South to HI

The North to AK faction is on vacation next week, starting on Friday! Galileo, the wonder dog, would be excited about going to the dog resort, but he has little understanding of future tense. Frank and I, however, are looking forward to our trip to Maui.

Packing is always interesting with Frank and I. Frank is a planner, and is already getting his clothing arranged around the house. His strategy: Take mostly old things that can be thrown away during the trip.

As those of you who have travelled with me can imagine, I am not following this strategy. In my self-fulfilling role as "the one who is always prepared", I must take many things. On my list -- my backpack, two camelbacks, cold weather gear (it gets cold on the volcano), sunscreen, various complicated and "very technical" clothing, sunglasses, two cameras, hats, various medical supplies, biking apparel...well, it's a long list. In typical fashion, I don't plan on actually packing until tomorrow afternoon unless prodded. But don't worry, I can probably figure out how to get it all packed by 3am or whenever we are leaving AK on Saturday morning.

We usually make our list of activities on the plane, but I started last night -- Snorkeling, Mountain Biking, Spelunking, Whale Watching, Kayaking, Hiking. Also on the list is powered paragliding and kiteboarding, but those are more iffy. Of course, we might not do all of these, or we might need a vacation to get over our vacation (or injuries)!