Adventures by Disney – Preparation

It’s now 2 weeks until — let me rephrase that. I started this 2 weeks before the trip, but all the prep work has overtaken a lot of my writing. A little of the prep work does have to do with this trip, but the bulk of it is getting everything in place for the AllEars.net website, newsletter and blogs before I do. Then, there is something called a “Day Job” that pays the mortgage. Oh and I’m on the team currently reviewing the 2008 PassPorter’s WDW. Did I mention email? So you can see, I have quite a lot to do before any extended trip out of the office.

Whew !

On Sunday, LindaLou and I will head west for the start of our Adventures by Disney. Joining us on this adventure will be AllEars team member LindaMac, MouseFanTravel notables Beci Mahnken, Annette, and Michelle, other folks we know and love and then a whole group of people we don’t know at all. It’s always great seeing dear friends and making new ones!

You may recall back in April, I wrote a couple blogs about our early planning. We have a pre-stay planned for Phoenix. We fly out August 12th to spend two days in Phoenix and then the tour begins Tuesday August 14th.

As a recap, since it’s been so long since I blogged about this trip…..

Here’s how it all began. Dreaming of the Grand Canyon – April 2007

Then in my Planning the Adventures entry, I spoke about our initial plans for the trip.

Now back to today…and we are really getting excited!!!!! I know the heat is going to be very intense, not looking forward to that part, but we are going to be as prepared as possible.

I’ve already blogged about the SugarFree sports drink powder experiment I did 🙂

Deb's Merrell Moab Ventilator Hiking Boots About 6 weeks ago, we decided to buy some decent shoes. Based on reports we had read, we really don’t need them….but both Linda and I have weak ankles and decided that we wanted something sturdier than our sneakers! We went all over town in search of good hiking shoes.

I ended up purchasing the Merrell Moab Ventilator Hiking Boots – Women’s at REI for $75.00.

LindaLou lucked out and found her shoes pretty early in the process at Sports Authority.
Her Women’s White Ledge Waterproof Mid Gaucho cost $63.00.

Linda's White Ledge Waterproof Mid Gaucho Next it was time for socks. I learned doing my 60 mile walks that wet feet (from sweating or whatever) cause blisters. It’s almost as important to have the correct sock as it is the correct footware. With the temps in the high 90s, sweat will be an issue. I normally wear Thurlo crew socks. Very comfy and good moisture wicking. So for the SW trip, I decided to purchase a few pairs of Thurlo Light Hiking Crew Socks. I’ve tried them out several times with my new shoes and love them! It’s hard to find them discounted online, but Amazon has as good a selection as anyone else. Unfortunately, my Amazon order arrived and they only sent 2 correct socks and 2 wrong ones.

Linda Lou decided to go with her trusty stand by Wright Socks. These socks are double layer. The sock is constructed with two layers of fabric and are made of Dri-Wright polyester, nylon and lycra. The Dri-Wright is for maximum moisture control and the interaction between the layers absorbs friction and prevents blisters. When wearing these socks, my feet stay dry and cool. They can be found on Amazon.com for a discount.

One motto I learned from a walker coach years ago is never use anything for the first time when it matters. In other words, test out your clothing, equipment, etc long before your actual trip or event. You don’t want any surprises at the last minute.

We’ve been out now several times hiking (well, east coast hiking) in our newly purchased shoes and socks. So far so good and we feel confident these will serve us well on our trip out West.

Deb and Wanda on Sugarloaf Mountain
Nearby is a mountain with hiking trails, Sugarloaf Mountain, though I’m sure my friends from out west would call it a small hill – elevation is about 1,200 feet. It’s got a 2.5, 5.5 and 7 mile trail. We’ve been practicing on the 2.5 and 5.5 mile ones. Linda’s sister Wanda, who will be on the trip with us, has joined us as we hike. We’ve all learned a few lessons..or should I say relearned a few things that we forgot about and were reminded of…like not having enough water with us. hmm… well, better to be reminded of that lesson now.

It’s not that the Adventures by Disney will be so rough and rugged, but we do want to be in good shape so it doesn’t tire us out.

I’ve also been hiking in the same clothes I wore on the Mediterranean Cruise… my LL Bean sun protect long sleeve pants and shirts. For a variety of reasons, I’m not supposed to expose my skin to the hot summer sun. The clothing is very lightweight and breathable and works well. Of course, it wasn’t cheap, but what is?! LL Bean was actually much less expensive than some of the other brands I looked at.

What else? We’ve put in orders to stop the mail, the paper, have friends watch the house and have our list of last minute items to do around the house.

I think that about takes care of our preparations for the trip. Of course, we still have to gather all our belongs, take small children by the hand.. oh.. wrong trip — we do still need to pack. Remember that 3 page packing list LindaLou shared with you for our Med Cruise? Well, she’s working on modifying it for our Adventure.

Look for our daily (whenever we have internet access) blogs from the SouthWest beginning this weekend!

Deb and LindaLou

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