Travel Prepping

I'm really trying to stick to my decision to travel as much as possible as often as possible. Seems like real life gets in the way. A LOT. Anyways, by researching and prepping I feel that I am increasing my chances of getting away whenever I can.  One thing I know that I need to do is upgrade my luggage.

Last year for my cruise I bought a large spinner  bag that is HUGE. I'm talking big enough to fit Shay in. Literally. And yes he could lay down in there.

It was perfect for what I needed it to do, but really is much too large for most of the trips I take. I have a smaller wheeled carry-on that serves me well but I'm finding I hate pulling the dang thing. I also realize that I pack too much. Yup, I'm one of those "What if...." packers. I joined a travel group on Facebook and have been following a lot of posts on packing tips and luggage suggestions.

I've toyed with the idea of buying a travel backpack (As if I don't have enough backpacks already right?)

That's not all of them!  Just the ones not being used elsewhere. I have 3 more!  Plus the one I gave my mother.

So why not use one of those?  First and foremost, hiker funk. Do I really need to explain that?  Anyways these are all for backpacking or day hiking so are dirty or perpetually funky. I really don't fancy bumping into my Scottish dream man on the streets of Inverness and him wondering what that weird smell is.

The second reason is hiking/backpacking packs are designed with that in mind and I have tried travelling with the two left packs, but while they work for daypacks and the cramming method of loading a backpack, they don't work for the order I want on a vacation. A travel backpack has a bit more substance shape wise but doesn't have the rollers and telescoping handles of a pull along suitcase. They also have a large central pack space instead of smaller compartments. And some are like clamshell suitcase. So I'm currently liking the Osprey Fairpoint 40. Osprey is a well known brand to me and it good quality but...

This puppy is $160! *Faint*

The other Osprey that gets high recommendations is a convertible roller backpack with a detachable day pack.  Sounds great right? Best of two worlds yada yada yada.  Price tag? $300 NOPE!

Another highly recommended pack is TLS Motherlode Weekender and Weekender JR. The JR is just a smidge smaller and conforms to all International airline standards for carry-ons (the others miss a few). It is also small enough to fit under the seat...which is kind of nice as it gives me a place to rest my feet. At under $100 this is a contender with their lifetime warranty. So, we'll see what happens. You know me, I don't make purchases on the fly.

My other research has been in packing tips. I kept hearing the term "capsule wardrobe". WTF? (Thanks RabbitsandRuns for explaining that one.) It seems I kind of already do that since I lack much of a wardrobe at all. LOL Hurray for the woman who doesn't buy clothes often!  The tips I've found so far
 
>Cut back on shoes. Not a problem. I usually only bring 3. Walking shoes, dress, and water.
>Limit your lingerie. Again, not a problem. I'm used to trail washing underwear and socks.
>Make your wardrobe do double or triple duty. Yeah, that can be a problem with what I have on hand. Also I'm told it is too "American grunge" for some locales. Hmmmm.
>Pack for "knows" and limit "what ifs". UGH OH!  Houston we have a problem....

Packing styles. What method do you use?  I was raised on the fold and stack. Then I rolled. Sometimes I bundle, but this just hasn't appealed to me. I don't like everything bound together like a burrito/spring roll. Packing cubes may be my answer there or maybe a mixture of all three?

What are your travel packing hacks?  Do you have a favorite bag or pack?  Which method of packing do you prefer?  Are you a minimalist or a luggage hauler?  Why?  If you could change one packing habit you have, what would it be?

You're doing WHAT?!

     So folks I am about to embark on journey I once tried to run as far away from as I can. I'm moving back in with my parents. My sixteen year old self just fainted. And before you get the wrong idea, no this isn't me, a forty something woman living in her parent's basement. No, this is me adulting.
     Some of you know my back history and some of you don't. The fifty cent tour is this. In 1996 my only sibling was killed in a car crash. My extended family frankly sucks and so I alone will be the one caring for my elderly parents. Yes, there are care homes but the thought of putting either of my parents into a nursing home unless medically necessary makes me ill. Basically as I told someone, they'll go to a nursing home over my cold dead body. Which brings us to this journey.
     My mom is in the later stages of COPD which means she is limited in what she is able to do around the house. And as she is not able to do any yard work that would logically fall to my dad. Dad retired 2 yrs ago and since then has been declining rapidly. Mom and I are really worried he has dementia or something similar. Add to that his refusal to do much physically and you have one old gentleman who can barely putter around. They currently live about two hours away from me which may not sound like a lot. But it is. When one of them is sick?  I can't be there except on the weekend. The three of us have been discussing the situation for a while and we've finally decided to move forward with combining our households. They are going to move to my city...even though I f@#!ing hate living in the city. Hey, you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl. Also, I can't find work in my field and make a living anywhere else in this early childhood education hating state. Maybe I'll get lucky and win the lottery....
    How do three grown adults co-habitate without killing each other?  We're about to find out. But first we have to find a place to live. Don't you hate when you speak and no one listens?  Real Estate agents should not do this. When I say "All living areas (living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom) must be on ONE level with NO stairs inside these areas I mean one level with no stairs!  Don't show me a tri-level house!  A basement with stairs is fine as long as the criteria above is met. Also, "My mother's lung condition means we HAVE to have a working HVAC/Central Air/Heat system. NO WINDOW A/C units." So don't freakin' waste my time by sending me listings where the home is cooled WITH WINDOW UNITS! We don't want to install an HVAC system! This weekend my folks and I are going to sit down and hammer out some details. Must haves in our home and must nots as well as "that would be nice". So far we know at least 3 bedrooms and 2 FULL baths, 1.5 baths need not apply. If you were going to move back in with your parents what would your must haves be?  Deal breakers?
   

Happy New Year the 2018 edition!

Happy New Year y'all!  I don't know about you, but personally, I was kinda glad to see 2017 end. In my immediate life, things weren't all that bad, but it was a rocky year at large. Looking ahead I wonder where this year will lead.

I don't really do "resolutions". Instead, I make plans. Do you have plans for this year yet?  I do. Some large, some small, and knowing myself, most won't come to fruition. Am I lazy or am I just so laid back that I realize it is all small stuff...and I don't sweat the small stuff. My first plan was to end the old year and ring in the new with local hikes. Nixed. Two very good reasons why.

One:

 And to be honest, I've hiked in weather this cold and even backpacked. I've got the gear and know how to keep myself pretty warm.

But as luck would have it I ended 2017 and began 2018 with a touch of a stomach bug. Just about the time I think "Whew, that's over..." then I run back to leave tribute to porcelain god. I hope I'm tributed out... and glad I wasn't out on a trail either day. I'd have a frost bitten hiney for sure.

So, yeah, I didn't make my first goal of 2018, but I'm okay with that. I just hope I can get this over with today. We go back to work tomorrow...lucky us. Too cold to take the kiddos outside, we've been off for two weeks AND we have a full moon tonight. Yay me.

The nonexistent hike from today is part of a grand plan for this spring. I decided back in the fall that I wanted to do two things this year: 1) backpack during spring break and 2) walk the Derby mini marathon. The hike today was my to begin my prepping for the mini.

Uh oh. I hope this stomach bug isn't an omen for the new year. I really don't need a shitty year that's for sure because I have some cool things planned so far. Between now and April I need to really work on training for my backpacking trip. I'm planning about 5 days somewhere on the Appalachian Trail. Where?  I'm not sure yet. I'm thinking either back to Springer Mountain or jump up the trail to Virginia and hike the section with wild ponies through Grayson Highlands. Decisions, decisions. At the end of April I have the mini marathon. 13.1 miles through the Louisville area. 

In June one of my oldest friends and I are crossing a bucket list trip off. We're  headed to Prince Edward Island to visit the place that inspired Lucy Maud Montgomery to write her Anne of Green Gables stories. 

After that I don't know what I'll be getting into yet. I started working on a quilt last January with my mother.  That still isn't finished. I had a nasty bout of tendinitis back in the spring and summer that I am still recovering from. Carpal tunnel as well and fingers just don't have the dexterity they need to handle a needle for hand piecing/hand quilting. I did manage to make a machine pieced/machine quilted for a friend's first child. I'm also toying with the idea of crocheting a temperature afghan. Heard of those?  Basically you crotchet or knit a row or three every day and the color yarn you use depends on the day's temperature.

What do you have planned for 2018?  Are you going to go somewhere new?  Learning something new or just keep on plodding along steadily?

No, I'm not dead.

Hi y'all!  It's been a while. Things have gotten kinda crazy the last few years in my personal life. What crazy person decides to go back to school for a Master's while working 50+hrs per week?  Me that's who. I'm not going to go back and cover the last couple of years...I'm too lazy at this point to do so, but I'll try to give you a quick recap

Th biggest news in 2017 was that I graduated with my Master's in Early Childhood Education. Hallelujah! Praise Cheesus that is OVER!  You'd think I'd get a nice hefty pay raise but nope. Nada. So why did I do it?  Simply put it helps me be a better teacher. I learned a lot. And being in school, while hard, was also very satisfying.

So what have I been doing since I graduate? I so wish I could list the grand ways I've been using all my newly found extra time but:

I did have some adventures this year. I spent Derby in Florida with an old friend.Yes, we wore Derby hats and went to a Derby party. FYI...Derby parties outside of Louisville aren't really Derby parties. Maybe if they are held by someone from Kentucky or interested in horse racing...but not by a civic group. Who in their right mind has a party with no non-alcoholic drinks?  Mmmhmmm. I don't mind a drink or two, but not when I'm the DD. Apparently at this civic group's Derby party DD's were supposed to be dehydrated instead of drunk and we had to pull out the bitch card to get a soda from the premium pay bar mixer section. Crazy. But on that trip I also got to go to a little town called Tarpon Springs. They're well known for their Greek heritage (read tons of yummy food) and their sponge docks:

It was pretty cool for this landlocked country girl to see the sponge boats. Also picked up a nifty barnacle arrangement to use for decorating my bathroom:

The highlight of 2017 happened in June. After a couple years of nagging, I finally convinced my father to start looking at knocking things off his bucket list. Visiting the Holy Lands is at the top, but not to be rude, is not a place I really have any desire to visit. Next up on that list was an Alaskan Cruise. All I can say is wow. Let me give you a picture tour:

We boarded our cruise boat in Vancouver, BC:

If you haven't been to Vancouver, you REALLY need to go. This city is AMAZING and I am not a city girl!  I NEED to get into those mountains across the bay and explore this beautiful countryside.

1st Port: Ketchikan

You know all those Alaskan programs on cable that show the magnificent countryside?  Yeah, the wild areas are that pretty...the populated areas, not so much. Very poor, very derelict with rusting vehicles and broken junk in yards and abandoned along the roads. Very reminiscent of what most people think Eastern Kentucky looks like. The highlight of Ketchikan was the visit to the Saxman village and seeing the awesome totems. For anyone around Indianapolis, if you go the Eiteljorg museum downtown you will see two totems by Nathan Jackson, this villages master carver. If you visit Saxman, you can watch this craftsman at work...very cool!

2nd Stop was Juneau:

1st view of the Mendenhall Glacier

Mendenhall Glacier

Juneau was filled with a whale watching cruise. We didn't see orcas but did see gray whales and a giant sea lion colony. Mendenhall Glacier was gorgeous and I got to see my first ever icebergs!  Did you know that glacial ice appears blue?  It does, because the compressed ice filters out all spectrum colors except the blue.

3rd Stop: Skagway

In Skagway we took an "expedition" into the Yukon territory. Basically we boarded a tour bus and drove through the mountains. I saw my first wild black bear on the side of the road. Ironic that with all the back country hiking and backpacking I do in black bear country I have to go to Alaska to see one!  The rail trip back to Skagway follows the trail that the gold miners followed when they set out to seek their fortunes. There are places that the trail is no more than 2 ft wide on the side of cliffs!

Cruising Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier:

I really wish I had taken notes while I was snapping photos. I can't remember which glacier is which. Sorry. Note to self, you need to go back to Glacier Bay National Park and visit on foot!

Transport from Seward to Anchorage Airport:

You can walk on these glaciers!!! I didn't have time. 

Exit Glacier at Kenai Fjords National Park

Before you get too excited, all the following animal photos were taken at the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center. https://www.alaskawildlife.org/ They take in abandoned or injured animals that cannot be released back into the wild.

Yep, those are grizzlies!

I call this moose Sam.

This lil wolf doesn't look so scary huh?

News flash folks, Santa's reindeer team is all female. Only female reindeer retain their antlers in the winter.

From the top of Alyeska Ski resort

And for the end of the year my parents and I decided that instead of spending Christmas alone at home that we would travel. My mom has wanted to see the gulf coast of Florida for a while so we rented a condo at Madeira beach. We didn't do a lot during this trip, we mainly just immersed ourselves in the sounds of the surf while watching dolphins from our balcony!  Arie Dam Condo 401...you can find it on vacation rental sites, it is an awesome HUGE condo!

So that was the quick highlight of 2017 and as you can see, I am very much alive. I traveled almost 4,800 miles this year!  From Alaska to the Florida. Not to shabby if I say so myself.  2018 is just hours away and I have a priority goal to blog more often...seems like I've said this before, but hopefully this year I'll stick to it!  What places did you travel to this year?  Did you cross off any bucket list items?