Packing food-Liz

My house looks like Costco, bulk food everywhere. My refrigerator looks empty after removing all the dehydrated meat, fruit, and vegetables. It's amazing how much food I need to pack for 5000-6000 calories a day. Thank goodness my gear is lightweight because my food isn't!

Food everywhere - mile 0.0 - March 23 - Greg

Hi folks. Just testing the blog with a photo to check the photo quality.

The ladies are finalizing their menus (for 4 months of high calorie, lightweight meals) and both houses are knee deep in food. :-)

Who knew?-Liz

I was in REI the other night buying yet another pair of hiking boots because I'll wear out 5 pairs while hiking the PCT. I was assisted by a nice gentleman named Ashley and I don't know if it was a slow night for him or because I mentioned I was doing the PCT but he was very eager to show me how to tie my boots correctly. Who knew I'd been tying my boots the wrong way for so many years, I feel so embarrassed. Between the sales people at REI and Mel Cotton I've learned a lot about hiking boots and how to wear them, is there a shoe school they attend?

Paella, Friends, and Family-Liz

I can't thank my brother Bill and his fiance Kena enough for hosting a fundraising dinner for Melinda and I. Bill's paella is famous and I don't know if people were more surprised that I'd never had it or that I plan on hiking over 2664 miles. It was great to be able to display all my gear and discuss the PCT with everyone while my nephew Ian entertained himself with the cookset, good thing its tough. I want to thank everyone for coming and donating and please forgive me if I don't list your name, I couldn't remember everyones name. Thank you John and Carin, John and Paula, Frank, Brian and Christina, Mark and Jackie, Kathy, Tim and Corrina, Mike, Sekayya, Tekela, Gary, Patricia, John F., cousin John, Megan, Jim, Henry, and Brady (heal fast kid), Jeff, Kasey, and Ian, Peter, and my gracious hosts Billy and Kena. I hope I inspired a few people to go out and take a hike, it doesn't have to be as extreme as mine.

these are a few of my favorite things...-Liz

I had a great day on Sunday. One of my husbands cousins from Wisconsin was visiting with her husband, daughter, and her boyfriend, and what did they want to do for the one day they were visiting us? They asked to go hiking. I couldn't believe it when my husband told me this, I was giddy with excitement and anticipation of sharing the local trails with them. It also gave me new test subjects to share my dehydrated food with. They braved the dehydrated shrimp and didn't spit it out! For the hike at Castle Rock we snacked on pumpkin bark, cinnamon apples, latte bars, and peanut butter energy bars. The weather was perfect, the views out to Santa Cruz and the coast were incredible and the company was wonderful. Of course after the hike we went home and drank a few beers, what else would good Wisconsinites do. A very filling Mexican dinner completed the night. So in one day I got to take a hike with friends and family, drink beer, and eat Mexican food.
these are a few of my favorite things