central oregon: day 1, or:an inauspicious start

I started packing for my field trip to central Oregon at around 9:30pm on Friday. I’m quite used to traveling for work, so I thought it would be a routine pack up and that I’d be in bed by 10:00. Wrong. Should I bring my low-top hiking shoes, which I (and my feet) would prefer, or should I bring my massive boots, just incase? If I bring my big boots, do I wear them on the plane (keeping shoe doffing in mind) or pack them, relinquishing valuable packing volume to a pair of shoes I’d prefer not to wear. Do I really need to bring rain gear, if two forecasts for the area are predicting 77-80 degrees and sunny the entire time? Thundershowers are not out of the question…. And don’t forget the cell phone charger!

As Eric was dropping me off at the airport, I got halfway through the sentence “I’ll call you as soon as I get there” when I realized that I had forgotten my cell phone. I couldn’t (and still can’t) believe it. I panicked a bit more than usual, quickly eyeing the security line and determining that, short as the line was, I couldn’t take a cab home and back in the hour I had before my flight. I’d just have to figure it out. Prepaid disposable cell phone? (the mere thought of those make me feel a little nauseous) buy a phone card and hope I have access to a landline? I was relieved when I remembered that one of the people I’d be meeting in Bend is one of my colleagues at the office, and one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, and that she’d probably let me use hers (she has).

I arrived in Redmond to clear, crisp weather – ahhh, the high desert! I had a leisurely drive to Sunriver (an (overly) planned resort community), where my colleagues had set up headquarters in a nice rental house. After a brief orientation, I prepared to head out into the field with my partner for the day. Change of clothes, pack my lunch and my three-liter camelback bladder, to go in my pack. Except, this is the bladder that doesn’t have the screw-on lid attached to it (the tether broke some years back), so I had a three-liter bag of water and no way to keep it closed. My misadventures in packing, I started to call it.

Well, I did remember the important things: my laptop, my camera, and a cord so the two will talk to each other (photos coming soon!).