Prepping for an Adventure

There is something about the anticipation of a big adventure.  Whether big due to the buildup in my mind, or big because of its very nature, doesn't really matter.  It's important to have places of escape.  Getting ready to visit that place adds to the experience exponentially.  Part of the excitement in that preparation is setting things out, going through supplies, gathering history and information, making contacts, looking at maps, and dreaming.  A strange sidebar to that is cleaning.  How that fits into the equation of preparing for an adventure is beyond me, but somehow it has wormed its way into mine as a necessary factor.
As a kid it drove my sisters and I crazy to have to wait for the moment we would all pile into our vehicle and pull out of the gravel driveway.  Along with my parents, my sisters and I first had to put things away, straighten up rooms, and have the dishes washed.  And for our family that also included having everything around the farm prepared for whoever we had lined up to do the chores.  It was preparation for the preparation, or at least preparation before you could prepare.  Mathematically speaking it was preparation squared (P²).  On the flip-side, the return home was much easier to face when you walked from your adventure back into some form of normalcy.  
Fast forward 30 some years, and I continue the madness...I mean continue the tradition.  Late in the summer, when my kids were younger, my wife Cindy and I would escape with them to the North, and the shores of Lake Superior, to camp as a family.  We'd alternate between the Porcupine Mountains, Copper Harbor or Grand Marais in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  Our destination didn't matter as it was "Up North" and a chance to breathe deep before the next school year started.  My wife would plan, shop and put the food together.  I would pour through the supplies and the kids would lay out the items I wrote down for them to bring.  Somewhere in the midst of getting ready for the trip the garage was swept, the lawn was mowed, trees were trimmed and the garden mulched.  The tasks were all of the "necessary" to-do's on the check list before you could leave.  Now as my children's involvement in other activities has increased, our family time together has turned down other lanes.  I have individually, however, been able to continue to head North these last few years.  I meet my cousins for a several day excursion "out in the bush" of Northern Lower Michigan; within my boyhood environment.

Before I can pack my old Jeep with all of the essential gear, I first have to prep.  That means I need to take care of the things necessary to leave the outside yard looking good, as well as completing inside chores to erase my guilt for being gone that long, spread the love, and pave the way to take off with a clear head and a free spirit.  Most of the "to-dos" are of my own accord and infliction; a far cry from my childhood.  

As a family, we still have our trip to Southern Michigan and the original roots of my family.  We've done that trip so many times the preparation is mindless for the most part.  In fact, when it comes to prepping for something that has become a constant, even though you might sense the basic outcome, it's that known entity that fuels your drive.
Day to day the anticipation for an adventure looks different.  Two items come to the forefront of my mind that correspond to my interest and pleasure.  One is preparing for fishing.  That is an entry for a later time with enticing and specific details.  The other item I experienced today.  First it involved contacting a friend of mine.  Scott, who even in life's busyness and the family responsibilities of being a father of small boys, is typically game to join me.  

We've trained and run races together, and like today, enjoy hiking the dogs through the bottom-lands of local rivers to make a small fire from flint and steel, cook a meal and then hike out.  Our persona's are pretty easy going and so are our conversations.  Getting out is a chance to decompress and simply be ourselves; unencumbered by life's restrictions, albeit for a short time out of one day.
I began the day, after taking my son to track practice, by washing up the dishes in the sink and clearing off the table and counter tops.  Next I cleaned my accessories from last week's excursion and then cut and prepared the food.  I laid it all out, checked it over and then carefully placed it into my old,

familiar backpack.  I've done this type of thing for the last few years; since the kids were little and I took them on "Daddy Outings."  They still join me for an outing at least once each winter.  At other times I go solo, with Scott, or with others on a special invitation.  Last year I made it out nine weekends in a row, as the winter and early spring season is a great time to head to the woods.  The mosquitoes are non-existent and poison ivy is dormant.  
It's important to have places of escape.  It's important to have secret destinations that you routinely can get to, or that you dream of.  It's also important to prepare in advance.  For in working to get ready, you ignite the anticipation for having an adventure.  To that end, the component of heading into the unknown first begins with the known.  
See you along The Way...