Date: 2013-02-11
To: thanks to all
Miles today: 0.0

Although I'll be doing the walking, without help from many, the walk wouldn't be possible. First, thanks to Dr. Todd Flitton who did the surgery on my Achilles tendon. He¢s a father of seven sons¢¦.imagine that house when they were growing up. He has also run in the Boston marathon and now is a long distance bicyclist as well as a marathon runner. He did a fantastic job reconstructing the heel. It¢s taken a while, but I think that area is bullet proof. Thanks to Dr. Tyler Elmore the Chiropractor that helped straighten out my back. After wearing the isolation boot on my foot for so long, my left hip actually was higher than the right, thus causing some bad lower back pain. After a few months of treatment, I¢m back to just normal old age pain. Dr. Tyler is an ironman triathlete. Thanks to Dr. Rice for scoping my knee. All three of them knew much about the AT and could understand my desire to continue the hike. I found a common thread among the doctors, they all exercised and maintained a healthy lifestyle¢¦I wonder if we should take notes of that or not?At times this year I have felt like that bug at night that flies into the bug zapper, lured into the bright light. The AT has that draw to me. I mean I have a good life here and I really can¢t justify my rationale for the hike. For most of my life folks always told me that I ¢couldn¢t or wouldn¢t ever be able to do certain things.¢ Or ¢to get used to the way life is.¢ I¢m a high school drop out with a Master¢s degree- with honors in business, so to hell with stereotypes or setting barriers. People make choices, live with your choices and don¢t accept being looked down at. I loved working with my hands for many years until I wanted to do something different. I was once told I would never be more than a sheet metal mech by my boss as I was studying for my degrees. Yup, he was an ass. Well, I actually went to the Pentagon for two years (bad choice of lifestyle) and retired as a GS-14 in the Government at age 57. At that time I had 60 folks working for me and oversaw billions of dollars of weapons inventory. No one owes me a thing, but I owe many people a lot. People took chances on a guy with no experience, and it paid off. I made mistakes but I learned from them and never made the same one again. Once again I plan to hike the trail. Once again I stand a chance of failing. But I also stand the chance of succeeding, so I am good with those odds. Even if I fail again, the memories are indeed priceless. Enjoy the moment because there aren¢t any guarantees that you¢ll get a second chance to see it again. Don¢t listen to the naysayers of your hike. HYOH.Every day I thank God for the great men and women in uniform, past, present, and future. When we hike the AT this year and pass through 14 states, notice the lack of border guards, the lack of documentation required to pass from state to state, the freedom to come and go as we wish. Without the sacrifice of many, things could be much different than what they are today. We are all very lucky to live in the USA. Luckily I have a great wife that will tolerate once again my redoing of my backpack, and let me go hiking off into the ¢wild blue yonder¢ for the summer. I love her more every day. I have great friends that will help out around the house and make certain that if a sprinkler breaks or the lawn needs mowing that it¢ll be taken care of. I also have a friend that has said he is willing to take my boat out fishing so it doesn¢t sit all summer. I mean what a guy! In fact many friends have volunteered for that duty.My daughter thinks I am 50 shades of crazy. I think she has driven by a forest before, but it might be a stretch to say she stepped foot into one. I must say I am extremely proud of her. She has worked herself up from the ground level and at the age of 30 and she is doing great. She is a proud and stubborn (I haven¢t the foggiest idea of where she got the stubbornness from) but has a huge heart and I love her bunches. Always will. So Thanks to all! God Bless you all and good luck in all you do.