the fretting begins

Sunday afternoon we figured out most of the details of the trip to the Queen Charlottes, determining we can leave on Friday August 3, getting reservations for places to camp on our way to Prince Rupert, more reservations for where to stay while on the Queen Charlottes, getting a ferry reservation to leave. Nice to have that all worked out -- everything seems to be going together well.

So I woke up early this morning, starting to worry about all the little details. Like: what kind of food should we take for camping after we've been on the tour for four days, how expensive will food be on the islands, how exhausted will we be after spending all night on a ferry boat (and why does it take 9 hours to go 9 miles), how many pairs of shoes should I take on the tour (hiking boots, the required rubber boots I have yet to buy, tennis shoes, sandals??), etc. I proved to myself yet again that I am a very good fretter.

the value of a list

When our vacation plans fell through, we decided we would do a road trip around Oregon -- down the coast, up through the arid east, camping along the way. I even got a stack of books out of the library.
Then I reviewed the list and saw "Go the Queen Charlotte Islands." Could we do that instead? We decided to try to make it work, and we have. We don't have everything in place yet, such as how long we're staying and how we're getting off the islands. But what we are most excited about is going on a four-day exploration of the southern part of the islands (the more remote, culturally and environmentally interesting). We will go by fast small boat, then kayak and hike around the various places. We expect cool, probably rainy weather, but we can dress for that. We need to work out where else we will stay, how we can do some other hiking in the area. I think it will be great fun!

another list update

Life just goes on, so I'll comment on some of the small events (and not-events)...
74. Learn to accessorize. (blogger doesn't think that's a word!) I met a woman selling jewelry at a gathering at our local naturopathic university, and loved her work. She creates flowers out of glass that are enclosed in more glass. I bought one and liked another one, of a trillium, except for the color. So I've been in contact with her and when she made another trillium, I bought it. I've thought they might also be nice gifts. Well, last night I dreamt about them. I can get obsessive...
35. Read the Qu'ran. Last week was our church's General Assembly (Unitarian Universalist), and one of the workshops I went to was by an African-American woman, a Methodist minister's child, who has converted to Islam. She spoke about what the text of the Qu'ran says about women, very different from how it has played out in so many cultures. A question afterwards had to do with reading the Qu'ran. She responded that it's a very dense text and recommended that it be read in conjunction with a commentary. So I will have to devote a block of time to do that. Also she said it's best to start with Chapter 9 (sounds like the advice of skipping all the "begats" to get through the Bible.)
41. Participate in community-supported agriculture. Yeah Root Connection!! We are getting lots of greens, and I'm figuring out some wonderful recipes with chard. We even made a special trip there to pick "wild greens" for our Gourmet Group's salad. Mustard greens in particular add a special taste. But I still don't know much to do with bok choy.
86. Do the Seattle International Film Festival. It's over, so maybe next year...
58. Learn about digital photography. I got a new camera for my birthday, and so far I've learned how to turn it on. But then, I'm only up to page 20 in the instruction guide. I'm looking forward to learning more, though.
73. Visit Burgess Shale. Our plan for summer vacation this year was to go to the Canadian Rockies, so I thought a hike to see the Burgess Shale was on. Unfortunately, with my bad knee I was not sure I could do it. I finally got a diagnosis of "just" arthritis, and the advice to keep exercising (the physical therapist did say climbing Mt. Everest is out). So by the time I called, we could not get reservations for the hike. I'm disappointed, but not going to take this off the list. So we are probably going to car-camp around Oregon.