Time flies when......

As they say, time flies when you're having fun!!! Or at least when preparing for a big adventure and there aren't enough hours in the day.  Roxi and I are training with our pack so that our trusty legs can carry us over the Northern Cascades in 2 weeks.  She caries her pack like it doesn't exist while sweat drips from my brow.  We have been frequenting Prompton State Park and Elk Mountain Ski Resort as our main training grounds.  Yesterday we did 12 miles on roads and that actually proved very difficult on the feet (paws).  We would rather have blisters and sore legs now when we have time to recover and a cold beer waiting at home!

Bringing Roxi introduces the need for "drop-boxes".  Roxi requires very high performance dog food with higher protein, fat, and calories than found in any normal commercial dog food and so I actually need to prepare daily rations and set up a schedule to have them sent to us along the way.  The trail is fairly remote and the opportunity to purchase good/nutritious/cheap trail food for myself is not as common as I would like and so these boxes are also a great opportunity to send myself food and various supplies like batteries and bug goop that I will likely need.  So in total there are actually 26 boxes to be prepared, addressed, and sent in a timely fashion.  Many go to post offices marked 'general delivery'.  And others are sent to hostels or vacation resorts that are near the trail and will kindly be held until our arrival.  I will send the first bunch before we head across the country but a very good friend of mine (Rita Dibble) will be taking care of the daunting task of making sure the rest make it into the mail in time for us to receive them in the remote mountains out west.  We are truly at the mercy of the mail system!!!

So we will be carefully preparing until june 10th when we will need to cross our fingers that we thought of everything and head into the wilderness.  While we focus on our trip, you can focus on the mission!  The donations have started to trickle in and we are SO excited to help  an amazing animal shelter reach their goals.  There is no better time to donate than now and there is no donation too small.  Please, if everyone who reads this blog donated just $5 we can make a huge difference in the future of COUNTLESS helpless dogs and cats in need, in one of the most dire places in the country.  Pet overpopulation is not a shelter problem, it is a community problem.  So please help this awesome shelter support and educate their community and make a better future for the animals that find their way into their care.  Don't put it off, donate today!!!

Happy Trails!
~laura & roxi