Then my boots are made for kicking ass! Turns out I'm going to need a lot more then wimpy little patagonia hiking shoes when carrying a pack up Kilimanjaro, although I'm still planning to bring those as my urban option. So I found these bad boys, I've owned a few ASOLO hiking low tops before but these are way more burly. I was told by a random stranger, who overheard my shoe needs that there is a ton of mud in south east Africa and specifically around Kili. We are planning a hike tomorrow to test out our new kicks.
[caption id="attachment_193" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="These boots were made for kicking ass!"]
[/caption]
Turns out they weren't made for walking...
Yup, you guessed it. The shoes didn't work. I broke them in all week and was super excited for our hike planned for the weekend. We decided to head up to Malibu and take a short hike with weighted packs up to Escondido Falls. Sounds exhilarating, right, a waterfall in Malibu? Well, first of all, it was more like a water trickle. But it was nice. Mochi appreciated wading in the water. We've learned that little, black, fluffy dogs were not made for hot hikes a long time ago. And apparently, neither were my boots. I was fussing over them the entire way up to the falls. Changing lace configuration, making them tighter, then looser, I just kept trying to fix what felt wrong. I couldn't seem to make enough adjustments. Finally, when we were heading back, I began to have shooting pains in the ball of my left foot. That's no good. And this was after a pretty short hike on easy terrain. I had to trek all the way back to the car, up and down hill, with 35 pounds in my pack. This all happened last Sunday, by the way, and my foot continued to hurt through this past thursday. So, the next day (last Monday) I returned to Adventure 16 to tell them my tale. The guy there was not surprised that I had that problem. His explanation was that I was sold the wrong boot. The shoe I was sold was not meant to carry extra weight (i.e. 35 pounds in my pack), and it would not make it more than 3 months or so of everyday use. Great. So, back to square 1. After many, many more shoes tried on, I ended with a pair of Vasque Gortex (aka waterproof) high top boots. These will supposedly do the work for my feet. We didn't hike this weekend. I wanted to give my foot a break, and the shoe a fair chance, and poor Seth had to work. So, once again, I'll keep you posted on the shoe situation. On another note... I visited the Patagonia store in Santa Monica to find they were having a sale. Always a plus. I've decided that the best exercise type underwear I own has been the Patagonia W's Active Hipster (and Barely Hipster). They come in a bunch of cool patterns and colors and you don't even feel them on you. They are wicking and smooth against the body. I highly recommend them. Also, I got my traveling pants. I bought my jeans from Patagonia in hopes that they are more durable than all the other jeans I own that end up with holes in all the wrong places. Also, I bought my fleece layer. I ended up with the Better Sweater, in magenta. That's going to look nice with my lime green rain jacket!
[caption id="attachment_185" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Hopefully this one was actually made for walking (with 30 lbs on my back)"]
[/caption]
These boots were made for walkin!
I decided that I was going to find my travelin boots this weekend, and I finally did! After much deliberation, and finger blisters from pulling on laces for hours, I ended up with a pair of Vasque Mantra. They're considered a multisport shoe, but it's a hiking boot. I'm very picky when it comes to shoes, and it's taken me a while to give up my pair of Columbias. I fitted them with a pair of green Superfeet to add support and to keep my foot from slipping towards the toe. My theory on any kind of shoe is that the 'insole' of any shoe is meant to be thrown away. They pick some shape that will fit most feet. So, I try to have some kind of personalized insert in every shoe I wear, especially shoes for running and hiking. If only they had such thing for heels! Anyhow,I hope these Vasque boots work. I'll keep everyone updated as time goes by. Since I got them at Adventure 16, a great store with a lot of really knowledgeable staff, I have 90 days to bring them back. I hope I don't have to. While at A16 we picked up some packing cubes by Eagle Creek. They are made from a super light weight parachute like material. We'll have a couple in each of our backpacks to hold our clothes. The plan is to roll our clothes nice and tight and keep them organized in the packing cubes. Probably one for socks, one for underwear, one for shirts and pants, and a couple of extras for accumulated items.
I also acquired a pajama/underwear top made by Exofficio. The plan is to have clothing items that are breathable and easy to wash. Exofficio has great products. Seth has a bunch of their shirts that will probably be taken on the trip. The pants I bought are Exofficio. They're lightweight and fit nicely, like regular pants. I bought them in black to look nicer,but hopefully they won't absorb too much heat. But, back to the pajama/underwear top, I'm going to make sure I mention ladies 'unmentionables' throughout my blogging, because when trying to research what women have liked most while traveling, I find my resources are quite limited. This said, I bought the pajama/underwear top and I'll tell you how I like it as I use it. And once I get a bra and/or underwear I'll probably tell you about those as well. It may sound silly, but it's something important that I can't find much info for. So there!
Did I just fight off Yellow Fever?
So, Seth posted about our 'shots' but since then I've been on quite a trip! I got a 24 hour fever! Oh man, I thought I was down for the count. I haven't felt like that in a while. So, I'm not sure if my body was reacting to getting 5 vaccines at once, or if one at a time would have done the same thing, but because of how I felt yesterday, I'd recommend spreading out the shots. Then again, Seth wasn't phased. My arm is still sore! Luckily, after a nice hot shower this morning I was ready to head back to work, and now I'm all sunshine and rainbows. Ready for the weekend. Lucky me! The moral of this story is, whether or not you spread out your shots, get them! I'm sure this was nothing compared to the real deal.
Lets do some SHOTS!
We each did 5 shots last night, its was crazy. Ok so maybe crazy isn't the right way to describe it. It was painful, but we are now immune to Yellow Fever, Typhoid, Meningococcal Meningitis, Polio, Diphtheria, Measles, Pneumococcal, and Tetanus. On the plus side, the travel Dr. who was recommended to us by my high school friend August is amazing. She and her staff are very friendly, informative, and helpful. Probably the best Dr. visit each of us has ever had. We are fully outfitted with anti-malaria, altitude sickness, nausea, diarrhea meds, etc.. pretty much any bug that comes in our way will get zapped. Bangkok street food here i come!!
[caption id="attachment_172" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Berkley on the floor after 5 shots"]
[/caption]
What to do with pets?
My wife and I have a 3 to 4 year old Tibetan Terrier named Mochi. I say 3 to 4 because she is a rescue and we had to guess her age. We obviously needed to find place for Mochi to live while we galavanted around the world for six months. Luckily my parents live in Colorado on a few acres and have access to a ranch that is thousands of acres. Whenever Mochi has visited she loves it, it's a dog paradise; birds, squirrels, rabbits, turkeys, more birds, bugs (she chases grass hopper shadows). Especially so for one thats used to living in an apartment in Los Angeles. So the choice was obvious, she needs to go to Colorado and live with my parents for the 6 months we are away. Two weeks ago my parents surprised the family by buying two dingo/miniature australian shepherd puppies; Nellie and Cricket. The dog paradise just got even more paradise-ier, now she has two buds to play with.
[caption id="attachment_166" align="aligncenter" width="240" caption="My dad with his two new pups, Cricket and Nellie"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_165" align="aligncenter" width="199" caption="Mochi at our wedding."]
[/caption]