Date: 2004-12-04
To: Maildrops, new camera, and Holly!
Miles today: 0.0

101 days until March 15th...During the last week, I've been wondering why I picked March 15th. I had originally wanted to leave March 1st, but I didn't want to miss my father's birthday on March 3rd. Maybe I picked it because I didn't want to hit too much snow or leave too early in the year. But as each day passes, March 10th starts to sound better to me. I've also begun to tell my co-workers, as well as some regular customers, that I'm leaving to hike the AT. Most have reactions like "You're crazy!" I find those reactions amusing.In keeping myself to a once a week pre-hike update, I've been making steady progress in planning.Using the mileages of cities available at http://www.redcompservices.com/AT/, I've determined approximately the first 500 miles of my maildrops and resupply points. At this point in time, I plan to have a maildrop every 100 miles to provide the items I believe I'll have difficulty obtaining on the trail. I plan to purchase common items along the way every 3-5 days, depending upon the distances necessary to hitchhike. So, I should be adding my first maildrops to my journal in the near future.In other news, I just got a new digital camera. It's the Pentax Optio 43WR, which is a water resistant camera with a JIS Class 7 rating. A JIS rating basically tells how long/deep a device can be submerged without being damaged. The Pentax Optio 43WR can withstand being submersed in 3 feet of water for up to 30 minutes. While it's not made to operate underwater, I believe it'll hold up to normal rain conditions on the trail. I'd looked at this camera a while back and out of the blue, happened upon a one day sale that knocked $100 off the normal $349 price. Luck!My last digital camera (by Sony) was rendered obsolete when Windows XP came into existence. The Windows 98 interface software flat out would not work with Windows XP and Sony opted not to release an updated interface. As my old digital camera was one of the original consumer models to be available, it didn't come with an USB interface or a memory card, which would have made it compatible with future operating systems. So, I've basically been without a digital camera for about 3 years. But no longer! I expect that this will save on film developing costs, which are prohibitive. To illustrate this, I still have around 20 rolls of film to develop from last summers hiking and miscelaneous activities left to develop. It's more fun to take photos than it is to pay to have them developed.And for something completely different, I have news that makes me very happy: A couple months ago, I'd invited my friend Holly to hike the AT with me. We've known each other for a little over two years. In fact, two years ago, Holly and I dated for 5 months, though we parted ways when she had to move back to Florida (from Oregon) to be with her mother. We've kept in touch, though we sometimes don't talk for a couple months at a time. At certain times, I'll find myself thinking about her quite a bit, and then, she'll call. Often, when I call my mom, she'll say "Your ears must have been burning, because I was thinking of you." Well, I believe the same thing occurs with Holly and I.Anyway, I'd been thinking about Holly quite a bit for a couple days last week and she called! She wanted me to know that she'd purchased some of her gear (boots and tent) and has been working on saving money to purchase the rest of her gear and for during the hike. We talked for nearly two hours, during which I shared information on planning and the wonderful things I imagine that we're going to encounter. Holly has been a vegetarian for nearly 17 years and is now on a raw food diet, so I'm interested to see how that will pan out for her.It's hard to express how excited I am that Holly is going to hike with me. While I'm sure that I'll meet many wonderful people on my hike, Holly is the only person from my "everyday" life that I'd want to be out there with me.