The good news: I was able to fit just about everything I wanted to into the kayak pack (along with the kayak)! And I saved enough space in my carryon pack for just about everything else! This is rad.

The less good news: The pack now weighs over 65lbs. 😬 So I've got to eliminate ~15 lbs of stuff. I *might* be able to squeeze some of that inyo my carryon buuuuut... probably not 15+lbs worth.

I can probably save a pound or two just by taking those wheels I added off, they don't work very well.

Speaking of projects out of scrap, I threw together this folding seed starting table this weekend.

Edit: got some seeds started.

Added some wheels to the bottom of the Oru Kayak pack. should make it easier to navigate airports, etc. 🤞

And people may call me a pack rat, but this was done with almost all salvaged materials. The rod came from some canvas storage shelves someone had thrown out. The wheels were in a free pile. I just cut the rod to length, drilled a few holes for pins, and used some finishing nails as pins to hold the wheels in place. I then hand-stitched the rod into place.

The extended forecast is not looking too good for my kayaking trip on Lake Mead. 😬 Any wind about 10mph is a little hairy, and above 15mph is wayyy outside my comfort zone.

Edit: upon further investigation it looks like this is just the peak wind gust on those particular days so I might actually be fine.

I thought a hot, candlelit bath in my freshly scrubbed bathtub would be relaxing.

I was... wrong 🤦

Welp, I don't think I'm going to finish my folding/inflatable kayak project and get enough testing in before my trip in 2 weeks.

BUT. On a whim I've been checking for folding kayaks on Craigslist and this Oru Bay ST kayak popped up for $40. They normally go for at least 10 times that used, and are $1600 new. This one had some shoddy patches done with duct and packing tape. I took those off and patched it properly with flex seal.

Just took it out for a spin on the water and it did great!