Hey, Surprize, Surprize I love the outdoors!!!

My new favorite place to shop is REI..Talk about a cool store...they have everything you could ever want for camping or any outdoor adventure....yep, I could spend hours and hours in that store...just looking and salivating over all the things I want from there...but damn they are expensive...

I'm looking for a pair of pants to wear when I go backpacking in a couple of weeks.(yep REI even has clothes..who'd thunk..) I know that they need to be insulated because what kind of fool goes hiking and camping in November...in the Great Smoky Mountains in TN yet???? Who knows I might even get to see snow in the mountains...

I returned the Wild Bill sleeping bag that I used on my last trip and bought a better one (the Big Agnus) this weekend. (at REI of course)...it is sooo cool...this one is +0 which means it can get down to 0 degrees (Wild Bill was +20 but was soo long that I froze my feet off at 26 degrees) and I'll be warm as long as I'm in my Big Agnus sleeping bag...oh yeah, I bought a nice thick pad that slides into it's own little compartment in the sleeping bag so it'll be like sleeping on a mattress..and the neat thing is it weighs less than a pound so it should fit in my backpack good...a lot better than the one I took on my last trip. I'll keep it and my lighter sleeping bag that I bought from Bass Pro online for my summer trips. I guess you can tell i'm really getting into this camping thing..LOL...now if I could just figure out how to take my pillow ...sleeping with your clothes under your head is all right but it does make for wrinkled ..... My problem is my backpack is too small (only a 3100)...I went for a smaller cheaper one because I wasn't sure if I was going to really get into this backpacking..again I made the mistake of buying it at BassPro (online) and don't have the receipt to take it back (I'm still debating on whether to get one I saw at REI or not)...

I'm getting good at taking things back to REI....they are so nice about it too...first I took back the pair of shoes I bought...decided I really wanted the Merrills (and I'm glad I did they are so comfortable) then I took back the sleeping bag that I used on my last trip...the reason I bought it is that I got it on sale, but after using it I decided to spend the extra monies and get something that I really liked...

I'm learning that it's best if I just spend the monies for the better stuff right off the bat...like my mess kit...I bought a cheapy one at WalMart and ended up spilling most of my hot water because the handle on the pot was too flimsey and the pots got all dented up just packing them in......so now I have a nice sturdy one and it's teflon so it will be a lot easier to clean then that cheap one that my oatmeal stuck to the bottom of even after soaking it...

REI has so many gadget and thingys to make life easier for the backpacker....I saw this really neat pair of glove/mittens that I want but they are soo expensive and I keep thinking I have a pair of fleece ones that will do the job and there are so many other things I need...

I haven't been to Ross's Dress Barn in weeks...because now I'm walking the aisles at REI....
So if your looking for me...you will know where to find me....
over there where the camp stoves are....