...and the Great Gearing-Up has BEGUN....

Christmas was a good time for the Peddlers. Our families heard our cries of "only stuff for the bike trip!" and showered us with supplies and support, and as a result our gear cache is beginning to grow. Things I have now which I didn't have before include: a cozy merino underlayer, a second pair of padded bike shorts (sexy), Icebreaker socks, a wicking tank-top, gear-ties, a second therm-a-rest sleeping pad, a fuel bottle, ultralite SPORKS, bike bells, dry-pouches for our cell-phones.....and the list goes on!
I've never been much of a camper so I'm under-equiped and need this inspiration to get myself on the road to owning the right stuff. Zach, has everything of course. He just LOVES to be prepared, which is great for him but I happen to be the opposite. I'm the kind that would find themselves in leggings and a t-shirt when my car gets stuck in a blizzard, I get frostbite on my bum when I go running in the winter because I don't put on enough layers (true story!) and my goal in life is to wear as few items as possible (its a perfect day when its 2 shoes, 1 pants, 1 t-shirt and thats it!). Zach wears shoes in the house because, and I quote, "[he] might need to chop wood at any minute"! So, its a good thing I'll have him along on this trip because I guarantee I would bring too many changes of clothes and not enough Survival Instinct. 
Don't worry, I will meet the challenge. I may not be a camper yet but I come equipped with the best gear of all--I was born with an IRON WILL, and you can't buy that at REI.