Date: 2006-10-09
To: Prep #51-Family death & start date change
Miles today: 0.0

Family Death:Tonight I came home and decided to relandscape the 10 gallon tank that my two hermit crabs (Ladybug and Edwin) live in. Hermit crabs molt their skin when they grow (kind of like snakes) and when they do, it's common for them to stay buried under the sand for several weeks and sometimes months. It was because we have loved our 2 hermit crabs for the past 3 years and watched them molt over and over, that I was not worried that I had not seen Ladybug in over a month.As I removed the extra shells, fake ivy, coconut shell hut, and my little skeleton man holding a rum barrel, from the tank, I optimistically started gently pushing all of the sand to one side....in search of Ladybug. Edwin was in rare form, so I put him in a nice comfortable bowl of distilled water....that's how they bathe. Sifting....sifting....running my hands gently through the sand and then TAP...I feel a shell all the way near the bottom, under the sand. At last...I found Ladybug! As I pushed the sand away....I started seeing the proof of her molt, little shells of her claws and legs...and then I picked up the seashell she called home. I looked in there and I didn't see anything. Sadly, I looked down and in the sand under the shell was her dead remains (which honestly looked like a glob of mud about the size of a large grape). My little Ladybug had been overcome by the stressful life a hermit crab leads, eating carrots that I dice up into tiny tiny pieces, drinking the distilled water I fill up every couple of days and climbing around on all of the fun landscaping vines, rocks, drift wood, and hills that I create for them. She will be missed, but it is not uncommon for a hermit crab to have a "bad" molt and die. In honor of her, the picture in this post is from when we first got her (she was about 5 times bigger than this before she passed on). Don't worry folks...I'll be ok....Edwin is a bachelor hermit crab now, so I hope he won't be too lonely. I'll just wipe the tears away and keep going on somehow. And now..for the start date change portion of this entry.Start Date Change:An incredible thing happened this weekend. I've managed to track down (through trailjournals) 2 other women in my area who are hiking the AT next year. Ann aka "Toasty" and Nicole (see on my photos "Prehike Support Group Meeting"). I figured that title was fitting...we all tend to drive our family members crazy talking about the AT, so we'll find comfort in each other!Well, the 3 of us met this past Saturday at a great coffee house called Foggy Bottom. There wasn't much mistaking us, I walked in with my full pack! (I know...I'm a nerd). Umm, I never knew I'd have so much fun talking about everything from how much toilet paper to pack to the way we were going to feel on our first night on the AT (for 8 HOURS STRAIGHT!!!). After lunch and coffee we went back to Ann's house and literally turned her living room into a gear explosion. She, appropriately, retrieved her scale and we weighed/compared/discussed EVERYTHING!!! It was like the best adult version of AT show-n-tell I've ever experienced. Ann and Nicole had never seen a hammock, sooooooooo....you know it, I HAD to put it up! They both crawled in and tried it out. It was the second time I'd put my hammock up so I was very excited about it. Then Ann put her tarptent up, which I'd never seen before. All I have to say about those things is CAVERNOUS!! This thing had WAY more inside room than my Hubba and weighs a ton less. Ann will be very happy in her tarptent I'm sure. So for the *incredible* part of the weekend. We all discussed start dates and Nicole is still unsure, but Ann is starting a mere 3 days before me, on March 12! We were both stoked, because it was inevitable that we'd run into each other. I got home around 8:00 p.m. from my fun fun Saturday. So Sunday I wake up and see that Ann has emailed me. She's offered to let me ride down with her (her husband is driving her to Georgia) if I was willing to depart Michigan on March 10. My Amtrak ticket was to depart on March 12, only 2 days later, so I got online and checked out the cancellation policy. It said I'd get all my $ back except a 10% fee, so I would only be out $51.00. I couldn't NOT take advantage of this, so I cancelled my Amtrak ticket and guess what...I got a FULL refund (all $519.00!!). So, I am taking Ann up on her generous offer. We'll be hittin' the highway on March 10, spending the night somewhere between Michigan and Georgia, and arriving at the Hiker Hostel on March 11 where we'll spend the night and start our hikes on Monday, March 12! And you thought I was postponing my hike till next year didn't you!! Had ya going!! Oh..one last thing. The 3 of us, Ann, Nicole, and I are all going to do a shakedown overnight hike together in November. In Michigan (where we have a chance of snow this week) this will be a great test for our cold weather set-ups. Can't wait...can't wait....can't wait...can't wait.......