Date: 2009-02-01
To: In Between Dreams
Miles today: 0.0

Dear readers,Let my 6 weeks of transition begin. I have officially left Bend and am currently spending the night somewhere along hwy 80 in Nebraska. 1300 miles down, 900 to go. I mapquested the long drive home and it was 2,230 miles. Reality of my thru-hike hit when I realized that is a mere 51.4 miles longer than the distance I will be walking come March 16th. For some reason Oregon-Michigan seemed way longer than Georgia-Maine, apparently it's not though. It has been a long couple days in the car (that doesn't have cruise control). I can't fathom hiking the same distance, except with a lot more elevation change. It has definitely put my next grand adventure into perspective.So, here I am, feeling a bit in limbo, in between dreams, if you will. There were a lot of tears shed my last night in Bend as I said my final goodbyes, rather "see you laters". A feeling of aloneness swept over me as I left all of the people who have been so closely entwined in my thru-hike planning and chatter. They were the ones who were there when I decided to do it and have been the ones fortunate enough (or should I say, "put up with") my talk day in and day out about my gear, food, itinerary, etc. It's a little scary knowing I won't be seeing them again before this big adventure. They were my comfort zone. At least the weather was beautiful my last week out there. Days were sunny and 50s. I got a couple days of snowboarding in, along with a snowshoe adventure and a couple cross country ski outings. I continually found myself wondering why I do not have plans to move back to Bend after my thru-hike? It will be hard to top... if only there were more career opportunities there for me. Who knows, maybe I'll find the perfect job back there, I'll definitely look.I'll be in Ann Arbor, MI for five weeks, and will no doubt be busy finalizing mail drops, packaging them up, buying last minute gear, and finally doing some dry run pack jobs. I think it will be a busy 5 weeks. I'm looking forward to just getting out there, on the trail, creating my lifestyle,forming friends/hiking buddies, and getting into the hiking routine. I dislike the transition between life chapters, where you feel neither here nor there.Did I mention I bought a smaller pack? After months of debating, the Aura 65 was on sale at REI so I caved and purchased it, knowing I can always return it if I don't like it. I knew my Ariel 75 would be too big but I was planning on using it anyway... I figure a smaller pack is something I should have anyway. Now that I'm done with Sage Walk, when will I need a 4500 c.i. pack? I'm picking up the new pack at the Ann Arbor REI later this week and once I unpack all of my stuff and receive all of my mailed boxes I can finally do my first trial pack job. I've heard pros and cons to the Aura so we'll see what I think about it... All of my backpacking stuff is dispersed throughout everything, so getting all of my AT equipment together will be a chore. I should have put it all together when I packed my stuff up, but I was not thinking that far ahead.Also, two days ago Icebreaker had a huge online sale for one day- 42% off! Thank you Angela for alerting me! I went to town and bought a couple new long sleeved shirts and socks. I will now have more decisions to make regarding which shirts will come with me on my thru. Determining what to wear every day for sixth months is a big deal! I shouldn't be complaining about having too much Icebreaker (aka Walletbreaker).Til next time...Happy Trails,Amy