Date: 2009-09-25
To: Returning Home
Miles today: 0.0

Despite our late night both Grom and I were unable to sleep in. Like clockwork we were up at 6am, and my legs were itching to move. Little did they know they would be jailed up in a car all day. Eventually we made our way to the Boston airport thanks to Twix and we picked up our rental car. By 9am our journey began, our very long, long journey. Grommet had to make it to North Carolina to be at her job the next morning. The drive should have been 14 hours. The drive was actually 18 hours thanks to a flaming car on some toll road in New York. Fun times. Still, we made it to North Carolina and Grom made it to her job on time.I took that Monday to recover and catch up on some seep before finishing my journey home to my parents house the following day. My car ride home was almost as adventurous. I downloaded directions from google maps and didn't bother to double check them before leaving North Carolina. Big mistake. I drove 60 miles out of my way, fantastic. Still yet again I arrived at my parents before midnight and was welcomed with huge smiles and big hugs. It was really great to see both my mom and dad after being away for so long.I spent the next two days with my parents, taking time to catchup on the past 6 1/2 month of my life and theirs. On Wednesday, they took me their favorite Chinese restaurant in Tampa (P.F. Chang's). Fabulous. Get those images of the all you can eat Chinese buffets out of your head peeps, this place is fine dining at its oriental best. If you're ever in Tampa check it out.On Thursday my mom planned a day of pampering for the both of us. After breakfast we headed down to the spa for manicures and pedicures. I laughed when she told me because I was immediately reminded of a conversation myself and the divas had somewhere in New York about getting a pedicure by a small Vietnamese women. "No help for you" we joked about our calloused, dirty feet. Yet there I was soaking my feet in some kind of mineral bath, relaxing in a massage chair as this little Vietnamese woman worked her wonders. The callouses are still there, but my toes are clean and pretty After our manicures and pedicures we headed off to do the next obvious pampering event; getting ourselves stabbed a million times with a needle. Yep that's right, my mom and I went and got tattoos together. Never in a million years would I have thought that this is what I would be doing when returning home from the trail. And not only was I getting a tattoo with my mom but she helped me design mine. I would have thought that it was all a dream but the million needle stabs in my arm were way to realistic.Once I was newly decorated and clean it was time to pack up the car and head back to Gainesville. I couldn't wait to see Jasmine, my 7 year old cocker spaniel. As I approached the back door I could hear her familar bark. It took me a minute to get the door unlocked but soon enough she was darting out the back door, tail wagging. Oh how I missed her! For the next few hours I spent the evening with her and my cat, Grey-Grey (who made it very clear that she was unhappy about my long departure). Its hard to believe I'm actually siting in my house. I still haven't comprehended that I won't be hiking anymore. I'm not sure if I ever will.