Lynne was asking me today to let her know the next time I go on an adventure like the trip to the Grand Canyon. I let her know that lots of cool trips are going on all the time and anyone can go and recommended potentially going on an existing trip with a friend or someone she met online. Later this morning I got my REI rebate email (below) which was very exciting since I immediately started drooling over watches with embedded GPS.

"Dear DANIEL, Just a reminder: Our records show that as of September 20, 2004 your remaining dividend under Co-op number XXXXXXX is: $24.97. Don't miss out on this great perk of your REI membership. Use your dividend on new fall gear and clothing and then point your compass towards adventure!"

I never know what time it is when I am hiking and if the GPS really worked it could be quite useful. Unfortunately in my experience GPS almost never works. It did work once to get Sarah and me off of Monadnock in the rain and got Jeremy and me back to Boston from St. Maarten on the sailboat and one time helped us to find a gas station in a blizzard when we are running low on gas. Otherwise it has been a disappointment because it doesn't see through things like trees.

Anyways the thing that excited me was the great effort REI has put into creating some very cool adventures. I am not sure that I would go on one of the packaged adventures because I can normally undercut them on cost by going direct to the providers, but they have a great list of outdoor adventures that need to be done once in a lifetime.

All I need is another $2,150 from my dividend account and I can go to adventure week in Belize.