The day before I left on my trip, "5 Girls" (well, the other 4) took me to breakfast at the Country Cat. YUM! You may be asking why "5 Girls" is in quotes. You will understand that in the later months of this blog. Until then, it's on the down low.
Robin, Michelle, me, Susanna, Lisa
It was a super delish, and fun filled start to a day of packing and preparation for my trip. With my tummy full of goodness, I set off in search of the perfect backpack. I wanted something that I could throw my computer, camera, books, and a few changes of clothes in. It needed to be fairly weather proof - figuring Spring in Europe is going to include some rain. It was Easter Sunday, so most places weren't open, but Next Adventure was! That place is great. Used and new equipment, plus a pretty cool selection of vintage canvas bags. I really wanted one of those, but they just weren't big enough. I found the perfect medium size pack, with a compartment for the computer and a heavy duty rain cover. All set!
Next on my list of last day in Portland items, was getting Lucy ready for her stay at Boarding School. My baby is off to hang with the big dogs and trainer, Mark. Needless to say there were tears. Well, from me. After I gathered up her favorite toys, bed, etc., Lucy and I sat on the couch for a long talk about all the fun she was going to have, and how much she was going to learn, and, through my tears, how much I loved her, and would miss her. She just sat there and listened, occasionally turning her head to the side as if she truly understood what I was saying. Mark, his wife Lia, and their pack of other students were waiting for Lucy's arrival. They have a super cool place, and there is no doubt Lucy will be well taken care of. She was very excited to be there, which made me feel better. She will have her own link on the Leader of the Pack web site, so I can follow her progress. I'm bummed I will miss her first birthday on 4/22. Mark noted it on his calendar, so hopefully, they will celebrate!
Now, for the part I had been procrastinating about for days. Packing. What in the hell do you pack for a 3 month, or so, journey? I puttered around the loft organizing, and printing out itineraries, and just staring at the suit case that Maria let me borrow. It's a fairly good size duffle. I thought, no prob- this duffle, plus the back pack will be plenty. Yet, when I started making my piles, it soon became clear this was going to be harder than I thought. Thank goodness Terah Beth called and wanted to go get a drink! Perfect diversion. We met at Bar Due' just down the street. Michelle met us there, too. That place makes a really good Manhattan!
The next diversion was at Kells. Sussanna, Robin, Jeff, David, Michelle, Terah Beth, and I listened to some traditional Celtic music. Really fun! It was hard to resist doing my imitation of Michael Flattley, the Lord of the Dance! (heh, heh, that always makes me laugh). Ok, now it was time to go home and tackle the packing. But wait! Did Michelle say Caleb Klauder was playing at Moon & Sixpence! Let's go! More good music, and good times. I made it home around 11pm.
Now, it was time to pack! Do you know how hard it is to pack for 3 months? Folks kept telling me to pack light. WTF? How in the hell was I supposed to do that? How do you prepare a wardrobe for the unknown? After a couple of hours of packing, editing, re-packing, "Fuck, I forgot to pack that!", and re-packing again, it was done. Thank goodness the duffle has rollers! My friend Stef picked me up at 6am and we headed to the airport. I was in Texas about 4 hours later.
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