Nights 361 and 362 - 3 nights to go!

Hi and welcome back!

Friday night: 21 degrees
Saturday morning: 24 degrees
Saturday night: 34 degrees
Sunday morning: 34 degrees

My dad posted a link to my blog on reddit tonight, and when I looked a minute ago there were 1100 people here!  Thanks for stopping by!

REI Garage Sale

Yesterday dad and I went to the garage sale at the REI store in Conshohocken.  We got there an hour early to make sure we could get some of the best deals, but we counted over 80 people in front of us.  There were more than 30 behind us when they let us in, so we weren't too bad.

There were some really good deals left when we got in.  We bought three things--a Sierra Designs Zissou 12 dridown sleeping bag (50% off), a Big Agnes insulated sleeping pad (65% off), and an REI Minimalist bivvy (93% off).

When we were waiting in line outside "the corral," we saw quite a few people pick up the bivvy and then put it back, and I realized it was probably because there was no tag telling you the price and what was wrong with it.

Dad and I asked one of the REI staff how much it was, and he said he would check.  He came back and told us we could have it for $8.00--it's normally $110!

All that stuff fits in my 18 liter pack, with room left for a hat, headlamp, and emergency survival kit!  Together, all of that weighs just about five pounds, and I think it would keep me warm down to almost 0 degrees.

I'm about to go out and bivouac on the hill behind our house.  We had a lot of rain today, so I'll have a chance to check how waterproof the bivvy is.  I'll let you know in my next post.

Sir Edmund

I know I told you before that I would post a picture of the portrait my grandfather drew of Edmund Hillary.  Here it is.  I'm also going to post the original that he used to draw it.  I think he did a good job!






Thanks for reading!