The time has come...

The mad dash has begun.  The day of departure snuck up on Chris and I like a jungle puma stalking an unsuspecting hiker :)  *mature edit* The day of departure snuck up on Chris and I like a cell block 4 prison inmate pulling the classic group shower reach around.  The past few days have consisted of gobs of planning and gathering gear from storage units, thrift stores, and army depots.  The rain forest necessitates many unusual items and we have been forced to leave a few comfort items behind (ThunderCatz pajama pants, Hannah Montana neck pillow with built in speakers, Zebra Cakes, etc.).  How we will live without 3 Starbucks per city block and 650 on-demand HD cable channels is still incomprehensible, but as long as our BigMacs (with extra special sauce) are delivered to our tree house via pulley system...we shall survive.

Below are some pictures of the systematic chaos that packing for a trip like this involves.  I bubble with excitement like a kid on Christmas as I roll up my camo rain pants and cut tags/shrink-wrap with my new Leatherman!  Everything you see will fit in two backpacks and 2 duffle bags.  We must harness all of our Tetris skills and downtown parallel parking experience to be able to close those zippers!

Thanks to everyone for checking in!  Our plane takes off on the morning of Tuesday, March 22nd.  We will land in San Jose, CR that night.  My goal is to have this blog be 60% pictures/videos and 40% writing.  I know everyone wants to see the beauties of Central America, so I'll do my best to keep the pictures coming!


PS- Chris got a GoPro (waterproof, shockproof adventure style video camera) so stay tuned for some awesome videos in the coming weeks :)