Date: 2014-09-14
From: Katahdin Inn and Suites

To: Katahdin Inn and Suites
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Didn't sleep much last night. As the day to summit gets closer and closer I get more and more wound up. Was able to finally fall asleep around 230 but woke up at my usual time 5. I laid there in hopes of falling back to sleep as I wanted to get some rest for the big day. But after an hour or so I decided to give up and instead head down to the Continental breakfast they had. The waffle maker looked pretty good but I decide to keep it light with a bowl of cereal and an English muffin along with a glass of milk and a glass of OJ.Now that I was wide awake I went to the local convenience store and picked up the Sunday paper. I have always been a bit of a news junkie but since being on the trail I really haven't missed it, but thought that since I would be returning to the real world soon I should at least have some idea of what was going on. Well you know the saying, "the more things change the more they remain the same"? This was certainly true as I went through the paper. The media continues to spin things which ever way they think will sell the most paper or air time and objectivity seems to be the last thing on their priority list when it comes to reporting. I use to read a number of papers, magazines and listen to the radio prior to the trail, but while on the trail I got into the habit of finding out what someone did and where they were from, not just to make conversation, but I valued their opinion on what did or didn't work and thoughts on how things might be fixed. This was especially true when walking with Oconee. While we were from opposite ends of the political spectrum, we had some great conversations that were respectful and thoughtful and have helped me rethink some of my positions. Thanks Oconne.With that done, I decided to stretch my legs a bit and walk through the local Tractor Supply store. This is always a neat place to just browse and see what's on sale or what kind of gadget would I possibly be interested in picking up. I compare to how my wife is when she goes through Kohl's. While I did see some clothes that I could have used, given the 40 pounds and 4 sizes I had lost, I decided to wait to go shopping with Laura as she knows what does or doesn't look right. As it is, if I could just wear jeans and a tee shirt or sweatshirt I would be happy. With still more time to burn I thought it would be nice to just kick back and watch some football for the afternoon. However, after about an hour of talking heads and brainless commercials that seemed to get more air time then the game I had had enough of that. Fortunately I had bought a couple of books at the Library book sale yesterday in Millinocket and went down to the lobby to wait for Laura and Leo.The book was pretty good and the afternoon seemed to go right by until it got to be about 530 and that's when the clock appeared to slow to a crawl. Kind of like when you have a mile to go to the shelter you are staying at that night and it just never seems like you're going to get there. But despite what seemed like an eternity they finally made it and it felt so good to have Laura in my arms again! She always tells me I am her rock, but for the past 6 months she has been mine and has gotten me through the toughest times. And oh yeah, it was nice to see Leo again. Seriously, he has been an important part of my hike by hiking with me for three days through the monsoons of PA, driving six hours to come and get me and bring me to his house when I was sick and then taking me another 4 hours the next day to my house and now he had driven 10 hours with Laura so he could do the final summit with me. It couldn't get much better than this.While we initially had some thoughts of drinking a few brews and staying up for a while to catch up on family news, more level heads prevailed and we went to a local restaurant for a nice dinner and then headed to our rooms with a 5 am departure time planned. Man I just couldn't wait for tomorrow to come!