Dakotas Trip - 10 Days to Blast Off!!!

It seems like just a few moments ago that I was posting about "11 weeks to go" on this trip, and now it is 10 days from our departure. I am excited. And a bit nervous. And a little overwhelmed. And a bit nervous. And a lot of other feelings too. But mainly excited.

There were a number of things that I wanted to have a good handle on prior to the trip, and I can't say as though I feel like I have done an especially good job on any of them.

I wanted to finally buy a digital SLR camera and learn how to use it well. I have bought the camera, and used it a little, but I can't say as though I have put the time into learning how to use it as thoroughly as I would have liked. I will bring the user guide booklet with me, but will be relying mainly on the fact that this new camera is way smarter than me, and I can set everything to full automatic and use it as a very expensive point-and-shoot and the pictures will be great. "Artistic" may have to wait for another day. A new UV filter and a circular polarizer filter have arrived courtesy of Amazon, so I will have a few new things to play with, and the extra battery is overkill, but what the heck...

I wanted to be the proactive anal-retentive person that I normally am and be very ahead of schedule in terms of reviewing my gear, packing lists, and all the other "prep" kind of tasks. I haven't really done that. Which is not really an issue. I am reviewing my packing list as I type this, and have plenty of time to get the last couple of items that I could use. So no issue there, really.

The biggest thing that concerns me, and Dave echoed this sentiment in a recent blog post of his, is that I had really wanted to spend a good amount of trail time working on my conditioning and my legs, and I haven't done that at all. Quite the contrary, I have probably spent less trail time this year than I have each of the past couple of years. So I have good reason to be concerned about that.

But... the important thing is that we are ten days away from what should be one of the trips of a lifetime for me, and I can't wait!