All systems go!
By admin. Filed in Planning |
I had a big shopping excursion to REI and Scheels on Tuesday to get the rest of my camping-specific equipment for the trip. Needless to say I’m looking forward to my REI dividend this year. Today was spent going to more general stores, making travel arrangements, getting first aid supplies, finding the last few spare parts for my bike, tracking down my tires, etc.
After calling/emailing the company I bought my tires from every day this week trying to track them down, only to get a voicemail box each time, I finally gave up and called the tire manufacturer (Schwalbe). It turns out that while the company had promised same-day shipping, they didn’t actually pass along the order to Schwalbe this week (presumably after I started calling them). They did charge my credit card in mid-December, though. Lesson learned: never buy anything from Every Bicycle Tire. The people at Schwalbe were very helpful, though.
Meanwhile, at the pharmacy, a similar story was unfolding. Over the weekend I discovered that I needed more medication for my 4-month excursion. I went to the pharmacy on Monday. They told me I didn’t have any more refills and my doctor would have to fax a new prescription to them. I called my doctor and they said they would fax the prescription. On Wednesday, I went to pick up the meds. The pharmacy said they didn’t get the fax. The doctor said they sent it on Monday. This time I called the doctor from the pharmacy and waited until I could see the fax printing out. Fax in hand, they could now place an order since it wasn’t in stock. Today required two trips to the pharmacy to get the prescriptions filled, but it finally got done.
And, when I got home… The tires had arrived!!
Now I have everything major I need for the trip. Anything else missing I can improvise or do without. The trick is getting it all to fit into the appropriate sized bags and boxes for the plane and a different set of bags for the locker on the trip.