So, here we are, after about a year in the making we are setting off on a 65 day trip around the country that will span something like 20 states and take us over 6500 miles in a mini-van. Who came up with this stupid idea anyway??? (Stephanie did...) If we were pressed to describe the feeling we have right now in one word, we would probably go with "surreal". I mean, we've never done anything like this in our lives so, yeah, surreal is good.

One of the things that only Stephanie and I will ever be able to appreciate is exactly how much planning went into this trip. Lots of people kind of think "ohh yeah, just toss some stuff in the car and wing it.....what can go wrong?" Well, we're here to tell you that planning to live out of a van for two months and traveling these distances requires a good bit of forethought. Mainly because National Parks generally book up THE DAY they open for reservations , which is often 6 months in advance of the arrival date. We will be car camping, backpacking, mountain bike riding, ATV'ing, beach hopping down the Pacific Coast Highway, etc. In other words...a whole lot of stuff. So imagine....picture in your head for a minute that you are going to do this and then imagine trying to pack a van for a trip of this duration with climates that vary from below freezing in the mountains to blazing hot, barren deserts and everything in between. What does that picture look like?

DOES IT LOOK ANYTHING LIKE THIS????

OMG R U KIDDING ME???

Keep in mind that we're renting this van. We got it TODAY. We did our best to anticipate how much room we would have in it and so packed accordingly......but this ain't an exact science we're talking about here. So, we just spent like 3 hours trying to pack this van in 90 degree heat and insane humidity. Sweating profusely...the stress and pressure of a years planning coming to crescendo! Some things were said...... someone may have been directed to stick a piece of camping equipment up their ass. I can't recall who.

But, as we tend to do, harsh words were quickly put to rest and we got it done. Someone had the genius idea to actually USE the roof rack on the top of the van to save some space and that really made all the difference(Steph again). It's a little tighter than either of us wanted but things are strategically boxed and positioned near the doors and so should be pretty accessible. Most importantly we fit everything we wanted to in and no windows are obstructed. Whew!

Alright that pretty much sums up the day-before. The days of planning, stressing, and anticipating are FINALLY over. Time to hit the road.