FIRST REAL COLD SNAP OF THE SEASON

Although we had a short (one night) bout of cold weather last month (including some higher elevation snow), Albuquerque had it's first freeze of the Fall early this morning.  Yesterday's high temperature was 51 degrees Fahrenheit, but that occurred at 1a.m. and it went down from there.  It got as low as 18 degrees at the airport; we typically run about 10 degrees colder than that up here in the Heights.  This was actually the third latest date for our first freeze since they began keeping records back in 1890.

The preview for the 10:00 news mentioned that snow might be in the immediate forecast as well (my guess is that it's just a tease and the snow will actually be at higher elevations or further north).

At any rate, I'm not really ready for cold weather anymore.  Back when I lived in Kansas, I knew how to dress for bitter cold and lots of snow and ice; even when we had wind-chills of negative 20 a few times, I remained toasty warm.  Nowadays, I begin to freeze at home if the temperature falls much below 45 or so.  I own a couple of fairly warm coats but nothing that would protect me against sustained cold for more than a half-hour or so.

Which has me wondering what I should back for my impending London trip.  The only time I've been there previously was during summertime (and during unseasonably warm weather at that).  I don't want to freeze when I'm outside taking photos, standing in line before the Marillion concert, or exploring the back alleys of Whitechapel during the nighttime Jack The Ripper walk.  But I also don't want to spend the concert sweating under a heavy coat (the venue doesn't seem to have a coatcheck).  Since I'm now traveling by carry-on only (if I can help it, I plan to never check another bag), want to be prepared for the weather but I don't want unneeded clothing items to take up too much space in my luggage.  Current thinking is that I'll pack a couple of long-sleeved shirts and my Marillion hooded-fleece jacket — I think it will be warm enough, but then again I'm not really sure.

And I'm not sure about the next trip as well.  I don't know how much colder Portland will be in mid-December.  The city has been relatively mild thus far but, with my luck, it will be hit with a major winter storm at the time of my visit.  What makes packing a bit more complicated is that I will be leaving from Portland for my "secret destination" where it will be much too warm for any type of jacket.  Should I spend three weeks in the tropics carting around unnecessary winter-gear, or should I mail the jacket, etc. home from Portland?  But, then I'll need it on the return trip (well, I'll be spending most of my time on the return in airports and on airplanes so will I even need a coat?).  A dilemna...

With my feet freezing here in Albuquerque and not knowing which jacket I should put on even to walk down to the mailbox has me thinking of such things.  It will all work out in the end (maybe I'll take a light-weight jacket and one sweatshirt to Portland, mail them home from there, and keep another jacket in the car to put on for the drive home from the airport — and that brings up whether I want to drive to the airport in the first place or take a shuttle or taxi rather than pay the parking costs... too many pre-trip "worries"...).