I still haven't packed...

Or marinated the chicken.

I am a terrible procrastinator. But that's my nature on such things, I suppose. Yes, we're planning another trip, but this time it's within driving distance. I am taking a half-day of vacation tomorrow, so we can head up north at a decent time.

Since I don't want us to go out to restaurants all the time, I'm marinating the chicken and bringing my electric grill. NOTE TO SELF: DON'T FORGET THE GRILL! But I'm charging the camera batteries as we speak. Priorities. ;)

I'll post the recipe for the chicken a bit later, but for now, I gotta go clean and marinate it.

T -1 of "Big Trip"

I've been quite exhausted lately. Especially in the morning. When my alarm rang this morning, through the haze of sleep I thought "I don't know how to turn it off - it's a Mac alarm clock." See, I got a new computer last year and it's a Mac and I'm not completely comfortable with it yet and don't know all its capabilities.
Oy.
Well, I gotta go finish packing, which involves a few more loads of laundry and some ironing.

Oh, and I find this site to be immensely helpful: http://www.ricksteves.com/home.htm Great information, tips, and even packing techniques. Though, despite his suggestion of taking only 1-2 pairs of underwear, I'm taking more. Sorry, cotton all the way. Don't like synthetics. And since I'm not backpacking through Europe (which seems what Rick's tours are) I'm perfectly happy bringing more of the necessities.

* It's about 1AM here and I'm almost all packed. Just wanted to add one more blog entry for now and make sure I got everything set for the morning.

T -2 of "Big Trip"

I'm finishing up a few errands and lots of projects before my vacation departure. Running around town getting things here and there is quite tiring. And I haven't even started packing yet.

I've also spent a lot of time of thinking about how to pack for several weeks of travel but only taking a carry-on suitcase. See, I don't want to check my luggage for many reasons, one of which is I don't want to miss my connecting flight waiting for luggage from one flight.
Did you know that you can get sun screen in a solid form? Yep, it comes in all sorts of sticks. For me the biggest problem is getting all the necessities like shampoo/conditioner, toothpaste, lotions, etc. all into a little baggie.
Yes, of course, you can buy all that stuff at your final destination, but that's not how I want to start off my vacation. I want to relax after a long flight, not start running errands.

I'm also packing lots of photo equipment for my trip. Well, it's "a lot" of equipment for me. Once I test out the set-up, I'll blog about how it's working out.