We got some great news this week in our preparations for the Long Trail. One of our biggest concerns in planning this whole crazy trip are Hobbes and Sabrina, our two black cats. Everyone tells you that “oh, cat’s don’t mind when you’re gone.” Considering how aloof the average cat is, this would make sense. Our cats, on the other hand, appear to love us. That is, until we start packing. Then the guilt trip begins in earnest. Any sign of backpacks, or piles of clothes at all and they find a spot to sulk and glare at us for the rest of the night. The longest we have left them in the past was 3 weeks when we went to Glacier National Park in 2010. This year’s trip to Vermont will likely end up being 4-5 weeks, causing us to wonder if our cats will have gone on hunger strike by the time we return. So you can imagine how excited we were to learn this week that our good friend from Iowa has decided to move back to Lansing and needs a place to live! Uncle Steve (as we have referred to him to the cats) will be living in our house while we are gone, meaning they will receive plenty of attention. They may not even notice we are gone!
With this big detail worked out, the reality has set in that our big hike is getting very close. We are scheduled to leave our house for Vermont in 20 days. The piles of lists, maps, guide books and gear that have been a fun hobby for the past three months are suddenly urgent reminders that soon we will live a month with everything we need on our backs. With a couple of shorter trips on the docket before we leave, we are left with only a handful of days to clear up the remaining details. The good news, is that the cats are a pretty big detail!
Hobbes and Sabrina:
