packing my bags - the initial pack

mom asked me why i wasnt sleeping in my tent last night - i told her i hadnt slept in my bed practically all summer and was about to leave to not sleep in it for another 3 months and that i really wanted to sleep in my bed with my fabulous purple beech sheets. the tent will get plenty of use.

so i did the initial pack today and my bag is crammed full. obviously i am bringing too much and putting too high a value on wanting clean clothes.

so i called my resident expert hot mel and asked her opinion. she confirms that i am bringing too many sets of clean clothes as her bare minimum list was two pairs of pants, a raincoat, a sweater, a tshirt, and a pair of shorts. mel assures me that my stuff will fit better in her pack (because i can strap stuff to the outside and it has a zipper where i can access the middle of my pack - both options that my cavern top bag does not have.) and tells me just to get it to her and we'll get it figured out there. so i will downsize once again and probably downsize when i get to santa cruz before i leave for new zealand and australia. then hopefully i will have plenty of room for my stuff and any purchases i might make.

rich tells me he will double the cost of whatever harley davidson shirt i pick out and the postage for both new zealand and australia. i really cant say no to that no matter how little room i have. maybe i'll wear it a few times too before i give it to him - you know for the sake of clean clothes.

and happy news! three people have said they will host me for couch surfing! yay! i am very excited to go stay with local folks and get their input. one is a family with little kids, one a cohabiting couple, and a traveling guy in taz. i mean seriously - who would come to cuckoo? no one. but at least a local junkets tour would make it much more interesting.