Another week gone by

On Wednesday I went to see Liam's swim lesson but he decided he didn't feel like swimming, so we just sat and talked, then went out for dinner.  I had tortilla soup that was so spicy I thought it would give me a problem later, but I felt fine.  Spent the night at their house and then came back home yesterday about mid-morning.  

Going camping for even a day requires a lot of work getting things packed and ready to go, and even more work afterward to get things unpacked, cleaned up and put away.  My coolers are emptied and dry but I still have to carry them out to the storage shed, but other than getting a few remaining items from the back of the car I am pretty well finished.

August is not the best month for me to plan another camping trip - my sister is getting married on the 9th so I will be out of town for at least a couple of days for that.   There is also a baby shower for someone whom I feel very close to on the 23rd, so I am going to skip the reunion at Lassen on that date; I also have an appointment to see my eye surgeon in August.  If everything was crammed in just one or two weeks I would have a window of opportunity to get away for a few days, but the events are all spaced out during the entire month of August.  My plan is to wait until the Tuesday or Wednesday after Labor Day and then head for the Trinity Alps.  There are so many camping, hiking, and backpacking possibilities there and planning will be fun.  I hope the weather will be cooler as well, but you just never know.  I think this time i will definitely carry bear spray - I never needed it in the past although my experience has been in the east.  From what I read in the way of hikers' journals though, bear activity is up in the east as well as just about everywhere else.   As long as we are talking about black bears I don't get too spooked, but I think my heart would stop if I ever met a grizzly face to face!

I don't think I mentioned how great my new hiking boots are.  Of course I didn't do any serious miles in them, but the short time I wore them they felt great!  I am hoping to give them a good work-out before winter.

I have been so lax about going to the gym since Jeannie & Donald are on vacation.  I should try to get there this evening but I'm just not motivated right now.  I think once I get there I will be enthused to go back regularly, but dragging myself out in the heat is the hardest part.

Ok, I'm gonna get dressed and make this day count.   Lately I've been wanting a couple more hours sleep than I usually need - don't know why but I must need it for some reason and I hope I can soon get back to a more normal schedule.