Three Weeks!

Three weeks.  Only three.  That's enough to make me giddy.  Oh wait, I think I was giddy at four weeks, so I'm not sure what word best describes how I feel about our upcoming adventure.

How about stoked?  Stoked works.

We did, in fact, take inventory of our gear last weekend.  It brought back all kinds of memories of walking across England.  Lauren and I reminisced a bit, but she's just shy of sixteen and thinking too long about the past isn't something she does.  Her mind is in the present, where it belongs.  Mine wanders between the past, present and future with great regularity, but I've got thirty years more of past than she does to think about.

Last Saturday, Lauren drove us to Homestead.  It was the first time she drove that far and her first time on an interstate.  She did really well.  Turns out, I didn't need the diaper I'd put on under my capris.  Better safe than sorry.

We bought new waterproof jackets that were on sale, socks and more leggings.  We really don't need much...but while we were on the mainland, we hit up a bunch of stores and bought some cute things for Lauren.  Almost sixteen-year-old girls need things.  They just do.

The only thing we lack is gaitors.  They are a necessity for a walk like this and we both have them (we bought them on the Coast to Coast and wore them every day), but we can't find them.  For those who don't know, gaitors protect your lower legs/aankles from getting muddy.  They are easy to strap on and hook behind your knees and ankles.  When we got home from walking across England, ours were really muddy and gross.  I put them somewhere...I remember thinking it was a great place because they wouldn't be in the way.

Well, that sure is true.

They are not in the way.  In fact, they're so far out of the way that we can't find the damn things.  If I don't find them by the end of next week, I'll have to order replacements.  Going without gaitors would be like going without hiking boots.  They are an essential piece of equipment we'll wear every day.

I've tried channeling my inner gaitor but with no success.  I really did a great job of putting them out of the way.

I think I'll pour a Guinness while I think about where else they could be.  A girl has to keep up her strength.