Cool thanks for all that Mouse, but the wife and I can not go shopping at different times.......I'm the only one in the family that drives......
We are planning on looking at thrift stores for clothing atleast. Not sure if we'd find good donated gear, but we'll keep an eye out just in case.

I can understand why the pack should be the last item purchased, but just not sure if we're able to do that. That why I figured if we got 60-65L packs we should have plenty of room for a few days and then a little extra just in case.

We're also just VERY anxious on getting this stuff as we've ALWAYS wanted to camp like that (backpacking/hiking) instead of camping at State parks by our car as we always did in Iowa.

Thank you again and I'll keep everything in mind and try to figure something out.