Date: 2012-04-06
To: Day zero - travel
Miles today: 0.0

It was a late night in Sunnyvale at Darren's.  We walked into downtown for some Thai food around 9:00pm and there were plenty of tables.  There was a lot to talk about, well, at least I had a lot to talk about.  I barely let Darren get a word in edgewise, which is rare for that guy.  There was a lot on my mind and I was chatty.  I was really going through with this and was starting to think that maybe, just maybe, I was straight crazy.  I set it up so that there would be little resistance and my plan would guide me right to Georgia and it was working like a charm.  We dropped Subie off at midnight right after I cleaned up Darren's living room.  My pack somehow exploded covering over all of the sitting surfaces and most of the floor.  But I was ready now.  I sent out the last email and hit the hay around 4:30am with my alarm all set for 5:30.  We made it to Starbucks in the morning at 6:00, and I was at the airport by 6:45.  Security wasn't a problem although they gave me a much more thorough pat-down than my new non-hiker buddies around me in line.  After having my genitals photographed, getting two back-of-hand checks (one for weapons and one for narcotics I was told), a hand swab, and stern talking to, I was at the gate when they started boarding.  And my bag even fit in the overhead without issue.  No problemo.  Watching the continent pass by made me think about distances and their respective times.  Here I was flying over approximately the same distance I would be walking in 1/300th of the actual walking time or 1/800th of the total elapsed time.  It appears that my duty cycle is kinda low. Anyhow, I landed in Atlanta and took the air train to the baggage claim, grabbed a smoked ham and swiss sandwich, and watched my box of restricted items pop out as the first piece of luggage.  First!  It has to be somebody on every flight but in all my flights, it has never been me before.  So I guess I am off to a pretty good start.  I followed the signs to MARTA and hopped into the awaiting train bound for the North Springs station.  I ate my sandwich and unpacked all sorts of dangerous goods in front of a group of off-duty TSA officers: pocket knife, multi-tool, chopsticks, stove, Bic lighters, titanium spork, and my trusty emergency flare gun.  Could you imagine my pat-down with that on my hip?I went through Friday rush-hour commuter hell via public transit and met Willie (Nature Boy) at the end of the line.  It's funny how two people who have never met before can find each other in a place like that.  Maybe the giant backpack helped him spot me..He welcomed me with a warm smile and a firm handshake and we were off to the car.  He was extremely nice and introduced me to the other three hikers in the SUV: Dave, Steve, and Gentry (Chop Chop).  We drove for an hour to the Walmart in Dahlonega with a Subway in it where we could stop for supplies.  Everybody had what they needed with the exception of fuel, so we grabbed sandwiches for dinner and made our way to the Hiker Hostel.  Which was fabulous.  I met Leigh and learned that she built the hostel with her husband, TBD, with the intention of offering a service that would help hikers get on the trail.  It has everything a hiker could want and carried a completely supportive and positive energy with it.  I conked out at 9pm after a shower.  Note that this is 6:00pm PST and I was zonked.