So here I am in the van on my way to Springer!
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Like a kid at Christmas!
It's 2:30am and I can't sleep. In 90 minutes the alarm will go off. In 2 hours I will be on the road to Atlanta. It's gonna take us about 10 hours to get there. I hope to arrive with time to spare as Josh and Leigh from the Hiker Hostel are picking me up at 5pm. I'm pretty sure I will sleep well tonight.
I finally got my pack packed the way I wanted and everything still fit. I am amazed. I also finished and organized all 9 of my mail drops. Speedy will send them to me based on a rough itinerary I set up. I started with 8 drops but added one to the NOC at the last minute after a hiker friend strongly suggested it. He said the shopping say the NOC is very limited. Since I'm leaving at a peak time, I'm sure that everything will be very picked over too. I'm so glad I have such a great support person in Speedy. He is also taking care of my fur baby, Mack, for me. Thank you Speedy!
I guess I may as well get up and have coffee.
The day is finally here at last!
Springer Mountain, HERE I COME!
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
I leave in 8 hours
Title says it all, I've packed my pack and cleaned the house. Time for a long hot bath. It will be the last one I take for a long time. (I WILL be taking showers, LOL!) After that, I am hoping the back rub fairy will make a final appearance.
Goodnight from the laptop, I'm shutting it down. All future blog posts will be via smartphone. Thanks for your interest and support, I look forward to your comments and maybe even a letter!
Kirk out.
Goodnight from the laptop, I'm shutting it down. All future blog posts will be via smartphone. Thanks for your interest and support, I look forward to your comments and maybe even a letter!
Kirk out.
12 Hours Before I Leave For Georgia
It's almost 4pm and I am getting up at 4am tomorrow. I've packed my backpack and to my supreme amazement and utter astonishment, everything FITS! I'm starting to suspect I've forgotten something very vital...hmmmmm.
It's been really sad to see so many of my Facebook hiking friends leave the trail with injuries. I'm going to be extra vigilant about safety when I start out Thursday morning.
Well we're going out for Chinese buffet and I need to log off.
Follow me by email and feel free to share my blog with all your friends.
Love to all - blessed be!
It's been really sad to see so many of my Facebook hiking friends leave the trail with injuries. I'm going to be extra vigilant about safety when I start out Thursday morning.
Well we're going out for Chinese buffet and I need to log off.
Follow me by email and feel free to share my blog with all your friends.
Love to all - blessed be!
29 more hours!
I will be leaving for Georgia in just over 29 hours! I am so psyched! Speedy is taking me to IHOP for breakfast and we are having Chinese for dinner. Goodnight!
Friday, March 23, 2012
Excited!
I leave in 5 days. It's becoming so real to me. I have stuff all over my living room floor, all my gear and my mail drops... I thought I was going to get everything done today but I didn't. I can't put my finger on it but I'm kind of down today. I think I'm just feeling overwhelmed. there are so many last minute details and things to do. I'm worried about money worried about my phone bill worried about food. I just need to relax and stop worrying so much about everything. this is going to be an amazing experience an adventure of a lifetime I am really looking forward to it and I just need to change my way of thinking and adopt that positive attitude that I like so much in others. sorry if I'm rambling and I'm also using voice to text on my phone. I will go back and edit this on my computer when I have time. this entry is it really about anything at all it's just a random rant. I'm going to clean up my gear now and have something to eat. later.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Some Of the Nicest People...
Today, Speedy and I went all over Little Rock getting our Passport stamped at various historical and park locations. We have a National Park Passport and a Civil War in AR passport. We're also working on earning our State Park patch from the Louisiana Purchase State Park Patch Program.
One of the places we went to today was the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site. We arrived there this morning and were immediately greeted by Park Guide Brian Schwieger. Brian was warm and friendly and proceeded to talk to us about the museum and all of the displays. It was obvious he enjoyed his job and was very knowledgeable about the associated history. Speedy and I walked through all the displays. It was very clean and well laid-out. The exhibits were interesting, educational, and very thorough.
Side note: Central High School was the site of the 1957 forced racial school desegregation.
We chose a few items from the gift shop and Park Guide Schwieger rang us up. We chatted and got on the subject of parks in Arkansas, camping, and hiking. I told him about my upcoming AT thru-hike and he was very excited for me. I gave him my blog address and he promised to follow along. I asked him for a business card so I could type this entry since I have the memory of slug, LOL. I enjoyed meeting him very much.
Hi Brian! :)
After that, Speedy and I went to MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History. The woman at the desk at the entrance was very nice and very knowledgeable. We toured the museum which includes some very good WWII photos and General MacArthur's Army Jeep. As we were leaving we stopped by the desk and looked at the merchandise. (Speedy and I collect patches and he also collects pins.) I forgot the lady's name but I must say she was incredibly nice to us. We chatted for some time and she gave me a camouflage bandanna! I also got to choose one free postcard! Thank you so much!
After lunch, we went to One Capitol Plaza to see Jay Miller who is the Administrator of Program Services for Arkansas State Parks. We had a few questions about out Louisiana State Purchase State Park Patch Program. He is the man to see! We were so lucky to find him in the office and available to talk. He invited us into his office, warmly greeted us, shook our hand and answered all of our questions. We told him about all the parks we've gone to see and hike in the past 10 weeks. I told him about my AT thru-hike and he was so excited for me. I gave him my blog address and the addy of my YouTube channel. I told him about all the videos of Arkansas State Park hikes I had posted. I know we took up his entire lunch hour but he was such a great conversationalist the time just flew by. Mr. Miller, if you're reading this, hi and thank you!
All in all we met and talked with some incredible people today. Even the cashier at Wal-Mart this evening was smiling and nice!
For those of you who are new, Speedy is my BF and he earned his trail name by hiking really fast!
I've written to Clif Bar company and asked them for sponsorship. I'd love to have tons of Clif Bars to eat on my hike!
It's hard to believe I leave in 8 days! It's almost here!!! I'll keep ya updated. Time for me to go now.
Goodnight and Blessed Be.
One of the places we went to today was the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site. We arrived there this morning and were immediately greeted by Park Guide Brian Schwieger. Brian was warm and friendly and proceeded to talk to us about the museum and all of the displays. It was obvious he enjoyed his job and was very knowledgeable about the associated history. Speedy and I walked through all the displays. It was very clean and well laid-out. The exhibits were interesting, educational, and very thorough.
Central High School, Little Rock, Arkansas
Side note: Central High School was the site of the 1957 forced racial school desegregation.
We chose a few items from the gift shop and Park Guide Schwieger rang us up. We chatted and got on the subject of parks in Arkansas, camping, and hiking. I told him about my upcoming AT thru-hike and he was very excited for me. I gave him my blog address and he promised to follow along. I asked him for a business card so I could type this entry since I have the memory of slug, LOL. I enjoyed meeting him very much.
Hi Brian! :)
After that, Speedy and I went to MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History. The woman at the desk at the entrance was very nice and very knowledgeable. We toured the museum which includes some very good WWII photos and General MacArthur's Army Jeep. As we were leaving we stopped by the desk and looked at the merchandise. (Speedy and I collect patches and he also collects pins.) I forgot the lady's name but I must say she was incredibly nice to us. We chatted for some time and she gave me a camouflage bandanna! I also got to choose one free postcard! Thank you so much!
Wood carving of General Douglass MacArthur
MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History
After lunch, we went to One Capitol Plaza to see Jay Miller who is the Administrator of Program Services for Arkansas State Parks. We had a few questions about out Louisiana State Purchase State Park Patch Program. He is the man to see! We were so lucky to find him in the office and available to talk. He invited us into his office, warmly greeted us, shook our hand and answered all of our questions. We told him about all the parks we've gone to see and hike in the past 10 weeks. I told him about my AT thru-hike and he was so excited for me. I gave him my blog address and the addy of my YouTube channel. I told him about all the videos of Arkansas State Park hikes I had posted. I know we took up his entire lunch hour but he was such a great conversationalist the time just flew by. Mr. Miller, if you're reading this, hi and thank you!
This is the capital at Christmas. The building we went to is behind this one but I like this pic better!
All in all we met and talked with some incredible people today. Even the cashier at Wal-Mart this evening was smiling and nice!
For those of you who are new, Speedy is my BF and he earned his trail name by hiking really fast!
I've written to Clif Bar company and asked them for sponsorship. I'd love to have tons of Clif Bars to eat on my hike!
It's hard to believe I leave in 8 days! It's almost here!!! I'll keep ya updated. Time for me to go now.
Goodnight and Blessed Be.
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