Take a hike

I've gone and done it. I bought a women's pack for extended hikes. It's called the Venus 75 pack from REI. It has an internal frame, weighs 5 lbs, adjusts to torso and has a sleeping bag compartment plus a bunch more pockets. Dom and I have been in the market for packs appropriate for overnight hikes and we randomly headed into REI to just "look around." One of the REI team members kindly helped us out by fitting the pack to me and adjusting all the straps...and then filling it with 25lbs worth of bean bags so that I could get a feel for it with our "camping supplies" stuffed in. It took some time to get it just right since at first it made my arms tingle and go slightly numb, but I think we finally figured it out and now I'm its proud owner. Now we just have to make a list of supplies and camping items to pack it with. Food, such as nuts and MRE's, is on the list. I'm excited to attempt and conquer our first overnight, hopefully THIS year when it's not too cold or rainy.