I talked to Mary last night. She is still very interested in doing the southern part of the JMT again, a stretch of around 70 miles. I told her I was still interested as well as I enjoy her company. She wants to do the last part in July and leaving the dates up to me. I'm going for the first half of July so that I don't miss any pre-school meetings. There's a 21-24 July high school reunion in Seattle I'm also considering attending but I'll know more in a few months.
The Sierras have been getting a lot of snow this year and it may be a repeat from last year. I'm prepared this time. I am taking all the same equipment except this time I'm taking two hiking poles, lighter shoes and a lighter pack. I'll try to mimic Darlene's minimalist packing. I won't be shelling out any money on new gear, which was a big expense last spring.
The van needs new brakes and I haven't driven it since coming back from my Chicagoland Christmas trip three weeks ago. It's been sitting in the driveway ever since and I've been driving my Ford Escape to get me around, even though that car needs the moonroof resealed as it's very drafty in the cab when I drive over 55mph. It's always something! The Dodge Caravan has gotten yet another recall, too, this time it's the radiator cap. I still have to take that thing in for two previous recalls I got in the last year.
I did opt out of a snow survival course that is being offered at Lake Tahoe by a trained mountaineer. That course was to go over the 17-19 March weekend, the same weekend I have a state exam in English.
So, I'm ready for another adventure. It's not quite so thrilling the second time around as I already know what to expect. Part of the adventure last year was not knowing what was behind the pass, the curve, or over the hill.
My little Canon S90 should be back from its $157 repair job in another week or so (the repair facility in Illinois is not fast at all; it took them three weeks to even acknowledge they had received the camera). The shop said it had deep internal water damage that couldn't be repaired so I am getting a reburbished one. That, too is going with me but this time I'm making sure it goes inside a waterproof pouch. The service I got from Canon has disappointed me and I made sure the company knew that in the survey Canon requested three times I fill out. I don't normally like to fill out surveys that are very negative, but this time Canon literally asked for it. If it weren't for the familiarity of Canon products, I would have just gone with another brand, such as the Panasonic Lumix which seems to also get great reviews in low-light conditions and doesn't cost nearly as much as the S90; the DMC-ZS7 model goes for around $242, which is $100 than the current price for the S90.
