I'm hearing requests for more pictures of our stuff...

I'd like to start with an inspirational photo:



That's Lake Superior, we'll be there in 3 months.

This weekend we're checking out storage spaces. It looks like it'll be $70-100 a month to store all of our things. And the storage places are in god-forsaken parts of the city. Places I have to look on Google Maps to find. It'll be fun.

I realize I'm boring you into a coma writing about all of the new gear we're buying for this trip, but that's the main thing that's happening now. Wanna see a picture of my sleeping bag? No? Too bad, here it is:





















The bag is from EMS, rated at 20 degrees. I don't know how often I'll need it, but Northern Michigan will be cold and I suspect the mountains will be too. I'll be sewing a liner out of a flannel sheet in the near future. The orange pad is made by Insulmat and it's comfortable. The gray thing is closed cell foam which is hard as a rock but very useful when the ground is cold. the Insulmat is 3/4 length so I may need the foam, who knows.

I have a couple other things on order:

• A green compressible pillow with pictures of trout on it

• an inflatable lumbar support.

I have a hard time getting comfortable so trust me, this isn't overkill. I'm sleeping on this stuff for the next year.

This is what it looks like all rolled up. I swear we are going to look like middle-aged german tourists with all this crap strapped to our bikes.