EL AT ED
Hello friends,
Today is march 6th, 2013 and we are just 2 short days away from firing up the car and turning the wheel southward to Amicalola Falls! WOOOOHOOOO! I must say, in anticipation for this trip we realized how devilish those little details really are. Being as neurotically thorough as possible, and getting lost in the preparations for this pilgrimage has caused our eyes to glaze a bit. Pre-paid bills, suspended services, gear research, fraudulently cordial departures from work, travel logistics, laws, permits, wardens, MONEY, gear research, bears? reading everything in sight, TICKS (tick bites rob, rob bites me, we all get Lyme), guest appearances, DEET, various flavors of instant mashed potatoes, mail drops, how to go about cutting a toothbrush in half?, physical fitness prep, how far can you walk post-snakebite? trying on gear, super-glue on blisters?, ordering gear, WEATHER, comparing gear, breaking in gear, modifying gear, making gear, PACK WEIGHT, sandals or crocs? Trail runners or boots? Synthetic or down? Single or double? TP or leaves? wash-in or spray-on? Drops or filter? Alcohol or gas? Knife or multi? polyester or wool? Bottle or bladder? Poles or staff? Spork or chop sticks? (you would think these are simple choices, but we've analyzed the pros and cons of these commitments to an agonizing extent). Point being, it takes so long to organize one's life for a six month absence that it has become easy to overlook what it's all for.... Adventure! Our hike, for our cause. Even though time has dampened the kid-on-Christmas excitement we were expecting, now that the time has come to write the first blog post I must say the enthusiasm has been fully restored. We are actually leaving. It's actually time. By march 10th we will have driven to Georgia with the intentions of walking back, and seeing/doing/experiencing/enduring everything there is to offer along the way. Spirits are high and we are beyond ready to get this trek started. A big round of applause for those generous individuals, families and businesses whom have contributed their hard earned dollars to the Kyle Joseph Coutu Memorial Fund; a noble cause which we will continue to raise money for throughout the 5 months on the trail. Also we would like to thank our family and friends for the support and the brutally honest questions/comments which ultimately needed to be asked/made (don't worry, what could *possibly* happen....?) And of course a special thanks to Ian Mangiardi and The Dusty Camel for your guidance and the opportunity to share our chronicles through TDC.
THE FRUITS OF OUR LABOR...... aka tools for further labor
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