7:35pm
Ted arrived at my house shortly after 7:00, and Eric rolled in soon after that. I finished most of my packing this afternoon, having a small duffel of clothes and toiletries, and a large duffel of my tent (that Eric and I will share), sleeping bag, air mattress, and various camp supplies. I also have two fold-up camp chairs (Ted needs one), a large cooler, and my travel guitar (which I'd like to bring, but obviously isn't a necessity and can be left out if there isn't room.)
John is attending a wedding, and has promised us that he'll arrive here by 9pm.
The original plan was for us all to pile into the rented SUV with our gear and go. That changed today when Ted had work issues, where he had to be home for a phone call on Monday. After a flurry of texts and IM's, we decided that he would drive separately as far as Winchester, VA - then we'd all take the SUV into WV tomorrow, returning him to his car early Monday. The rest of us would then do a day-hike on Monday around Winchester or Harper's Ferry before heading home.
8:03pm
We laid out all the gear in the driveway, and it immediately became painfully obvious that we had no chance of fitting everything in the SUV. We realize the flaw in our thinking. The next size rental car above our "standard SUV" is a minivan - *tons* of space, but also significantly more expensive. We figured that since we were only camping for two nights, that an SUV would be fine. The flaw is that whether you're camping for one night or 10, there's a base amount of stuff you need - and it's a significant amount.
As Ted was already driving as far as Winchester, he's now driving the whole way. This is unfortunate - the camaraderie, discussions, and musical choices on the drives are part of the fun. But there's no way to do this in one car. On the bright side, taking a second car means that we now have plenty of room - so my travel guitar is coming.
8:45pm
We're on the road. John arrived around 8:15, way earlier than expected. He changed out of his nice clothes, we finished loading, and off we go. I'm riding with Eric, and John is riding with Ted. It's a very nice and relieved feeling to actually be on the road after the last-minute changes and uncertainty.
11:48pm
Arrival, Comfort Inn, Winchester, VA. Smooth sailing and an easy drive on the PA Turnpike and I-81. Satellite radio is nice. Not nice enough that I'm willing to pay for it, but nice enough that I enjoy it when in a rental car. We've reserved two rooms - again, Eric and I, John and Ted.
12:30-ish
We watched the L.A. Kings win the Stanley Cup in overtime, and now it's lights out. We're planning to be up at 6:30 or 7:00. Nite nite.
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