who is russ?

so....who is this russ?
and why is lauren (journey) now going to be carrying a sign about him?

i've never met russ. i've never met him "in person", anyway.
that's how awesome he is.....i haven't had to meet him "in person" to know how amazing of a person he is.

russ used to be my payroll account manager.....you know, back when i had one of those job thingies. he was amazing! sometimes i would call him 10x in a row, asking him the silliest questions, but not once did he ever get mad. he never got an attitude. if he got annoyed, he never let me know it. he had the best attitude, ever! he was always laughing, always cracking jokes, always brightening MY day! my boss and i actually developed quite a unique little friendship with him via phone calls, e-mails & faxes. my boss gave him the nickname, frosty. so....in a way, he kind of has an A.T. trail name, even though he isn't actually hiking. my job was pretty stressful, and i found it such a blessing to have such a bright personality to help ease my day.

the company i worked for actually decided to change payroll companies before i left. once they did, we had such a hard time getting a hold of russ. someone at the old company finally gave us a hint (shhh) that our amazing frosty might be going through some medical issues. we decided to google our beloved frosty and figure out what was going on. terrible news. russ told us himself that he was diagnosed with lung cancer. devastated. he had known for a little while before he told us. so...all those times he was brightening my day, he was battling something so difficult.

my former boss has been staying in touch with him all throughout my hike. she sent him a picture of me dangling off of mcafee's knob (if you haven't seen it, check out our fb trail page) and she told me he loved it. she also informed me just the other day that the cancer is gone from his lungs, but that it is now in his shoulder. prayers, prayers, prayers.

so.....this brings me to the katahdin for russ sign!
i'm hiking to katahdin for russ.....and everyone else that is fighting a difficult fight!
don't give up! don't ever, ever, ever give up!
keep fighting...and i'll keep hiking!!!
my objective is to take pictures with my new sign at all the great views..and eventually on top of my final goal...mt. katahdin!
i'm going to send them to russ along the way!

hopefully, if he is having a bad day...maybe seeing one of the pictures will at least give him a smile! a small payback for all the wonderful times that he helped brighten my day, maybe i can help brighten his!

so get ready russ, you're hiking to mt. katahdin with me!

if you can't read the quote on the bottom of the sign (which is understandable, because i have horrible handwriting) it reads.....
"some days there won't be a song in your heart. sing ANYWAY!"

walk it out.

an awesome young hiker who is a member of "the circus" posted this great quote the other day...

"to gain that which is worth having, it may be necessary to lose everything else."

you can't clip these wings.

freedom

hmm.
thoughts are somewhat jumbled.
they are so clear when i'm walking. i need a voice recorder.

ready to be reunited with the woods again. this break is killing me.
casey seems to be healed. ready to get back out there.

i was thinking today, about this law firm where i live. m****** and b****. in the past year or so, they built this ridiculously big and gaudy law firm....right at the corner of this really busy intersection. they have this awful glowing sign at the top of their ugly building that flashes,"INJURED? NEED HELP? CALL M_ _ _ _ _ _s & B_ _ _ h". thinking of this makes me throw up in my mouth. they also have large billboards with their faces on them displayed throughout the city. at christmas time they add santa claus hats to their heads. irks me. i don't know either of these men personally, but for some reason these guys popped into my head and their over-the-top antics to get clients...got me thinking.

i think so many people are stuck living in this artificial bubble that they have created for themselves, and the part that bothers me the most is that i don't think they realize it. none of it is real....really. i kind of wish i could throw everyone on the A.T. for 5-6 months...so you could be broken down, only to be built back up again.

money is NOT everything. money is NOT everything. money is NOT EVERYTHING!
 it's so true.

houses, cars, clothes, rings and things.

it is going to be so hard to integrate myself back into the "real world" when i've seen behind the magic curtain.

i remember when i first started this trip...i found myself thinking on the second day, "i have to filter my water this whole trip? this is ridiculous! i could be at home getting clean water by walking to the faucet....why am i out here?" that poor girl. even when that happened, i was well aware that there are many women all over the world, that have to walk miles and miles to fetch drinking water, every single day!!! i was well aware of that then, but i didn't care. now filtering water is nothing to me, just something i do. and by the way, freshly filtered spring water is the best drinking water, ever! tastes so good! i hate packing out town water!

i'm well aware that this post, like most of my posts, is somewhat chaotic.

apologies.

i'm turning 28 this monday. weird.
i'm super stoked that i'm spending the first few months of my 28th year on the appalachian freakin' trail. pretty awesome.

i think katahdin called out to me last night, in my dreams.
it was wondering if i was still coming.....i let the great mountain know that i was on my way.

i'm homeless.
i'm carless.
i'm jobless.
yet, i've never felt more free in my entire life!!

i love you, a.t.!

we'll be a little behind when we reunite with the trail....hopefully, we can buckle down and make some big miles...so we aren't hiking through maine in the snow! brrr.

practicing my katahdin poses.

i'm pretty sure god is a big fan of hiking the a.t., he has done amazing things to keep myself and others on our journey north!!

best journey, ever.

-journey

A las Mujeres........So, I don't drink out of straws anymore.......

Before I started the trail, my world was so small that if I was at a restaurant, I wouldn't even drink my beverage until the server brought me a straw to sip out of. That girl is gone. The actual abandonment of the straw sipping probably occured way back at mile 35. Goodbye prissy straw sipper, hello big gulper!

I also have gone from toting Gucci, Linea Pelle, or the occasional Louis Vuitton on my arm, to sporting a very stylish Granite Gear dry sack. Oh yes friends, Granite Gear dry sacks are the "it" bags for summer. Reserve yours now. I personally fancy the bright lime green one with a marigold bottom. This makes a great handbag for toting all my necessities when I'm in town for a re-supply.

I've gone from blow drying and washing my hair, to the occasional comb-through, tick check, and a rinse in a waterfall if I'm lucky enough to encounter one during the day.

Yes friends, a new me is emerging. A me that has always been there, just often lying deep down inside, only emerging from time-to-time. I've always had a constant battle within myself, I've often termed it the battle between birckenstocks & prada. Not that I really fancy Birkenstocks, specifically.....but hopefully you're following my analogy.

I don't need to sleep on a bed every night. I love my Big Agnes pad and tent, in fact...I often prefer it! So cozy!

And the real gem of the trail, the people. I can't find the words to explain how you connect with people out here. It is beyond amazing. The way the thru-hiker community looks out for and takes care of each other is something I will never take for granted. We share food, shelters, hotel rooms, clothes, money and hitches. If someone stumbles into a shelter wet, cold and on the verge of hypothermia...we help them warm up and make them hot chocolate to warm their body. We fart (some of us shart), poop, pee and change clothes in front of, or around each other with no shame. We are trail family.

Yes, I would even help out "the stinkers" if they needed it. In fact, I got downright worried about those stinkers one night when they left the shelter and ventured out into a storm one night. Trail family.

Our common bond is that we have all been chosen, the mountains have called us out one-by-one, and we have answered that call. We have been chosen for this pilgrimage north. Our goal is Katahdin. Our mission: to focus on the smiles as much as the miles and enjoy this awesome journey of getting there!

So......what have these two cool kids been doing lately? The answer is, lots!

Casey mentioned the amazing aqua-blaze in his last post, so I won't touch on that, but you should definitely check out the pics on our facebook page. There will also be more to come, seeing as Splitter has posted hers and I will be re-posting on our page because I am often too lazy to get my camera out. Don't worry, she has been warned that picture thievery will occur, good thing she doesn't copywright.

We encountered a Fiddler's Convention in good ol' Buena Vista, or as some of the locals like to refer to it, Buena Vegas. They treated us like royalty. It was so hard to leave,.we almost didn't. The amazing Kaye &Vickie gave us rides to town, food and beer. They let us entertain ourselves for hours on their outdoor games, speaking of which- I am the master when it comes to Ladders. I win at that game, always...just ask Case. It is my new game of choice. Sam and his crew fed us fried chicken, corn bread & coleslaw, as well as some fancy margaritas, ya'll, okay!! THEN, they put on a pickin' show for us and Frosty joined in on the harmonica! Good times were had by all!!

After this, a little further down the trail, Splitter's sister, Angela, came down to visit and spread some awesome trail magic! She rented a cabin for two nights and invited all of the Dirty Baker's Dozen to come stay in it, including Stella (Moss's 4-legged trail companion). Did I mention that she also brought about $300 worth of food! Amazing! She was actually worried that we might not be able to finish it all. There was a lot of good food, beer and some serious manscaping going on.

We watched some very predictable romantic comedies, played frisbee and listened to some good tunes. And a big thank you to Chucktown & Splitter for cooking! Everyone got caught up on their facebooking, good times were had by all ninjas involved! :)

Now we are back on the trail, the group seems to be somewhat dispersed, but I'm sure we will re-unite again....

Casey and I are staying at a campground tonight in the Shenandoahs. So ready to be at Harpers Ferry.

I'm still hoping for a bear sighting....from a safe distance, of course.

Peace and love to all! My wish is that each and every one of you will be able to experience a journey this fulfilling and amazing one day, so go ahead....start planning your gear list for your 2012 thru! :)

"We do this with no capital except our valuable time. We do this because the world we live in is a house on fire and the people we love are burning."-Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street

-Journey

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Quick list of new gear purchased on trail.