Packing for the trip

This blog is a little out of order in that I already wrote about being at the airport and now I am back in packing mode0 I think I needed a little distance from the actual packing experience. In some ways I have been packing for months. I had a box in the basement that I threw everything into as I bought it. What I bought fell into a couple of different categories. If one of my fellow c2c riders, leaders, or support staff mentioned it as essential I bought it. If the guys at cycle fit recommended it I bought it. If I'd read about it being a good idea , you get the drift. PWhen the box in the basemen got full I started putting things in my little sitting room upstairs which doubles as Gillis's nursery when he and Angus are in town. When this room got crowded I moved into the spare bedroom and put things behind the love seat so it didn't look too junky when I had overnight guests. I kept a list on my laptop to act as a check when I actually started packing. So far so good. I felt pretty organized. I ask my super organized and clear thinking Lou to come over on Monday to help me get all three areas organized into suitcases. I figured it would be good to start on Monday in case I had forgotten anything. She and Meredith were very helpful in first getting things sorted into quart size zip lock bags. There is now a cream bag with various and sundry forms of lubrication and medication . There's the haircare bag with dye ,shampoo, cream rinse etc, the electronics bag with chargers, USB cords, extra batteries incase I cannot recharge my phone or iPad, extra AA and AAA batteries for my standing flashlight and my favorite, an Off bug protection fan that I can hook onto my belt and have a constant flow of insect repelling air circulating around me. Hope it works.
Just remembered that I never ordered my cue sheet holder, oops. Maybe I can get one at the bike shop when I pick up my bike.
Back to packing. On Monday we got as far as bagging up all or almost all of the small items into their designated Baggie. Lou and I agreed to meet Tuesday to continue. The truth is I told Lou I could not proceed with confidence without her. She realized my dire straits due to my lack of skill and quickly agreed to see me thru to the bitter end. Tuesday brought us to all the clothes! Wow there was a ton of stuff.
Before I go on I should mention that Lou loaned me a really good Arkema backpack for one of my carry-ons. My sister Mary gave me a wonderful large but carry-on-able suitcase, and I have Kathy's very light weight carry-on. Additionally I found JJG's army duffel for a total of four packing vessels. At this time I did not know about the $150 charge for a third bag.
So we had two jobs--deciding what would go where and then stuffing and jamming to make sure we got it all in.
Lou was great in deciding that we would have a supply bag , a bedding bag and a clothing bag. I wanted the backpack to contain a biking outfit , a street outfit, a bathing suit and basic toiletries as well as my iPad and stuff I would normally put into my purse.
With that decided we(read that Lou ) proceeded to load the biggest suitcase and the duffle, which did us in for the night. We would start again the next and last evening.
Early Wednesday Lou called to suggest that we use the zip lock system for clothes as well. I went out for my last manicure/pedi and lunch with KT, stopping between to stock up on more baggies of the quart variety. After returning all my library holdings & canceling my holds I went home to find JJG'S home & offering to help me finish packing. Great, maybe we can finish and have a little evening.
So here is how it went, I put together outfits for example,socks, bike shorts, tops, long and short sleeve, then JJG'S packed them up. All through this process JJG'S said u r going to need another suitcase and he even went looking for a suitable addition . I finally convinced him that a) I wasn't sure I could handle the four suitcases I already had out and b) if we continued to compress all their out of all suitcases we can get a Lot more in. After some pushing and pressing we were completely successful. I even squeezed in a few more unplanned items just before leaving this AM. I must admit I totally underestimated the packing effort. Thanx to my great fan I was able to finish with time to go over to Lynn & Bills for pizza with Vince, Judy,Meredith and Lou and JJG'S. It was such a nice send off. We go home early and I left the front door open. I was going downstairs to pull my fleece out of the dryer when Karen pulled up to say good bye and to give me a copy of People for my reading pleasure. (just finished it by the way).
Finally got on bed around 9:45 so I could be bright at 5. It was a short night with many wake ups as I anticipated the alarm clock,but finally it was morning and the take off was smooth, as was the first leg of my flight,a little late taking off in DFW due to thunderstorms. All in all a nice start to the trip. Oh! I almost forgot. I am walking down the aisle of the plane and a man steps into my path and says "Marge?" it was Ed, he was headed for Anaheim. We planned to get a coffee between our flights but time did not allow,but when we met at the gate, I said to him that the flight attendant asked me if I was the lady's taking the bike trip, and asked how did she know? Ed said that he tried to get her to announce that I was celebrating my 60th bday by riding across country, mystery solved. More later, still have to pick up my bike and hope to go to Trader Joes for a few food items, hey maybe I can even get some wine?