More delays

So things are going well here, but slowly.  With the amount of loose ends we're trying to tie up around here unfortunately we're going to have to delay our trip once again.  Things aren't completely in place, and without making sure everything is ready, attempting the trail is a fool's errand.  More updates as we figure it out.

Buy our things!!

In an effort to make a little extra cash for our trip we're having a tag sale on Saturday, the 25th! Come buy things!!!! It'll be happening rain or shine because remember, we're burners, so we can turn the front yard into an indoor yard sale. 300 Firetown Rd in the bury!!! See you saturday!!!!!!

test runs

So sleeping in the tent was successful. The tent, (having been set up in a weeks worth of thunderstorms) didn't have a single leak! The vestibule can be a little awkward to get in and out of because when you unzip it there's nothing to hold it up so it just falls on you, (if trying to exit), and then you might get a bit wet if there's any water on it. But, other than that it was quite the comfortable sleep. The sleeping bag and pads were comfortable too, though Miister discovered he needs to stuff more clothing into the pillow pouch in the future. With a few revised clothing choices for sleeping I think, especially with all that walking ;-), falling asleep won't be an issue.

Brief thought...

Hah we also very very briefly thought about taking my indoor claw-less old timer cat with us. She was doing pretty well with the whole "being outdoors on a leash" idea, but clearly it would be a huge pain in the butt. So kitty stays home hehe. Cute though at the time.

Crunch week!

Alright so super prep time has begun! We both have most of the clothes we need for the trip, aside from a couple of pairs of pants and rain gear. My pack has been ordered and I'm very excited to get it :). Miister already has a pack, an older one his dad had, so as soon as mine gets here we should be able to start some packing. The sleeping bag we got is sooooo nice! It's a double, so it fits both of us and is quite comfortable. We also got our sleeping pads to go in the sleeping bag at EMS because the guy who "helped" us at REI was well not so much helpful to say the least... Fortunately the price difference of the pads was only a couple of dollars. In case you were wondering EMS, (or as we like to call it: Expensive Mountain Sh*t), is generally twice as pricey as REI and they both have the same products. Still dehydrating foods; we have so far angel food cake for some desserts, lots of bananas (my favorite, which dehydrate very well and taste way better than banana chips you can buy at the grocery store), a 5lb bag of onions, 10lbs of ground beef, tuna fish, canned chicken, mixed vegetables, yogurt roll ups, and apple sauce roll ups, some shrimp and tartar sauce. We bought all of the breakfasts we'll need, all from Bob's Red Mill. Most of our food shopping has been done at Cost Co. because you can get everything in bulk. The Fivefinger shoes a re working out great, but we will be getting at least a second pair of hiking shoes. Actually we'll probably each go though a couple of pairs of shoes each from all that walking ;-). Oh and we got what is quite possibly the best tent  ever!!! It's a three person tent so it fits the two of us quite comfortably. Tonight we'll be sleeping in it to give it a test run before we leave. Update you all again soon, Cheers!
~Porcupine

What's cooking?

We're dehydrating like crazy!

Food and Time

Lockdown on the dehydrator

We've been dehydrating lots of food for the last week.  This thing has been running non-stop, and we're going to need to buy a bunch of food along the way even still.  To date, here's what we've managed to crank through this shiny new dehydrator:

• 12lb sliced strawberries
• 12lb ground beef
• (2) 5lb cans tuna
• (6) 12.5oz cans chicken
• (2) 5lb cans peach slices
• (2) 5lb cans pineapple bits
• 5lb broccoli florettes
• 5lb asparagus
• 3lb string beans
• 2qt yogurt
• 1lb hummus
• 10 jars apple sauce
• 5lb shrimp
• 2lbs worth of beans turned into stew

Next on deck will be some various banana purees.  We bought a lot of bananas with the intention of slicing them for use, but we didn't get to them fast enough and they've started to get a bit mushy.  Now we have to mix them with other fruits (strawberries, pineapples, oranges) and make fruit leather out of it.

We chose an Excalibur 3900 food dehydrator because it's huge, has good reviews, and it's simple to use.  I looked around a ton and settled on buying a refurb direct from Excalibur.  It's actually the place to get the best deal on the ParaFlexx liners that I could find as well.

Despite all of this effort though, Mindy and I will have trouble making enough food in time for our trip.  We'll either buy some dried stuff to supplement what we make, or rely a bit less on maildrops and pickup food in town.  Decisions decisions....