Oh the packing

Sometimes I think travel is just an excuse to buy spiffy travel things that can be justified for the sake of travel.  Just as we were packing for our northeast USA travels last autumn, our seven year old travel lap top blew up.  We replaced the hard drive, reloaded and upgraded what we could, and were still hampered by its frequent crashes while searching maps.  Seven years old, in dog years, is mid life, and dogs don't get outdated as quickly as computers.  Now we have a Mac Air.

Our destination is the southeast US.  You see, we are walking state capitals.  We go to a capital, find the starting point for the walk, and walk.  This is done through the American Volkssport Association (AVA), a national walking organization related to the International Volkssport Verbund (IVV).  Volkssporting got its start in Germany in the last century, and came to the USA with returning servicemen who had been stationed in Germany.

A state or local walking club develops a walk route that passes a state capital or goes right through the building.  After the walk, we stamp our record books (I carry an event record book, a distance record book, a state capital record book, and a book to record walks that go by bakeries).  We have previously filled a record book about breweries, wineries, and distilleries, and another for libraries.  This is no big deal; I often meet people who carry six or seven record books.

So here's the plan: We fly to Atlanta, walk the capital, pick up our thirty day bus pass, and away we go.  A misshapen  loop will take us to Tallahassee, Montgomery, Jackson, Baton Rouge, Little Rock, Nashville, and Frankfort.  And a month after we arrive, we fly back home, just in time to get very serious about working the soil, planting the garden, and mowing the lawn while - quietly - planning the next trip.

The southeast weather has been .... challenging.  While we basked in balmy 50 degree weather, the southeast has been shivering and probably losing a lot of garden and yard greenery.  But it is picking up.  Now the PNW is moving back into more typical rainy weather and the southeast is warming up.  BUT, will it switch again?  Last week, the packing list said WINTER.  Now, maybe spring?