New Gear!!

I've always believed I defied the "every girl loves shopping" stereotype.  There has never been a time where I've truly been excited about it.  Even when I bought my wedding dress- it took me one day and 2 stores and that was it.  About a month ago I realized that I was partially kidding myself...  I LOVE SHOPPING FOR HIKING/CAMPING GEAR!!

Love it.

I could spend a week at REI picking out the workout/hiking gear that I want and then drooling over the kayaks they have sitting in the rafters.  I love lying in the display tents and figuring out which shade of jacket I want to wear (I settled on purple, by the way).

REI Chinuka Jacket

I spent no less than 30 minutes traipsing around the store- climbing up and down the stairs multiple times- wearing all different kinds of backpacks.  I ended up with a Gregory brand that was gray with pink accents.

Couldn't find a pic of mine... but I was so close to buying this one just because of the flower.

Having a backpack that fits is very important from a comfort perspective since it's likely to be the heaviest thing you carry.  For me, I'd compare it to picking out just the right purse because I'm a "pockets" gal.  I need to have the zippers and clips and adjusters where I want them and I want my stuff easily accessible.  It needs to feel right on my shoulders.  Interestingly enough, it was more important for how it felt sitting on my hips.  The guy at the store placed weighted bean-bags in the ones I tried out so I could compare to how it would actually feel on the trail.  The weird thing is that it actually fits better the more stuff it has in it because it pushes the pack down on my hips so the straps aren't sitting around my stomach.

Now that I have a jacket, a backpack, hiking boots, socks, and new spandex workout gear (from my mom for Christmas), I feel like I'm just about ready to get going.   I'm hoping that even though our schedule is packed we'll find some time to get out!