It seems like the only time we don't have to be back at at work sooner or later is when we retire and then people are fighting the two pressures of not as much money and getting old. It would be nice to not have to plan or work but that's just not how life is. We have to work with what we have and it usually involves too little money and too little time.

Right now I feel like I have free days stretching out ahead and enjoy knowing that I won't wake to the alarm for nine days and that is luxury enough for now. I'm feeling half asleep and it isn't even time to go to bed but I'm so relaxed from knowing that I don't have a deadline that I keep yawning.

I have all my bags and duffels out trying to decide how it would be best to pack for the Grand Canyon. I don't have a full size backpack, just a day and a half I believe it's called, and by the time I get the tent, sleeping bag and pad in there isn't much room for much else. I may have to carry a duffel as well as my backpack. I'm just not into light packing and am not going to wear the same clothes for three or four days.

In backcountry that's fine because everyone else is dirty too, but in a campground among car campers I like to show a minimum amount of cleanliness, besides, I prefer wearing clean clothes. I do not understand people who revel in their dirt while backpacking. This is probably why I could never get excited about backpacking. It's ok and you can get to some glorious places, but it always feels so good to take a shower when you get back.

Cat is not happy because whenever I start dragging out my bags she knows I'm going somewhere and she does not like it. She starts to wander around sniffing at everything and trying to pretend that she really doesn't care. Yeah, right! She is such a creature of habit and get in a tiff when I just move around furniture. When I move myself out for a few days she gets dowright pissed. She's just lying on the floor now glaring at me with those golden eyes of hers.