A lot of little positive things have been happening related to the trail. Things other people might not necessarily deem that important, but to me they are...and I am EXTREMELY thankful.
First of all, every single time I go to buy a piece of gear for the trail I am given some sort of discount. Example 1: I went by Sports Authority to pick up a fleece, rain pants & compass. I started talking to the cashier for a few minutes, she says, "You're so nice, let me give you this discount..." then she quickly hides the coupon she pulled out when her boss approached, she stated if her boss knew that she would get in trouble. Sure, maybe this is a ploy she tells everyone, but I choose to believe otherwise.
Example 2: Last night I went to buy some camp shoes. The cashier told me that someone left a 20% off coupon at the counter, then she asked if I wanted to use it...well OF COURSE!
Little bits of trail magic.
Also, one of my co-workers (I won't mention his name, he might not want to be mentioned on a public blog) brought me a whole case of MREs. Amazing! We so greatly appreciate it! We are going to open up the packages and divide them up. We will probably use them before the 100 mile wilderness in Maine.
I also received a very uplifting e-mail from a thru-hiker Class of 2010. She hiked in a group of three, her brother, friend & herself. I followed them on their blog last Spring & Summer. They were a huge inspiration in my decision to go ahead and attempt the trail this year. If you'd like to look at their blog from their hike (which you REALLY should, it's amazing) you can go to www.appalachiantrail2010.blogspot.com .
I am very thankful that she took the time out to write me such a nice e-mail. I'm going to finish this post with an excerpt from it:
I could talk about the AT for hours, what you should and shouldn't do, but at the end of the day, you just have to do what works for you. If you like sleeping in shelters, sleep in shelters. If you like going into town, go into town. If you like taking a 2 hour break at lunch, take that break! All that being said...I do have one piece of advice ....
If you feel angry, sad, homesick, or ready to quit --- eat a snickers. You're probably just hungry.
=)
It's the adventure of a lifetime. Enjoy --
Ringleader
Isn't that awesome?
P.S. For anyone that might not know, it is tradition for hikers on the AT to pick trail names, Ringleader is hers! Casey and I have not chosen ours yet, I think I'm going to wait and have mine happen organically on the trail....
-Lauren
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