Steve had me take a picture of him and his reduced family... Journey (the dog) and Annie (the cat, age 15.) It made Annie mad. (if you look closely, you can see that even the dog & cat want to leave) steve
Our Internet connection is so slow here, I can't possibly reply to everyone as I'd planned. I'm sorry.... I meant to.
So.... thank you all. Walk with me. Think with me. Pray with me.
I'm calm but at the same time going nutz. I can't find things. Where are my ankle wraps? The neoprene/Velcro ones that protect my ankles from twisting and my Achilles tendons from rubbing by my shoes??? I can't find them anywhere. Walk with faith, maybe I don't need them.
At the Visitors' Center here at Amicalola Falls State Park, there's a scale for weighing your pack... mine weighed in this morning at 27 pounds, including 20oz of water and food for 4.5 days. WooHOOO!!! Lightweight here!! Tomorrow I won't need more water than that at a time; creeks etc. are half to a mile apart. The next day, though, I need to start w/ enough water for 6 miles.
It was hard this morning seeing Sally off on her ascent of the Approach Trail. But I'm not trying it. Eight miles straight up with a backpack on tendons that have been recovering.... I don't think so. We're meeting up tomorrow morning at the shelter where she and her son are spending the night.
Steve and I had a nice steak dinner together. Guess who cooked it :-) Guess who's making the strawberry shortcake? But he bought the wine :-)
Guess who forgot to buy the whipped cream for the shortcake? Guess who forgot to buy the friggin' STEAK??? Luckily we had one in the freezer but it wasn't the really nice one I would have liked for our last night.
Our last night.
Journey is aware I'm making preparations for a trip and looks anxious. Every time I open the front door, her ears and tail go up and her eyes brighten with hopeful pleading.
She's going with us on our "first mile" hike.
Steve is showing occult nuances of proud, enthusiastic, and sad. I suspect he is going to miss me. I sure wish we were doing the next 2,184 miles together after that first one.
Starting a mile into the Trail and backtracking to the trailhead will give me 9 miles instead of 8 the first day. There are no horrendous grades up or down. Tendons, be strong.
I had promised a list of my gear. See Ellie's Lists.
In case I've never mentioned this before..... my first determination to do this before I die, came at age 15. Forty-two years, college, 37 years of marriage, 3 kids, college again, nursing school, 4 grandkids, nursing career, and 5 years of traveling with my husband later..... here I go.
Come walk with me.
2 comments:
You'll do fine, and you'll bring back wonderful stories to share.
Live your dream!
Well, you won't get this note before you leave. I just got home and had to read your last post before you left. Right now you are probably sound asleep. You won't need any kind of alarm tomorrow to wake up. Just think this day has finally arrived. We are all thinking about you and praying for you as you begin this undertaking.
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