Post Office Mail Drops

Some people have asked when and where we'll be this summer. We really have no idea. But, I have worked out a tentative plan to enable my family to know when to send mail drops to specific locations along the way. Therefore, I will post that information - as long as you are all aware that this is not definite, we may end up at these post offices 2 days before scheduled, or 5 days after. There's no real way to know. The best bet to send us anything is to send it to my house, and my parents will include it in the next mail drop. But if you're ambitious - go ahead and try to send us something directly. Here's the info:

June 16 - 13077 Hwy. 19W, Bryson City, NC 28713
June 27 - Hot Springs, NC 28743
July 4 - Karina's House! 120 Deer Run Ct. #5, Johnson City, TN 37601
July 9 - Damascus, VA 24236
July 16 - Pearisbug, VA 24134
July 22 - Troutville, VA 24175
August 7 - Linden, VA 22642

Now there are a few things you must also do. Be sure to send anything USPS (United States Postal Service) not UPS! because the post office cannot sign for that. Also - when addressing the box/envelope, be sure to label clearly: c/o general delivery, Hold for A.T. Hiker E.T.A. - 6/16/06 the ETA stands for estimated time of arrival - Also put my name on there, all over the box actually - they will ask for ID before handing it out to anyone. With USPS you can use a confirmation number and check the exact time and date that it is picked up too. For lots more helpful information, check out this site: whiteblaze ... also you can order free boxes, labels, packing tape, etc. here: USPS so check it out.

Last thing for today - I'm going to be in a wedding this Saturday! I can't wait - Melissa and Matt are perfect together and the rehearsal dinner will be at an actual southern plantation and the military wedding at Ft. Benning, GA and Catt and Megan and Karen and Danny will be there so I'll feel like I know some people and wow. I'm very excited! Lots to do between now and Thursday morning though.
Everyone seems to like the name Jenga - so unless something else seems too perfect, I suppose that is what I'll go with. Cheerio.

Farewell Party

Last night we had a little get together here at my house. Mum made some spectacular food (thanks mum!) and we had a little campfire to roast some hot dogs - that is until around 8:30 when we looked up through the trees and saw this weird dark fog rapidly approaching us. Withing a matter of 30 seconds the sky went from an early evening light to pitch black. The adults all herded us onto the porch, and the table of food followed us under the cover of the roof. There's no place like the porch swing to enjoy a good spring storm from, thunder and lightning and all. Later, we moved inside, much to my parents dismay I'm sure (sorry for being loud mum and dad!) and we played Bible trivia, looked at scrapbook pictures, some people played uno, and just had a good time. There were lots of people around throughout the night, but we forgot about the camera until quite late. Thus ensues a picture of the few, the proud, the one o'clock crowd:

*update to the trailnames search. Laura and I went to Oil Creek on Wednesday night and we took a little 6 miles practice route. We decided to play around with the stove and cook some instant potatoes for dinner. Laura's water heated up just fine, but then she wanted me to take the pot off the stove for my water. Needless to say, I tipped the entire pot and stove over and made a mess and wasted precious H2O. I made the comment that I felt like I was playing a game of jenga with the water pot. Laura said that would be an appropriate trailname for me - and now I am seriously considering that as my summer identity. Jenga. It's unique. It's kinda fun. It's not something I picked on my own, which is cool. I dunno. Any thoughts?

Packing & Training

Laura and I finally sat down today and started to divide up the food and whatnot. We had 160$ worth of food - and found out it would only last roughly 35 days. EEK! So, we're off to Auldi's tomorrow. My beginning pack weight right now is 33 lbs. We had hoped for 25, ha, but it's not so bad. After Laura left, my dad decided to take me on a training hike. We went out near woodcock... walked around in the mudd a little, two and a half hours later I'm getting a little sore. We walked to Blooming Valley and back, visited some corn fields near route 77 - it was quite a hike, especially when he decided we should do a little "cross-country" as he called it. It wouldn't have been that bad if i weren't limbo-ing under grape vines lower than my knees, or hurdling logs higher than my thighs. Anyways, it was a good practice run. We'll probably do a few more. The only place that hurt after the hike was my shoulders. And, as you can see below, we stopped to take a few pictures. Enjoy!

Trailnames

So it is custom on the Appalachian Trail to have a *trail name* while you hike. This is pretty much protocol for introducing yourself while in the wilderness. You sign all the shelter logs with that name, and you call each other by these names. Normally, people receive these names while on the trail, in honor of something they do, embarassing or noble or whatever. Sometimes the name can relate to your personality or the way that you hike. Sometimes people chose their own names before they head out - that way family and friends can inquire after them through other hikers. Laura has decided that her trail name will be 'Loz' which is a carry-over from her nickname in Australia. It's simple, and fun, so what more could you want from a *trailname* right? Well - I can't decide what *trailname* to use. So I thought I'd ask you all what you thought.

1) LC - rolls off the tongue, an old high school nickname
2) Lars - Andrea's nickname for me when I return from the trail because she thinks I'll be really built and manly
3) Wawen - Keith's name for me before he could say his L's or R's
4) QP - Erin's nickname was NQP (not quite perfect) so I thought maybe I could take QP to stand for "quite perfect".
5) Amazing - just imagine how fun it would be to introduce yourself, you meet some new hikers, "Hi, I'm Amazing."
6) Cal - My initials backwards - can also be changed to Cals or Callie

I'm open to suggestions?!?! Any ideas? Actual hikers I've met had names like: Doc, Wagdaddy, Flint, and Mr. T (a girl). Here's a short site about *TrailNames*: http://www.atmuseum.org/trailnames.htm

Dear Family and Friends,

In 22 days our flight leaves from Pitt. 25 days from now will be our first night out in the wilderness. I can’t wait!!! It’s hard to believe that this adventure I’ve been literally dreaming of for so long is about to become reality. I’m sure I’ll realize that it’s real 124 miles down the trail when I have duct tape on my feet to minimize the blisters, soaking wet socks and my tummy makes a constant rumble from lack of food, but that’s what I am looking forward to.

I’ve really appreciated all your prayers and encouragement thus far, and I hope that throughout the summer you will occasionally think of us. When its storming and you’re in your protected house, or when its 98 degrees out and you’re sitting in air conditioning, or even when you go to a grocery store and see all the food available to you… just think of us, and be thankful for what you have.

As far as preparations go, I have had a little more time to think now that softball is over. We are hoping to spend July 4^th in Tennessee with Karina, and possibly a night in Virginia around my birthday with some college friends. I will have posted before we leave, a list of mail-drop locations that we plan on hitting – with dates, in case anyone feels like sending mail or presents. Keep in mind, anything you send, we have to eat immediately or else carry with us – and the less weight the better. Also – if you’d prefer to send a letter to my house, my sister can include it in the next mail-drop box. If you include a self-addressed, stamped postcard (ha…) with your letter, I will surely write back to you from on the trail.

Physical preparations are slow, but building. Since softball, I’ve been running almost every day, usually 2-3 miles. Combine that with tons of sit-ups, crunches, leg lifts, and planks, and that would describe my workouts. I plan to continue to increase the distance of my runs, as well as add some wall-sits to work on the thigh muscles. When I get home, I will keep running (hopefully with Erin) and then do as many hills as I can fit in. Hills are so ideal for practice, because that’s EXACTLY what we’ll face this summer. A week before we leave, I’ll try to do hills with my pack on. We’re shooting for less than 25 pounds total weight of our packs – but we’ll see how that goes. I’ll keep you all updated. Thanks for reading, stay tuned!

Soon to be expert nature-woman,

LC