A day of shopping in the Garden State

Today Joe and I jumped head first into a day of shopping here in NJ. Joe picked me up here in Hoboken at about 11:30am, and we started with a delicious breakfast at Dunkin Donuts. Our first stop was Sport’s Authority, Joe had taken advantage of their ‘Spend $100 get $25 Gift Card’ special and wanted to cash in. They had some North Face stuff marked down (a find), so picked up an extra pair of hiking pants and a couple of shirts, as well as 1 more pair of light hiking socks. Joe was also good enough to bring me my Passport with India Tourist Visa that he picked up for me earlier this week, as well as an AC/DC 2010 Calendar that he had gotten me for my birthday (not bringing on trip). Another good he brought over was our M-Edge Kindle covers (booya). After Sports Authority we headed to EMS but ended up stopping at Campmor on the way (score). At Campmor I picked up a Kelty Camp Pillow, that coupled with the Coolmax Sleeping Bag Liner I got there, should help ensure a good nights sleep in the tea houses along the trekking route. I also grabbed a North Face sun hat that was marked down to $19, and the most exciting and key purchase of the day…Ex Officio underwear, which is advertised as “17 Countries, 1 Pair of underwear. I went with the Men’s Give-N-Go boxer briefs. I guess these are supposed to be trail friendly and not retain order and are easy to clean/dry. I will let you know how that works out. We finally made it to EMS, I almost bought a new tech fleece, but I really didn’t need it (was a good deal), but I have been spending so much money and things are adding up. I did end up picking up a splash guard for the Nalgene water bottles, because who wants to get splashed when they are just looking for a nice cool drink? It was about 4:30pm at this point, and we had not eaten since our DD visit, so since we were driving south in Rte 17, I thought we should stop at my favorite Mexican chain restaurant in this neck of the woods… On The Border My wife, things I am too sophisticated for this place (god bless her) but I love it. This is the first place I had portabella mushroom fajitas..so good. Tonight I had the carne asada steak tacos, money. After fueling up we headed to Target in Jersey City near my home in Hoboken. The windy and rainy weather had taken its toll by this time, and the flooding in the area was pretty bad. We had to take a few detours around flooded area to eventually make our way to Target. Luckily we made it and the store was open, but not very busy (score). We made a dent at Target, picked up a box of Clif bars, sun screen, lip balm, had sanitizer, sanitizing wipes, margarita mix (not for the trip), trail mix, travel size shampoo (yes I use shampoo). Finally at 8:30pm I got home to my waiting and patient wife. It was a good day with my buddy Joe, and we are pretty much geared up for our Trek. The countdown begins, as we leave on Friday…it’s getting exciting.