Final Preparation

Dang, it is nearly showtime.  Are we ready to do this?

My head says there is still a ton to get sorted.  My heart says chill out, we're going to be fine and we can figure out the loose ends enroute.

How did this get so complicated? On our World Trip we moved toward simplicity, abandoning all posessions and embracing unpredictability.  We felt great release, calmness and peace. The thru hikes were also rather simple, once the basic logistical plan was in place.

Why is this one so different?

New Orleans

We stopped in to New Orleans, since neither of us had ever been there.

Lots of fun just stepping from one club to another to find so many different kinds of music. Jazz, Blues, Rock, Cajun bluegrass, oldies, you name it.

It turns out we are not young anymore.  We skip two venues because they are so loud. We don't want to keep up with the one drink minimum at each place (and fortunately most places let us by). We stay up super late, but are in bed by 11.

Lots of fun. Glad we stopped.

Road Warriors

One thing that Fran and I learned when traveling ten years ago was to go slowly, meet local people, and learn the story of a place.  So we drove straight through from Portland to visit my Dad in Indio, and then from there straight to Louisiana in under three days.  Huh?

Our thinking was that we know the west coast, and we spent a full winter roaming the desert southwest. But the South will be new to us, so that is where to spend the time before we start paddling.

As we left California, most of the places along the route were recording temperatures above 70F and nights in the fifties.  Yippee!

Imagine our surprise sleeping in our summer bags under the stars the first night at 24F!  Whoops.

Solar Kayaking

Early in our preparations (like six months ago!), I indentified the need for remote recharging. Unlike thru hiking, we have some electronics that we will really depend on. We must be able to get marine weather forecasts so we know when to stay off the water, we need the VHF radio in case of emergency, and we really do need a GPS in some of the confusing areas such as Ten Thousand Islands.  We will have more than one device for each of these critical needs, since we are dependent upon them.

Then there are other electronics, such as the digital camera, the tablet, and two cell phones.

How do we keep these charged?  There will be occassional town stops to resupply, but can we reliably find someplace to plug in seven devices, and then hang around for several hours?  And can we reliably minimize the use so that the batteries in all of them last up to eleven days between stops?

Our bags are packed and we're ready to go...(sing along) we're leaving on a kayak, don't know when we'll be back again. 

The last week has been hectic to say the least. Such a whirlwind of activity and saying good  byes ...

Sewing drybags. Why does every journey start with a sewing project?

It's Friday. The Adventure Begins!

The plan says we leave on Friday. The calendar says it is Friday. We are on the road! Yea!

But something doesn't seem right. I don't hear the engine running. I don't feel the car bouncing on the roadway. There are pictures hanging on the walls. Fran, why are there pictures hanging in the car?

T minus 7 days and counting

We leave in seven days.  Gasp.

So much to do.  The house has been transformed into a bunch of heaps.  There is a pile of stuff that needs to get finished and turned into neat set of bags that can be stuffed into a kayak.  There is a pile of stuff (and even more intentions) for the RV.  And then there is the thru hike.  We are trying to plan for three different adventures simultaneously.

Yikes!  But good progress today.

KAYAKING:  The spare kayak paddles now have the Solas tape, so we can spot them in case they drift away, and the spare paddles are now locked down on the deck with paddle britches. My pretty wood Greenland paddle has new fiberglass and resin reinforcement and needs sanding and spar varnish. We have a new rain fly for kayak camp sites.  We opted to skip any camp chairs.  We need to redo the attachment for the bilge pump inside the kayak, and figure out how to store enormous bags of water. Fran has made up some dry bags, and now we need to start packing them to see what fits and what doesn't.  And I need to mount the solar panels and battery.  The VHF radios are tested and recharge okay from the GoalZero solar setup.  Ditto the new waterproof camera (Olympus 820).  At some point the enormous piles of stuff throughout the house have to fit into those little bags and get stuffed into the kayaks.  That might be akin to putting 50 pounds of sugar into a 20 pound bag. Another review of the itinerary happens tomorrow.  And we are about to start reaching out to local kayakers in Florida that we might be able to paddle with.

Ahh.  Breath.

RV:   There are lots of potential RV projects.  Ryan has been really helping out on that.  We're adding solar to the RV, as well as an inverter.  I converted all of the lights to LEDs. We're swapping out the cooktop for a full range with oven. We're still working on making sure the new tablet can work as a wifi hotspot for the RV.  And there are tons of little things like moving over the ladder to bunk, repairing some seals, equipping the rig with all the water and sewer hoses, ...  Those of you who have RV'd can fill in the rest of the list. Oh, and at some point in the next few days we need to quit fixing and improving and start packing.

Whatever gets done, gets done.  And however much that it, it is good.

HIKE:  The thru hike prep is the easiest.  After two previous long hikes, there isn't much more to do.  The shoes are on order, a set of DriDuck raingear is ready for the wet east coast, and the new pack cover needs exchanging for a different size.  Nothing much else to do.  That's the easy one of the three adventures.  This is almost as easy as just throw the pack together and head out.  Ah, isn't backpacking grand?  Less is indeed more.

Do we sound frantic? Hey, I thought retirement was supposed to be mellow?

T minus seven day, and then all WILL be calm on the western front.

Our Home Away from Home

Ah yes, the RV.  Isn't she lovely?

She doesn't have a name yet.  You might have to help me on that one.

It has everything, including the kitchen sink.  It's 23 feet long with a slide out, so there so much more room than the Spiritmobile.  And...tall people don't have to duck their heads when they walk through the cab.   But it's still small enough to be the perfect cocoon to snuggle into when Rod's on the trail.

Progress

A week ago I worried that we would not be ready for this adventure in time.  There is so much to figure out:  What do we do with the house we live in?  How do we get ourselves and the kayaks to Florida?  Fran wants a small RV while I hike, so we need to get it and undoubtedly make mods such as solar panels.  Are our kayaking skills ready?  What all do we need for the kayaking section, where do we buy it, and how do we stuff it all to the boats?  What is the itinerary - where are we actually going to paddle and hike, and what are the dates?

Plans are coming together. Maybe they will come together in time?

Choices

At this point in each of my hikes, I question why I thru hike.  It makes so much more sense to hike in pieces, taking the time to explore off the narrow thru-path, pausing to watch the sun change on the rock walls or the wildlife flitting about. I muse back and forth, concluding that in every way it is much more enjoyable to meander rather than thru hike.  And then that inner desire to thru arises and off I go.

Well, I'm at that point again.  This time there is even more tug.  I don't really have any particular desire to hike the nine weeks between the paddling in Florida and the start of the Appalachian Trail. Why do it then?  Well, it is part of the thru hike. It is a connector on the journey from Key West to Halifax.

Possibilities

So, where are we going?

At first I looked at the Eastern Continental Trail as a good route, changing the finish to Halifax instead of Cape Gaspe. It starts with the Florida National Scenic Trail, then uses a couple of state trails and road walks to get to the Appalachian Trail and then International Appalachian Trail.  I'll take a right turn just on the Trans Canada Trail instead, and drop into Halifax.

 

But have you been to the Florida Keys?  That barren road walk does not sound like much fun at all, so my mind turned towards a sea kayak for that segment.  And then, the southern end of the Florida National Scenic Trail is largely underwater, so why not kayak that part too?  So my first ideas were to more or less follow the Florida National Scenic Trail in a kayak up the center of Florida as far as Orlando.

Intention

Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is unknown.  Make today meaningful, and life is worthwhile.

In the decade after our children graduated and married we fluctuated between retirement and work.  Serial retirees?  We worked, traveled the planet for two years, hiked long trails, returned to work, hiked more trails, and returned to work.  Recidivist working stiffs?

But now we are retired for good!  Really, we mean it this time!

Our intention is to paddle and hike from Key West to Halifax in 2013.  We are now planning that adventure, to start at the end of the year.

Some of our earlier adventures are still online (see right sidebar)  Unfortunately, the website for our world travels no longer exists (except for Hiking in the Himalayas) so the only way to hear those stories is to invite us over to dinner!

Itinerary

Here's our current itinerary.  We fully expect this to change constantly, and will try to update it as we go.

Nov 30            leave Portland

                ... leisurely drive, explore Texas gulf coast and New Orleans, final paddling logistics

Dec 18             launch at St Marks

                ... paddle, paddle, paddle

Jan 22              join up with other paddlers at Cayo Costa

                ... paddle, paddle, paddle 

Feb 25             arrive Key West

                ... walk from St Marks to the start of the AT
                ... explore Florida and Georgia 

Apr 6               start AT (Springer Mountain, Georgia)

                ... hike, hike hike  (RV for Fran)

Sep 2               finish AT (Mount Katahdin, Maine)

                ... hike, hike, hike

Oct 15             Halifax
                ... and then, who knows?

2003-07 Port of Blog in Progress

Our original blog was at MSN Groups, which is no longer alive.  We archived that blog before its demise, and over time are moving it here.  We also have thousands of photos that we would like (someday) to share again.  Unfortunately for the blog, we are off on our next adventure, spending our time in the present instead of the past.  But we do have good intentions!

When complete it will include the following:

2002-01 Japan
2002-02 Thailand
2002-04 China
2002-06 Europe
2002-08 Tanzania
2002-10 India
2002-11 Nepal
2003-01 India
2003-04 Bali
2003-05 Australia
2003-07 Home