Dads first post

If you are reading these blogs you will probably find my posts to be somewhat succinct, since as my whole family knows I'm not one for the "chit chat". Having said all that like any dad I'm incredibly proud of all my kids. When Lauren said she wanted to walk the trail I got onboard right away. Some said "OMG shes gonna get lost in the woods!", but i knew i could put enough woodsy owl in her before she left to minimize that risk. My encouragement to take on this adventure is actually very selfish in a way. When I was 19 or so (way back before cable tv) I had the grand idea of filling a backpack up with t-shirts and socks and such and flying off to Switzerland to hitchhike as much of Europe as I could until I ran out of money. Life has a funny way of tangling around you. Relationships, carreers and what not, so I never got to take my grand adventure. So in a way My daughter is going to go on the quest I never could. Everytime she tells of some harrowing or funny or hard or even sad experience on the trail I will get to vicariously experience it albeit somewhat remotely. I expect her to discover things she never knew about herself before she can stand on top of Kathadin. I will accompany her for the first 10 days or so (the Georgia leg) to help her get off to a good start and give moral support for what I expect will be a very hard, cold march. Lets hope we can get some of that trail magic for the weather.