The Boot Saga.... (part 1)

A number of years ago, Joey and I went to Raleigh for an NC State football game.  It had rained and while we were season ticket holders and had an assigned parking lot, we were not the big spenders and our parking lot required trudging through hill and dale to reach the stadium. So, Joey thought that I needed hiking boots to deal with the mud we were surely going to face, and we stopped at Gander Mountain.   We bought a pair of boots that were fine, but were not waterproof and constantly gave me blisters.  They were also unnecessary since the mud was not that bad, but I digress.

When we decided to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, I knew I needed new boots. So, I threw the old ones in the donate pile for Salvation Army and began researching. There is a lot of information out there and surprisingly, a fair number of websites that rate hiking gear for women.  I settled on a pair of boots that were rated really well, required little breaking in but were $230.00.  This was back in December/January, so I was convinced that they, like everything else in the world, would go on sale. About every two weeks I would search them and sadly, they were never on sale. Ever.

I am not known as being a "spendy" person. I have khakis that I still wear that I got for our honeymoon, so I will be celebrating 10 years with them next April.  So, I decided that I couldn't buy those boots.  

So, I began researching boots again and found another well rated pair which were the same brand as the hiking shoes I had purchased (on sale) and broke in while we were in Chicago in February. No blisters, no rubbing, so I thought the boots would be perfect.  I recognized that I needed to try them on in person since the sizing could be different and went to REI for the first time to buy boots (and the water bottles that were on sale because they were a ridiculous day glo yellow.  I think the manager was relieved when I asked for "4 of those water bottles on sale - color doesn't matter" so that he could clean out the inventory.).

I brought my orthotics and the socks I planned to wear on the hike and tried on the boots in my regular size (8) and a half size up. My interaction with the salesperson was limited. He fetched the sizes I asked for and told me to take my time and walk around the store in them.  I took his advice, walked around the store, walked up and down the fake plastic rock and even read the REI article about how to buy boots. I settled on the 8s, happily.  

I have to admit, I was kind of excited about the boots. I always thought that chick in Jurassic Park looked cool in her khaki shorts and hiking boots and now I could do that.  The next step was to break them in and I will cover that in my next chapter of the boot saga. I don't want to ruin the ending here, but this was a saga of my own doing....