The Backpack is Packed!

Four weeks from today we’ll land at Orly near Paris. Today I stuffed my Kelty backpack with everything I am taking, then weighed it in at 12.5 lbs. Just right!

The choice of shoes boiled down to space and comfort. The winner (so far, anyway) was Bass. I chose the Bass shoes after first deciding on the Rockport ones, and before that, the Naturalizers. The Bass have a softer sole than the Rockports, and a lower heel than either the Rockports or the Naturalizers. My feet like that. The shoes are also roomier, and can handle an extra pair of socks on cold days.

This means I can’t take shower/bath shoes, or dressy ones, or the combo possible with Crocs. I had to send back the crocs because my right foot did not conform to their shape, and though I loved the feel on my left foot, I knew that walking requires two happy feet. I’m still waiting for the refund (note to Amazon).

The Ecco shoes suggested by my brother were too expensive. I could have bought a pair of them for the same price as the entire Bass/Rockport/Neutralizer combo. And I thought the women’s styles were not right for hitchhiking. You don’t want to clump around at the opera, but neither do you want to go fancy when walking and hitchhiking.

The Kelty backpack is comfortable and holds a lot. It has hidden compartments that remind me of my mom’s jewelry box with hundreds of tiny drawers, some hiding behind the others. Safe places where I can hide things and then forget where I put them. And then panic and empty everything out and still not find what I need because it’s in a hidden pocket, of course.

With my new Canon SX120 camera, I am sharing these pix with you. It hooks onto the belt thingy of the flowery purse thing I made (see the picture) that has, again, lots of hidden compartments.

That’s the end of the commercials. You might see some ads here in the future, or not. Who knows? It’s a way to earn a few extra cents, and for this senior on a fixed income who is running off to France when I can’t afford it, the pennies could save the day.

Note to self: Don’t leave chili cooking on the stove while writing your blog post. Also, keep saving because the power goes off when the Mojave wind blows.