I long to have you back.


Now if you ask Alex about his great upcoming adventure he still acts like it's the end of the world. HELLO...am I missing something here. What teenager doesn't want to get out of school for 2 weeks? His vice principal, Mr. Darby thinks this is an awesome opportunity, wishes he could join us, and is getting everything prepared, ahead of time, so Alex can have all the work he will miss completed before he even leaves for the trip. How great is that? On Thursday night we went over some excellent emergency and safety skills/scenarios with a friend Carl, and his wonderful daughter Kessid. It was a blast! And though it will add alittle extra weight to my pack, I think I'm going to bring part of the safety manual with us on our trip, just in case. Well, as I am writing this, my fellow com padres are on a 6 mile hike. I'm still getting my strength back and do not want to over do it. So here I sit.Do you think blogging and typing can be considered hiking prep? I'll need the extra strength in my fingers and hand to catapult my bear bag up and over the tree. Yep, that's it!