Travel Day

We hit the road early this morning to drive the 522 miles to Virgina, Minnesota. Made a few stops along the way for breakfast, gas, and lunch at Culver's (we were in Wisconsin so cheese curds were a must). To pass the time I logged in to our our bi-weekly company conference call, and listened to the first couple Shark Farmer podcasts. If you haven't heard of the Rob Sharkey, you are seriously missing out. Google him. I got his autograph a few weeks ago! I especially enjoyed 003 were he talks with another friend of mine about roping badgers and other cowboy tales. 

We arrived at the hotel we will stay at tonight before hitting the backwoods in the morning. The instructors distributed all our gear and helped us pack up. Bill helped me eliminate a few unnecessary things including soap... He said I won't be needing that and that even though it's environmentally friendly, I can't use it in the river. Ugh. Salty it is. 

All my personal things as well as the following gear is in this small orange bag. 

Tent, ground cover, rain fly, water purification device, camp stove, gas, food for the next 4 days, sleeping bag, sleeping bag liner, and sleeping pad.

I'm not sure how I was able to get it all in there but it's done. 

Dinner was at the Sawmill where I ate a steak of course (loading up before our backwoods food adventures). We also consumed a couple of adult beverages. There is a great group of fun people on our trip. Looking forward to the next few days.