Another rainy early morning start, May 28, 2008
With a night hike on Saturday, I've got the whole day to do whatever I want to do. I do need to take a trip to Trader Joe's. Since I've moved, it's no longer right there on my way home and now requires a bit of a field trip for me. But, since I’ll be right in the neighborhood, I can stop by REI, the "official outfitter" of my Camino!
The answer to the big question of whether Ray was or was not going to do the Camino finally was answered shortly after the first of the year. Rich, our hiking guru, had agreed to meet us pilgrims at REI on a Sunday morning to help us pick out our backpacks. This shopping expedition felt like one of those defining moments on our journey toward the Camino. Everything up to that point was kind of generic hiking gear, not a strictly Camino oriented item.
When we got to the backpack section of the store, I headed straight toward a really pretty-looking backpack in a cool shade of blue. I was so excited until I slung it on my back. Despite making every possible adjustment it felt like a torture device! I tried out a few others but they too felt too big or too small. The nice man at REI suggested I try the "Venus," the store's most popular women's model. I had ignored it and many others because it was a burgundy color. I hate the color red, I really do, and to me, burgundy is just another shade of red.
But tried it on. I finally had that Goldilocks moment. This one was "just right!" Except the color. At least it wasn't fire engine red!
After trying out a few different models, Karin and Joe found packs, though Karin later returned hers after trying it out and wound up with a red Osprey brand pack from EMS. But the big event of the day was that Ray got a pack! Other than the fact that it was red, I can't really remember much else. Except that Karin was so excited. I remember how happy she seemed when she said something like, "he’s going, he wouldn’t have bought a pack if he wasn’t going!" Buying the packs did seem like some sort of right of passage for all of us but sometime pessimist that I am, I wouldn't feel 100 percent sure that the Camino was really doing to happen until everybody had their airline ticket in hand.
We made a few other purchases that day. Karin and I got metal Sigg water bottles and camper towels. Joe got a sleeping bag. This was the first of many trips to our local outdoor outfitters to get the things we needed for Camino. First the pack. Next, the stuff to fill it!
After the shopping expedition, we all picked up sandwiches and had lunch at Rich’s house. Though it was close to three in the afternoon, but we all headed out to the Pine Barrens for a quick hike before dark.
As we hiked through the woods that cold afternoon, it did feel like we might really be on our way to Santiago!
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