Feeling Good!!!

Check this out: my sorry-old-ass hiked damn near twenty miles of the Appalachian Trail this weekend and I ain't even sore!!!

Now, I'm not talking about leisurely walking along some nice forest trail here. I mean speed hiking with a 30+ lbs. pack, across some 1800 ft. of elevation change, on trails that were nothing more than collections of loose rock perfectly designed for no other purpose than the breaking of ankles! That ain't even counting the two mile hike to get water from a pond, using a hand-pump filter and humping a five-gallon water jug back to the camp, or the doubling back to pick up boys who were falling behind, and adding their gear to mine. All that, and the only complain I have is a few small bruises on the bottoms of my feet (some of them rocks were sharp!!) despite the thick soles of my hiking boots. There were moments when the ankle had me panicked though. There were lots of twists and tweaks on it that had me sweating but it held up just fine. In fact, I think the twisting helped loosen up some things in there. It seems a good bit more flexible now that it was.I was a hiking machine!

Actually, I have to say everyone was. The boys did fantastic; one or two may have fallen back a bit but nobody quit and nobody complained. We had PERFECT weather the entire weekend and it may have been the best backpacking trip we've ever done. I had a blast. The Boy and I were up in the first group of hikers (we broke into three small groups to minimize impact on the trail, etc.) who were the speed group. I was the group leader and the other adult was a 19-year-old attendee of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy who is working on a commission in the USMC. Even the boys in this group were mostly folks headed towards service academies and/or military careers. These were some hi-speed/lo-drag children! They did their best to smoke my old self but I kept up with them. Seems like I might not be losing weight as much as I'd like, but the running every day is definitely paying off. Best part was sleeping out under the stars on Saturday. Most folks slept in tents but i just threw a tarp on the ground, with my sleeping back on top, and stared up at the unbelievable number of stars. That far out into the woods, there's no light pollution and there wasn't a cloud in the entire sky. Crystal clear night - just stunning.

What else is up? Well, this coming weekend is my monthly Drill. As if hiking weren't enough, I'm gonna go play soldier again! :-) I have no idea what the training schedule is but I'm looking forward to it. All my paperwork issues are cleared up so I shouldn't have to sit around and wait (well . . . not too much anyway - this is the Army after all!) After this weekend, I'm down to three RSP drills and then I ship to Basic. Funny - I'm excited as hell to go, but still very nervous, ya' know?

Had a lunch seminar at work today. (One I got to attend instead of teach for a change!) It was on emergency preparedness and run by our local Red Cross chapter. Very good seminar: I learned that the RC handles a lot more stuff than I ever knew. Turns out the president of my firm sits on the RC board-of-directors. Now I understand why he's so supportive of my joining the Guard; he's a big believer in volunteerism. I talked to the guy who ran the seminar afterward; I'd like to have him run the program for The Boy's Scout Troop. We already work and Emergency Prep. merit badge but this had a lot more in it that would be good for all families to know and work with. I'm hoping to hook my boys up with the local RC to do some fundraising, food drives, etc. We do a lot of that stuff anyway and they could use the help.

Cool thing about the presentation is that one of the RC volunteers used to work here. She left my firm to take up a full time position at the Red Cross. She just got back from doing two weeks running a shelter in Louisiana for Gustav & Ike. She had remarkable stories to tell about what she'd seen and what conditions were really like down there. It has a lot more impact when you hear it first-hand from someone you know. Incredible work they're doing down there.

Later!