Getting Ready

2009 April 13th: Last night I had a difficult time falling asleep. I had far too much on my mind. All of the little details of things that needed to be accomplished before I leave were nagging at me. So many things were running through my mind I just couldn't relax enough to fall asleep. My phone went off and woke me up this morning reminding me of a good friends birthday. That got me going to a point that there was no going back to sleep. I got up and got my day started. I ran through all those things that were keeping me awake last night and I believe that I have conquered all of the items.
It looks as though I will be leaving in the morning early for the first leg of my journey. The first leg is to head to Phoenix and visit a friend in the area for a couple of days. This is also close enough that if I have any trouble I can be picked up and rescued. Not that I will be in need of any of that. This trip will go smoothly and without incident. My GPS mapping software says that this section will take 13 hours and 40 minutes. With having to stop every 200 miles or so for fuel and a good stretch, it may turn out to be a good 15 hours of travel. Most all of the rest of my days will be less hurried.
Yesterday I had setup my tent as a practice run just to see if I remembered how. It took me forever, but I did get it setup. So this morning one of the things I set out to do was to put all of that gear away and stowed ready for travel. I feel that I did better but there is definitely room for improvement. I'm sure that with all of the practice I will master the setup and tear down procedures.
I have checked the weather and it looks as though tomorrow will be my best bet for warm enough temperatures going over the three passes that I will have to cross before I get to the border of Colorado and New Mexico. After that, the weather should be dry and warm enough not to matter. I plan to over dress so that as I get to the warmer climate, I will be able to remove the warmer clothing.
My plan is to leave first thing in the morning, so the next time I post, I should be in Phoenix.