Getting Ready

Out trip is getting closer and closer!  We have so much anticipation for the trip.  Wondering what new things we will learn.  All the new friends we will make.  All the beautiful place we will see.  We only have five more days in Redding.  That means we have to have everything ready and packed for the next five months by Thursday.  Of course, we will still have a few days when we get to LA to finalize everything but the majority of the preparation needs to happen this coming week.  It's a funny place to be because there is too much time to completely pack everything but we have the gitty feeling of wanting to see the packs full, zipped, buckled and on our backs.  This week we spent some time going through our backpacks and day packs to see how much space we have and what we need to bring.  Here are some pictures of the organized chaos.

For those wondering what I(Eddie) was up to with that knife and backpack here is an explanation. The old backpack I'm cutting up was an older LowePro camera bag. It's a great pack but was created before the laptop era and so has no room for my Mac Book Pro. Therefor, I decided to extract the great foam material and padded velcro dividers from the old pack and add it to my North Face pack. That way I can transport all of the expensive electronic and camera equipment safely, together in one pack. Let's just hope it doesn't get run over by a campervan or caught under a stampede of sheep. -Eddie

We have had a lot of fun contacting the people we are going to stay with in New Zealand.  We have been browsing and reading about all sorts of people and families who all sound so amazing.  It's hard to pick only one or two from each region. So far we have planned our first five days with a friend of Eddie's in Auckland.  We will be working at a Bed and Breakfast for a week or two starting on February 10th so this week we also searched for host families to work for and stay with for the three weeks in between.  We found two that we have e-mailed and are awaiting the response.  We will plan the rest of our tip as we go once we get to New Zealand.  

We're looking forward to spending New Years with some friends and spending our last days with our Chico friends at Max and Kelsey's wedding.  It's the last time we will see everyone before we leave Northern California.  Can't wait!  We miss everyone already.