Pre-Expedition Packing Party

Waiting around at Living Science for Will last night, I uncovered enough gems to start my trip recap early this year...

I’m going to give T shirt suggestions for Denise, who’s one of the few outside the Davis family who knows the Expedition T-shirt color. Graphically, LS T shirts are pretty good: the large circular LS logo, often with a different animal in the middle. Lately the designs have had lots of trim, which doesn’t look as good as a simpler one or two color logo. It’s also time to run through the three basic LS colors (red/purple/orange) again. Also grey.

It was funny to overhear three certain servant leaders discuss their utility belts. They call them Nerd Belts, though I would never be so cruel.

Spoke to gentle giant Zach about our shared excitement for the trip. Unfortunately he’s on the second expedition. I wanted to make sure he’d have adequate shoes, after his sneaker blew out in St. Augustine. I told him about my seining shoe choice: my grey Pumas that are all torn up.

Kevin and Joel sported fresh haircuts. Last Saturday I’d noticed both were particularly shaggy. Both Will and I need trims before leaving. Alyssa commented on Joel’s doo, as did her mother. Hmmm.

Lately Joanna and I have begun to greet each other with a long, British ”hellooo!” Just this week I saw an old Seinfeld rerun where Jerry enjoyed this very greeting so much that he chose it over a girlfriend. On the trip I’ll be sure to bore Joanna with the story.

I’ll be driving the huge green Zech Suburban, filled with eight middle-school boys. Without an adult co-pilot, I was most interested in who my assigned young servant leader would be. Most of the older SL’s will be already on Jekyll. This was the only information I pried out f Mrs. Hanson. Looks like for the first leg of the trip I’ll have a fun young man riding shotgun.

Years ago Denise shrewdly joined the waiting list for Masters tickets, before it was closed off. This year their number was finally called. I am quite impressed.

When we got home I spent several hours helping everyone pack. Anna couldn’t find a good hat, though Matthew found several. He may go with caps to match each day’s shirt color, like others I know. He’s also taking several pairs of shoes, as am I. Will washed and dried Chap-Stik with his clothes, staining several shirts.

For the past week I’ve been having vivid dreams, that I’ve remembered in detail. Last night’s: I was my current age, but Will and I were playing on my high school football team. There was a game, and we were in the locker room beforehand. A little 9th grader had on MY number 21 jersey. Later I found out that jersey was too small for me, so I had to wear number 32. Fran Tarkenton was the head coach. He had hung his old Vikings helmet in my locker for me to wear.

The locker-room was filled with several different helmet colors and designs, including several that looked like bucket-style gladiator helmets. Despite having my usual game helmet, I spent considerable time picking through all the ancient helmets, looking for good ones to wear. I thought I might find my old practice helmet, a wonderful old suspension model with a single-bar facemask. There were lots of old Eagles helmets. I finally settled on an oldie with a white hard plastic mask, similar to one Lance Rentzal wore for the Cowboys. There was also an OLD first baseman’s mitt.

This from Facebook: a tree fell through the Morris’s house, breaking a skylight and damaging the bathroom.

Anna had a great time with Claire Thursday at the Yellow River Game Ranch, though the twins eventually grew tired.