Geeked-up and ready to bird

Okay, I'm getting really really excited about the birding festival tomorrow. I've got all my gear (and a friend's gear) in the car. I can hardly sit still right now. I can't wait to leave!

Let's go through the checklist--if you think of anything I missed, please comment!

PACKING
I packed light--only jeans or shorts for the walk tomorrow (don't know if it'll be too cool or brushy for shorts), my Chief Seattle t-shirt for luck, my Timberlands, some cushy socks, and my South Carolina cap. (nothing lucky about that, other than I like it) All this is in my backpack. I also remembered to bring my travelling bag full of toiletries, prescription meds, etc. I think I have everything.

GEAR
1. Nikon Coolpix 4800--battery charged up overnight, plus charger just in case
2. Meade Condor scope--in its soft shoulderbag rather than the hard case
3. Bad-ass Birding Bag--the one Kat got me in Cape May--contents are my Stokes field guide, Identify Yourself (which maybe Zick will autograph, as she did the illustrations), Leupold binoculars, camera, notepad. Room for water bottle.
4. my brand new Slik 504QF tripod, which will only be included IF it is waiting for me at the UPS store where I get my mail. Otherwise, I have a back-up:
5. Nikon super-fancy camera with giganto-lens and teleconverter (non-digital, however), borrowed from my friend Joe Spla (like Joe Pa, only not the head coach of the PSU Nittany Lions and not 80+ years old)

TRIP PLANNING
I have downloaded Mapquest directions, a full tank of gas, all the brochures and materials from the birding festival, a list of hotels in Titusville, PA, where I can stay (I was going to go with Niki and Ian and stay with Niki's parents, but they had to go to Indiana for a funeral this week). I think I shouldn't have any problems getting there. I also called ahead to okay my late registration tomorrow morning (before the bird walk with Zick, so like at 5:30am!).

I leave after work to get Kat from school, check UPS for my tripod, then drop her at Niki's, where she'll feed their kitty Murry and drive Niki's truck home. I will then hop on I-80 and head for the Oil Region, the valley that changed the world!

I brought along my copy of Solzhenitzyn's Warning to the West, which is a fascinating book. That way, I can read a little to calm myself down tonight, so I'll get some sleep -- I hope. Then I'll be up at 4:30 or so, to get to the Cross Creek (or Crick, as they called it on the phone) Resort to pick up my registration materials, then head over to the Oil Creek State Park's Important Birding Area for my walk with Julie Zickefoose!