Okay, my yuzu. It'll rot if I leave it, but I can't take it into Chile.

Not sure I made the right decision bringing it along, but at least I didn't make the wrong choice bringing it along.

With my four bags piled up by the door, and a mad-panicked dash to finish packing up the house, I managed to be nominally ready for this trip. I had to ask Chris to finish packing up my stuff. He arrived about an hour before Mom did, and was helping me move things, up until I left. I am frustrated that I had to ask for his help, and incredibly grateful he was good with the work.

I'm going to continue to channel that gratitude on this trip. In particular, this is going to be the trip of empathy and gratitude. I fully expect this trip to be stressful, with delays and hiccups, things not going my way, and frustrations. And it will all be fine: in the grand scheme, in the small scheme. I'm on my way to Antarctica, most people don't go to Antarctica. I am incredibly grateful that I am one who does.

I had fallen in love with yuzu years ago in Portland at Bamboo Sushi after having a number of nigiri with yuzu zest on them. The flavor is eye-rolling orgasmic. While increasing in popularity, finding items made of yuzu is still hit and miss. So... I went looking for a yuzu tree to plant for myself. Sadly, I could find nurseries in only California that carried yuzu trees, and had to wait a couple years to find one in Arizona. Patience, not a virtue of mine, but definitely a skill I am developing.

I planted four yuzu trees this year, two in a container because I am sure I am going to move them, and two in my yard. One in the yard had a small yuzu fruit on it when I planted it.

I had been hoping for the yuzu to grow and become a fruit I could eat.

And it has!

Getting close! Squee!

Do I order the 25L men's version of the backpack, or the 23L women's version of the backpack?

Women-specific harness and back panel provide an excellent fit, thanks to a shorter torso length and dynamic shoulder-strap shape

Well, that's an easy decision.

Today was an elevation-gain training day. I'd been struggling to find much land texture in Phoenix, opting to go up and down shorter hills multiple times for elevation gain, with last week being particularly difficult. The hill I used ended up being 70m per lap, or all of 229' per lap. Those laps were not fun, I did not complete 13 of those laps.

This week, however, I have Mission Peak!

Not only do I have Mission Peak, I have the knowledge of Mission Peak, I have a higher aerobic threshold, and I have Luna! And Andy, Tilly, and Archie! Which is to say, my usual "let me do one more thing before I leave" does not work when someone else is going to walk with you on the mountain. I struggled, again, to stop working and take care of myself, to leave the house at the agreed upon time to meet Andy at Mission Peak, to hustle from the car, and just all around to hike today. This was not a fun hike.