Date: 2007-03-11
From: Knoxville, TN

To: Hiker Hostel, GA
Miles today: 0.0

Well folks...I'm here! I'm at the Hiker Hostel...just got done taking a shower (I told Nicole I was determined to continue feeling like a human being versus a Neanderthal Woman as long as I could). We had a quick drive to Atlanta...and I somehow avoided getting pulled over twice, so now you know what I mean by "quick." We hopped the MARTA and had plenty of time, so we got off one stop early to find some lunch. It was hilarious...we followed the directions the cops we saw gave us...but those ran us into a concrete wall in a parking garage (go figure), so we decided to go to a road and look from there. Right about that time, some guy pulls up in his car and yells out the window, "Hey...you two look a little lost if you're trying to hike the A.T.!" We were all laughing and he pointed us in the right direction. Since we're not "officially" on the trail yet, I'm calling him our Parking Garage Angel!The Hiker Hostel is a NICE NICE place. Beautifully tucked away in the woods and just the perfect way to start this trip off. And remember I said I had volunteered to be part of a study? Well...John (the professor running the study) was here and both Nicole and I went through the testing. It was really cool and also very funny, because they were using calipers to measure my FAT!! I have a lot. We'll leave it at that. haa haa haa I gave a urine sample, blood sample, did one of those lung capacity tests (that reminded me of one of those things you have to blow into to start your car when you've been caught driving drunk....and NO, I've never driven drunk...I used to work on cars remember? It all took about 1 hour, so for those of you still behind me, you ought to do this and be part of a great research study. Then it came to the stepper test (like those step aerobic things) where I wore a pack and had to breathe into this mouthpiece. John increased the speed and then started adding weight to the pack. Oh...ma....gaw......I about died, and I laughed because I knew it was foreshadowing of things to come! Nicole, on the other hand was a total machine. She's in really good shape. I guess that's what 10 years age difference and a small child's worth of additional body fat will do to ya! LOL (to me that is)There's some great people here tonight...including a fellow hammock hanger, Touch of Grey...who is also from Michigan. Wonder what we're all running away from! The weather is FANTASTIC here. I actually got hot today and it looks like we'll have nice weather for at least the next 3-4 days. OHHHHHHHH....I almost forgot....my very first trail friend, Buckles, is starting where he left off on the 15th. He lives in the area, so he came up to the MARTA station so we could meet. It was so cool to meet someone face to face that I'd been emailing and talking on the phone for months. Thanks for making the trip Buckles...and don't forget your package at the Hiker Hostel!I also think my earplug donation is going well. I started handing them out to a few people and they decided to leave the box in the main living room so people would see them when they came in. I think there's a lot more than 125, so that box might just still be here till next season.So tomorrow is D-day (as in dude...I'm gonna die-day). I'm going to have fun every painful step of the way though! Touch of Grey is already in the sack, and I think I'm following that idea. Pretty pooped from being all wound up and tomorrow breakfast is served at 7:00 a.m., we're on the road at 8:00 a.m. and my feet should be taking me to the summit of Springer by 9:00 a.m. So if anyone can remember, send energetic and happy thoughts my way around 9 tomorrow...oh...that's Eastern Standard Time. LOL