Fun with Tom and Anna

Late June update

2010-06-26T11:41:00.004-05:00

Hello Friends and Family!

June is coming to a close and it seems like time is just flying by. I have not taken my camera to work yet but I will soon and add a couple of pictures of the ambulance that our team transports patients in. On the job front while I enjoy my employment at the University of Virginia I will be applying for a job as a firefighter/paramedic with the City of Charlottesville. This job, if I receive an offer, would be a significant jump not only finiancially but would be a better fit for me. So keep your fingers crossed and I will keep you all posted on my progress. Anna is enjoying being at home with May while I am not enjoying the prospects of night shifts and being on call a job is a job and we have yet to figure out how to grow money. Anna somehow squeezes in a few hours here and there with her job at "creciento juntos" a NGO here in town that allows her to work from home. Big news on the Brother Joe and Sister Leah front...they have received a referral from their adoption agency and will be traveling to Ethiopia sometime soon to bring back their newly adopted 2 month old boy! Check out their blog http://montsweeney.blogspot.com/.

More updates and pics soon.

Love T&A&May

A new Twins fan! This was my shirt about 28 years ago maybe May will get to wear it during the World Series!

Anna and May went berry picking last week...we now have five pounds of raspberries in our freezer.

We took May out to our local CSA farm to do a little weeding and watering and picked some carrots, beets, potatoes, and greens.

The chickens were very curious about May so I took her out of her bouncy seat, she can play with chickens when she gets a little older.

Ryan and Gerald checking out the child hammock that Ryan made. Thanks Ryan, she loves it. Below is a video of the hammock in action.

Mid-June update

2010-06-18T06:48:00.006-05:00

Hello Friends and Family,

All is well with the Sullivan clan. Our summer projects have begun with the installation of a quintessential element of home improvement, a kegerator. Anna's papa has been busy with drawing up home improvement schematics for our house which involve a skid steer, ditch witch and forty to fifty gallons of elbow grease. Anna has been going through loads of baby clothes given to us by friends and family and while many of the clothes are adorable we have found that two hundred onesies and eighteen rain jackets are a little more than we need so we've been donating some items to the local salvation army. May is getting more and more active, raising her head, squirming, babbling and experimenting with countless facial expressions. We are beginning to learn what May's grunts, sighs, smiles and furrowed brows mean or, more accurately, what bodily function is imminent. The video below is what generally happens when May is hungry.

An early fathers day gift. This was the fridge we used to have in the kitchen and is now an addition to the ever growing man cave.

We didn't think that May would like being strapped down in a car seat but she seems to like it.

Anna B and May B.

Lizzie holding May and Laurel looking on at a little house dinner we had last week for Lizzie who headed up to New York for the summer.

Anna and May sorting through baby clothes.

Nap time is very important.

May, the world cup and the USA not being trounced by England.

May with a onesie that Anna made.

May Bird Sullivan

2010-06-07T13:10:00.005-05:00

It only took us four days to name her, May Bird Sullivan. Bird is a family name on Anna's side and while she was born the first day of June we both liked May a lot and we're having some fun with some nicknames. Maybe a little too much fun.

For all our Nebraska friends and family it looks like you will be meeting May at my brother Pat's wedding in October. Can't wait to see you all!

I was talking with Daniel (Anna's papa) the other day and he was asking me if I was keeping track of this experience through some sort journal and I thought that this format would be a good place to do that, so here it is. I have started back at work with the University of Virginia Neonatal Emergency Transport team and feeling a bit of stress about leaving Anna and May at home but our friends and family here have been fantastic, stopping by to deliver delicious food, visit and help out around the house. The good thing about my job is that I fulfill my work requirements in three days and tend to have the rest of the week off. The bad news is that I keep thinking I'll come home one day and she'll be riding her bike around and I'll wonder where did all the time go, an unfounded concern as I'm sure I'll at least see her walk first.

It should be an action packed summer for our little family. On the docket this summer is a kitchen remodel, solar panel installations, new front porch and maybe a new back deck with a donated hot tub from Daniel. Our little garden should be kicking out tomatoes and hot peppers soon. Our fig tree from Ryan made it through the winter so we'll have a few figs later this summer. Also, it looks like Joe and Leah will be going to Ethiopia sometime in July to pick up their adopted child, more on that the more we find out but May seems excited about a cousin.

I'll try and upload a few more pics sometime soon of May and our house projects. All is going well with kiddo and mama.

Take care and talk with you all soon,

love

T&A&May

Baby Girl Pics

2010-06-02T21:09:00.003-05:00

Hello Friends and Family!

All is well. Baby is feeding, sleeping, and pooping like a champ. My folks and Anna's are thrilled to have a granddaughter. She is cute, peaceful, soft and smells good. Her yawns and sneezes kill me. More to come.

Getting her footprints.

About thirty minutes after birth.

Aunt Leah, thanks for being there Leah your help was much appreciated.

Alison with her first granddaughter.

Kirby and Mary Claire with their first granddaughter.

We've got a couple names in mind and after tonight we should have a name for her.

Love T&A

Baby Girl!

2010-06-01T11:03:00.002-05:00

She has finally arrived all 9 lbs. 2 oz. of her. Labor was about 12 hours long with an intense final hour ending at 9:30 this morning.

Pictures to come soon! and a name.

April and May

2010-05-20T12:43:00.004-05:00

Hello Friends and Family!

No baby yet but it should be anytime now. Anna is having more and more contractions throughout the day and night so it seems that her body is getting ready for the big day. When that will be we are not sure but I'm thinking that this upcoming week we will be meeting our new addition. We'll keep you all posted.

Not ours. Bowen is taking a little nap he is the son of Katherine and Russ, good friends of ours.

Anna picking strawberries in our backyard, we've picked about a hundred so far and no signs of them slowing down yet.

Spreading a little mulch and more importantly, looking good doing it.

We took advantage of some state and federal stimulus funds and bought a new refrigerator and washing machine.

Anna insisted on carrying the refrigerator in the house.

A birthday party for Gabe and Lizzy over at Jessie's house, this was a while back but I thought it was good pic with the lights hanging from the laundry line.

Anna with the Handworks crowd who helped in the making of the baby quilt in the middle.

A whole bunch of tie-died onesies and baby outfits that where made at Anna's baby-shower. They had to be rinsed out in our tub. She'll be a well dressed hippie.

March and April

2010-04-12T10:22:00.003-05:00

Hello Friends and Family,

A few pic's below showing my little brother and his fiance visit to Charlottesville. Also Anna, Leah and her hubby Joe and me on our trip to Atlantic beach to hang with the Dolan clan.

Down with the messy mulberry tree and all of its poison ivy!

Kirby and I with Brian Mutchies old chainsaw, it still works!

Kirbo! we're glad your back and safe.

Kirby and Jenna on the banks of the Moormans river.

Anna in a baby swaddling thing my mom made. Thanks mom.

Joe, Leah, Anna, and I in our front yard prior to the 5 hour car ride to North Carolina for a fun Easter weekend trip on the beach. A yearly trip we all relish.

Meg and Jeff and Atlantic Beach, NC, thanks for putting us up and showing us such a good time!

Anna in Meg and Jeff's front lawn in Beaufort NC, we played a rousing game of Easter day street tennis, the neighborhood enjoyed it about as much as we did.

Anna and Mama Montgomery in the Montgomery's backyard.

April 10th wedding of Graeme and Nicole, here's a pic of the preacher, Graeme, Nathan, David and me in one of my dad's old suits. It was a beautiful day for a wedding, with great live music from the HoneyDew Drops, Horseshoes and friends, we all had a blast.

The lovely bride Nicole flanked by her parents.

In other news; we've been looking at houses in Charlottesville and just placed a offer on a house about four blocks away from our current house. The house is located on a much quieter street next to a park. Hopefully, the owner will accept the offer and we'll be able to move in before the baby is born. It will be quite an experience to move into a newer house with a baby on the way. I've applied for a new position as a paramedic with a Neonatal Emergency Transport service with the University of Virginia Medical Center where I currently work as a communications dispatcher in the Emergency Department. Anna has been doing great and is on her 35th week of pregnancy. Her work with the NGO Creciento Juntos has been busy but she is enjoying it. Leah and Joe are awaiting news of their imminent adoption of an Ethiopian child. Daniel and Alison (Ma & Pa Montgomery) are busy with spring plantings and the construction of a green house.

Hope you all are enjoying the spring weather!

More blogs to come soon!

Love T&A.

Updates coming soon

2010-03-11T09:54:00.003-05:00

Soon, we'll be posting our AT video highlighting the trials and triumphs of our 5 month hike.

Now for a little update on what Anna and I have been up to.

Anna has been working part time with Creciento Juntos (growing together) a Latin American outreach group that is part of a local NGO. At least one of us is keeping up with our spanish skills! Since the weather has been agreeable she's been getting dirty outside with various plantings but noticing that her ever growing belly is making some tasks difficult. If you haven't been informed Anna is 31 weeks pregnant with our first child, a girl! The due date is May 13th and please, hold on sending pink clothing as we have been inundated with pinkness.

I'm half way through another semester at a local community college and still on track to transfer to the University of Virginia sometime next year. I am working part time in the emergency department of University of Virginia's medical center specifically with medical communications talking with helicopters and ambulances and informing the appropriate parties of their imminent arrival.

These are exciting times for us and our soon to be family and we'll be more consistent with updates of these times on our blog.

We hope that the spring time is treating you all well.

Love,

T&A&...(Nora, Gertrude, Claire, well, we just haven't decided yet)

making headlines

2009-10-15T07:51:00.004-05:00

Last week I wrote a letter to the Daily Progress, our local paper, about the need for health care reform. Low and behold, they printed it!

Here's what appeared in the paper yesterday:

Reform insurance; add new option

In 2000, at the age of 21, I had a rare form of ovarian cancer. I was incredibly fortunate to overcome the disease in good health and without debt. At the time I had health insurance through my parents’ employer, and the bills were minimal. Without that coverage, I would now be in debt $50,000, or, worse, I would have been denied care, and I would not have survived.

Aside from the cancer, I have no health problems. But now, nine years later, fully recovered and with less than a 1 percent chance of the cancer returning, I am virtually uninsurable. I am lucky to have insurance through my husband’s employer, but so many other Americans do not have this option. Healthy people like me are denied coverage and the medical care they need because they are a financial liability to the insurance companies.

Our system is not set up to make health care affordable and accessible. It is not set up to promote prevention or early intervention. It is not set up to offer the greatest care to the greatest number of people. It is, instead, set up to profit insurance companies.

President Obama’s plan for health care reform will make it illegal for insurance companies to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions, to drop coverage for members when they become sick, or to cap the amount of coverage they can receive. For myself and my fellow Americans, I desperately want these changes.

Additionally, I want a public option. I want to walk into a doctor’s office and receive care without worrying about the out of pocket expenses. I want, and I trust, the government to manage my health care. They do a great job with our public schools, our military, our policemen and firefighters, our mail. Their intervention will enable every American to receive the medical attention they need and deserve.

America has the best medical schools in the world, the best doctors and nurses, and the most cutting-edge technology in medicine. Let’s give our people access to these wonderful resources. They are dying without it.

Anna Sullivan
Charlottesville, VA

Interestingly, here's the headline that made today's front page: ‘Hands Off My Healthcare’ tour makes local stop

This article honored the 50 some people that attended a rally held in Charlottesville yesterday to oppose Obama's health care reform plan:

"Many in attendance Wednesday held signs and cheered as speakers talked about their concerns over health care reform. Ginger Kohr, who brought her daughter to the rally, said she was concerned what the plan will do for her daughter’s future. '[With the national debt] she is not going to have the same standard of living that we have now and that bothers me,' Kohr said."

Well, Ginger, I sure hope your little girl doesn't get sick between now and her debt-free adulthood.

In England, France, Canada, and just about every other educated nation in the world, you can go to the doctor's office, receive timely and thorough care, and walk out without paying a dime. Yes, their taxes are higher, but they are healthier, they live longer, and they don't go bankrupt for having cancer, giving birth, or getting in a car wreck.

Maybe we should talk about spending what we pay in taxes now on health care instead of wars, but that's another letter.

It was the wettest of times it was the best of times.

2009-08-22T16:47:00.006-05:00

We've finished, Kaput, done, end-o-rama or however else you'd put it. It was an utterly exhausting and exhilarating challenge, and I for one am truly glad that I'm no longer walking twenty miles a day with thirty pounds upon my shoulders; I think I can speak for Anna on that account as well. We completed our climb up Mount Katahdin, the northern terminus of the AT, on the 10th of August and are currently settling back into our home and life back in Charlottesville, Virginia.

It was a wet and wild ride during those 5 months in the woods and we would like to extend our gratitude to all of our family and friends who helped us along the way. Mamacita aka Alison Montgomery, your skill in dehydrating tasty foods and then sending them to odd locations was the envy of our trail companions. Because of you we truly ate better than any other hikers. Jessie and Sunny, Graeme and Nicole, Jeremy, Ryan, Evan and Kates, Anna O., Alison (mamacita), Leah (big sis), J. Ben Ranz (rhymes with Hands) Kirby (papa scoutmaster) and all our other friends and family who hiked with us on the trail, your smiles, conversations and laughter kept our souls happy (even though it rained all the time). Thank you.

Enjoy the Pics and Thanks again to all that made this journey possible.

A new sign this year.

A cow moose about forty feet off the trail.

Pop, Anna and I right before the hike up Katahdin.

A nice little lake in the Hundred Mile Wilderness and that is real sunshine on our faces.

Love T&A.

August 10: Mt. Katahdin, ME

2009-08-10T17:05:00.000-05:00

2178.3 miles.

WE MADE IT!!!!!!!

August 9: Rainbow Lake, ME

2009-08-09T16:38:00.000-05:00

2152.0 miles.

Holy smokes. So close to the end.

I oscillate hourly between feeling thrilled -we're about to accomplish the greatest goal we've ever set for ourselves, and heartbroken -this great journey is coming to an end.

We're camped on the shore of Rainbow Lake, one of the hundreds of pristine, still lakes in the wilderness of Maine. Last night we feel asleep to the haunting call of the loons, we woke up this morning to the sound of absolute quiet.

We pushed ahead the last few days, setting ourselves up to do an unprecedented easy two ten mile days before summiting Katahdin. Alas, in typical T&A fashion, we're now thinking, 'oh, well why not just do one more 20 mile day and summit tomorrow?' That's been our m.o. the whole trip -push ourselves to the limit so we can take a break later, then skip that break later and keep pushing.

There's no right or wrong way to do this trail, and our way got us this far. But, if I were going to do it again, I think I'd take six months instead of five to complete it -more days off, fewer miles each day, more afternoons hanging out by a lake or on a summit or in our tent listening to the rain, more moments to pause and enjoy the beauty along the way.

Though we've had no shortage of beautiful moments. Yesterday a few hours before sunset, we were following a stream uphill and came upon a wide, shallow lake where a moose was feeding. She was in the middle of the bog, head under water for 15 seconds at a time eating huge gobs of whatever grows at the bottom of bogs. She saw us sitting there watching her and kept right on eating undisturbed. What a beautiful sight. A few weeks ago Tom and I came to the top of a hill and into a clearing, and a little fuzzy dog trotted up to our feet. When it heard Tom's voice, it bolted into the grass and disappeared. It was a coyote pup, probably just a few weeks old. Three days ago I watched a bear walking through the woods. It didn't see me and was headed right in my direction. I let it get pretty close -about 30 feet or so from me, then let it know I was there, at which point it wheeled around on its hind legs and barreled back into the woods. I almost wish I had just let it walk by me -but then some people do get eaten by bears here and there, even the shy black ones.

I'm not trying to say that I want to move in with a den of wild animals, live naked and never return to civilization, just that it's beautiful out here. We're surrounded by quiet, simple, breathtaking beauty. And I'll miss it.

August 5: Gulf Hagas Mtn., ME

2009-08-05T16:28:00.000-05:00

2100.6 miles.

I am exhausted. I don't think I've ever been so worn out in my life.

We've entered the 100 miles wilderness, less than 80 miles to go to Katahdin, and we're giving it our all. The miracle of it is, tomorrow I'll wake up and my legs will move. I know that even as beat as I am right now, I'll sleep, and in the morning I'll stand up and walk, and enjoy -yes, still, enjoy- hiking through these mountains another day.

August 2: Bald Mtn. Brook, ME

2009-08-02T16:16:00.000-05:00

2041.6 miles.

Whew! A 19 miles day through the mud of Maine is no easy thing. And we're dragging poor Ben Ranz along through it all. He's come to join us for a few days on the trail going from Stratton to Monson, and he's hanging in there like a champ -actually, I think he's doing a lot better than we are.

With just 130 miles to go we can practically smell the finish line, and we've been pushing ourselves to the max to get there on August 11th -five months from the day we started. Looks like we'll make it, but there will be no breaks for us until we reach Katahdin.

Only nine days left of this great journey. I'm starting to get nostalgic before it's even over. I know how much I'll miss this life, its simplicity and ease, the beauty of the wilderness, and the one enormous challenge before us each day -to keep on walking.

August 1: Pierce Pond, ME

2009-08-01T16:26:00.000-05:00

2023.1

I met Tom Sullivan eight years ago today and loved him instantly.

He's everything I could ask for in a partner -caring, adventuresome, generous, capable, hardworking, good looking, and fun. I feel at ease when he's in sight. I miss him when he's not. Just want to tell the world how grateful I am to have him in my life.

July 25: Baldpate Mtn, MAINE!!!!

2009-07-25T16:01:00.000-05:00

1915.5 miles.

Well, the first 20 miles of Maine have proven to be just as torturous, maybe even harder than the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Talking to mom the other day I mentioned how much more difficult the trail is up here -really nothing like the rest of the AT. She asked what I meant -how is it hard?

Until we got to this part I couldn't envision why it would be so tough either. Today I thought of a way to visualize it -even better actually, a way to let our friends experience the trail for themselves. So, here it is: a re-creation of the AT in southern Maine during the wettest summer on record. You'll need a staircase, but most of you can do this at home.

First, fill a wheelbarrow with dirt. Get out the garden hose and make that dirt into mud. Pour the mud down the stair case, and fill up a few tubs with mud, too. Place those on the stairs in such a way that you couldn't possibly avoid stepping in them. Next, find some big, cumbersome objects -a dish washer or a copy machine maybe- and place those on the stairs (they may tip over, that's fine). Then grab some canned goods, broom handles, rolling pins, cookie sheets, whatever is on hand in the kitchen. Toss those down the steps. Now bring the hose inside, lay the nozzle at the top of the stairs, and turn it on.

Okay, you've got your own personal Appalachian Trail, and you're ready for hiking. Starting at the bottom, go up the stairs, up and over the cumbersome things, through the mud and running water, around the obstacles. Mind you don't slip or catch your foot on something. When you reach the top, turn around and go back down. Repeat for ten hours.

That's pretty much what we did today.

July 24: Cascade Mtn., NH

2009-07-24T15:51:00.000-05:00

1887.3 miles.

Took a serious writing haitus there -almost made it through New Hampshire without stopping to reflect. Due in part to losing our book a week ago (got it back yesterday through a small series of miracles and kind people), but mostly it was those big and bad White Mountains that had us spellbound and -day after day- plain freakin exhausted.

What a phenomenal place the Whites are. We dropped our pace to 15 or 10 or sometimes 8 miles a day so we could take it all in, take the side trails to the lonely summits, take our time ascending and descending the long, sheer slabs of stone that stood between us and a reasonably secure place to stop and catch our breath. Everyone said this place would be a hard hike -I had no idea they were serious, that "hard hike" would apply to us, too. We've crossed hundreds of mountains, walked over 1800 miles, and are in the best shape of our lives. I thought, "how hard could it be?"

Hard. Awesomely, agonizingly, beautifully, hard.

And now, the Whites behind us, we'll walk into Maine today. For months people we encountered along the trail and in towns have asked us where we're headed. "Maine," we've always replied -confidence growing in that response with every state line we crossed. I guess we'll have to be a little more specific from here on out.

July 20: Gorham, NH

2009-07-20T15:31:00.003-05:00

1859.0 miles

Whoa.

These mountains are HUGE.

We've heard about the White Mountains of New Hampshire since we began this trek. People on the trail talk about them like some mythical beast that's gonna eat you. You hear things along the way like, "oh man, this is the steepest climb on the trail -except for the Whites of course." Or, "dude, the rocks in Pennsylvania are the worst! Except for the rocks in the Whites. Those are actually the worst." Or, "you think this is tough, wait until you get to the Whites."

It's no joke. These hills are bigger than life. And we are right in the middle of them.

Yesterday we summitted Mt. Washington, the second highest peak on the trail, and the location of -as the sign at the base of the mountains puts it- the worst weather in America. Sure enough. It was crazy up there. The peaks here are well above tree line, and there was no refuge from the 80 to 100 mile an hour winds whipping us sideways. One wrong step and you could easily break an ankle, so at times I scrambled across the jagged boulders on all fours. The clouds were so thick we could barely see 20 feet. And that was a nice day up there we hear.

Coming down Washington, we followed the rocky ridge of the Presidential peaks for 15 miles or so, said hello to Mr. Adams, TJ, and James Madison, then ducked back down into the trees, sad to lose the spectacular 360 views, but a little glad to be back on the familiar trails of mud and roots and rocks. That was some tough walking up there.

People ask us all the time what our favorite part of the trail has been. This is it. Right here. Rugged, agonizing on the knees, and hard to breathe, you'd have to be crazy to drag yourself up these hills. But I love every beautiful bit of it.

500 miles to go!!

2009-07-05T21:32:00.007-05:00

With five hundred miles to go it finally feels as if we are approaching an end to this journey. We are now in Vermont only two states left after this one, New Hampshire and Maine, and then back to...more work, play, family and food that is already hydrated. Just a few pictures to document our journey.

Sunfish pond in New Jersey.

Always a helpful sign on the AT.

Always Hungry!

Yes! Bears! in a zoo on the AT at Bear Mountain in NY.

This was on Mombash Mountain in NY, if you look really hard you'll see the NYC skyline. We went to NYC for two days and hung out with our PC Bolivia friends Kates, Evan and Anna O.

Anna O., Anna B and Kates in Brooklyn.

Our first swim in a long time.

Boy did it feel good. This was at Upper Goose pond in Massachusetts.

Anna on Upper Goose pond.

Snack time, PB and whatever it'll go on.

Into Vermont!

Haven't spotted one yet but here's a moose track.

Sometimes we fall down.

Hiking buddy

Another hiking buddy.

July 4: Story Spring Shelter, VT

2009-07-04T18:07:00.002-05:00

1619.5 miles.

Happy Birthday America!

Another messy, muddy, rainy day to celebrate our life of independence.

Sick of the rain and pretty exhausted from hiking 20 some miles a day for over a month, we pinned our hopes on Vermont and the beautiful Green Mountains to cheer us up.

Well, apparently it rains in Vermont, too.

No matter, we're excited to be here, just two more states and 550 miles from our destination. These mountains are beautiful -full of fir trees and lakes, bear and moose tracks everywhere. Sure it's rained 8 inches in the last three days, the trail is a sloppy mud pit, and our tent is growing a few varieties of mold, but Leah is coming up to meet us tomorrow to hike with us for a week, and the radio says there's a chance of sunshine this afternoon!

Rain or shine, onward we march in our pursuit of happiness.

June 29: Dalton, MA

2009-06-29T17:58:00.002-05:00

1558.8 miles.

Supreme day.

Supreme start to a supreme day -last night we stayed at Upper Goose Pond cabin, a beautiful place on what we Virginians would surely call a lake, not a pond. We got our first real skinny dip of the season in, took the canoe out for a whirl and watched the sunset, then slept on a mattress under a roof and woke up to a pancake breakfast the cabin caretaker prepared for us. Bellies full and fully caffeinated, we set out to do 21 miles through the mud.

Massachusetts is beautiful -huge hemlock groves, pretty views, cold clear creeks. It's not her fault we've had 24 days of rain so far this month.

On top of that delicious breakfast, we encountered three doses of trail magic today -two separate coolers filled with sodas and snacks and a lady who allows hikers to get water from the spigot at her house, then gives them cookies. Too great. It was a needed lift to the spirits.

We're making great strides here doing 20 mile days, but my legs have had about enough of that. Our plan was to scale it back starting tomorrow, but we got into Dalton this afternoon, and we hear that Tom, the awesome guy who lets hikers stay at his house for free, will drive you 23 miles up the trail so you can slack pack back to the house and spend the night again, then get a lift to the same spot the next day and continue north. Too good to pass up, so how about the next day we'll start taking it easy. . .

June 28: East Mountain Retreat Center, MA

2009-06-28T17:47:00.002-05:00

1519.1 miles.

Raindrops aren't falling on your head. They're being shot at you from Mother Nature's own nail gun. You're wet. You're tired. You're cold. You're not gonna make it.

Or are you?

(an ad for Power Bars in a Backpacker magazine I read at Lois Rose's East Mountain Retreat Center)

I read this and smile. There's a power bar in my backpack that i'll eat in an hour or two when we get back on the trail. It will taste like peanut butter soaked cardboard and fill my belly for another few miles. I can relate to the woman in the picture -she's running, straining, pushing herself. And the rain is coming down as though on a mission to make her workout harder, to test her limits. I smile because I know it's not the power bar that will get here there. It's something else inside. Something you must dig for. Something, by digging for day after day after day, you've come to trust in.

You're going to make it. Not because of what you eat, not even because you're in rock solid shape. You're going to make it because you've decided to, because you've seen what you're capable of, and you trust yourself to keep on doing it.

Many days to go. Many miles to go. But we'll make it. All we've got to do is keep on walking.

June 25: Limestone Spring, CT

2009-06-25T17:02:00.002-05:00

1485.2 miles.

Remember running the mile in gym class?

Four laps around the track. The first you're feeling good, setting the pace, having a good time. The second lap you're doing okay, trying to keep your speed even, almost halfway there. The third lap sucks. You wish this thing were over, but you're not even close. The fourth lap you stretch it out and give it your all.

Hiking the Appalachian Trail is kind of like running the mile, just 2,000 times longer. And here we are in the third lap right now. I knew this wouldn't be easy -that was part of it's allure, but we were up for the challenge, and really I thought all we'd have to do is walk somewhere every day.

Walking is nice. People do it all the time -for fun, for exercise, to get to work or to the store. Put a pack on your back and it gets a little harder. Add some rocks and roots and stumps and creeks in your path and the excitement factor is on the rise. Then throw some mountains in there -and don't skirt around the side, we're going straight for the top and back down again. Finally, toss in some rain -good long soakers, and take away the possibility of a hot shower at the end of the day, a warm bed, a roof, or a change of clothes. Now we're walking.

So I get it; it's hard. Not just physically hard, though it is. Hard in ways that go beyond the body. This experience has demanded a kind of humble persistence, a slow, steady, quiet determination. A daily, sometimes hourly pep talk to the brain to stay positive, to the feet to hang in there, to the legs to keep on truckin.

Every day for the past month we've seen nearly the same thing all day long: thick forest at our sides, and rocks at our feet. The views doesn't really let on that we're actually getting anywhere.

But look! We're in Connecticut! Tomorrow we'll be in Massachusetts! We are really, truly walking north and ever so steadily working our way towards Mt. Katahdin, Maine.

Tom and I are both excited to get into Vermont; we hear it's beautiful country up ahead full of beastly mountains and epic views. One more week until we're there. I know we can do it. I know at this point, having come so far, that we'll be part of that 20% that make it to the end.

And I know, yes I'm certain, that when we're done and it's time to head back home, I'll miss the heck out of this life, this experience, this walk in the woods.

June 18: Little Dam Lake, NY

2009-06-18T09:02:00.000-05:00

1371.4 miles.

Lotta dam rain.

New York, so far, has been really steep, and really wet. They say this is the rainingest June on record. Tomorrow we'll head into New York City to play with friends for the weekend -a welcomed break!

p.s. New Jersey deserves a better name. The armpit of America, at least its northwest corner, is really quite beautiful.

June 12: Delaware Water Gap, PA

2009-06-12T08:05:00.000-05:00

1283.6 miles.

Three months into this adventure and we're still alive!

Woke up yesterday to more rain. After a rockin midnight thunderstorm and waking up many times from my legs cramping, I feel like junk. Tom's already up, making coffee and oats with the fresh blueberries we picked the day before on top of a rocky summit. He looks whooped, too. Despite the promise of a yummy breakfast -usually my favorite part of the day- and the weak high five we give to celebrate our three month anniversary with this beast of a journey, the rain's got me down.

Our tent is soaked and splattered with mud. I have one pair of clean, dry socks and one pair of stank nasty, wet, dirty socks. To put the clean ones on would be three minutes of bliss, then they'd soak through and I'd have two dirty pairs of socks and no clean ones. With a sigh I reach for the stanky ones and pull them onto my whimpering feet. My eyes water up and a tear rolls down my cheek. I don't know what's got me today, but it's got me good.

Tom sees my dismay and laughs while he hugs me. I laugh, too. This is just part of the glory. It wouldn't be an adventure if it were easy. It wouldn't be one of our proudest accomplishments if we didn't have to work for it. These wouldn't be some of the greatest days of our lives if there weren't a few moments of agony thrown in there.

We pack up our sopping tent, squeeze into our disgusting shoes, and head back to the trail, rain falling and rocks awaiting. Tonight we'll make it to the Delaware River and the border of PA and New Jersey. With our gear wet and dirty, our legs tired, and our shoes shot, we decide to take a day off in Delaware Water Gap, just fifteen jagged boulder ridden, slippery, sloppy miles away.

I never thought I'd be so happy to cross into New Jersey. Pennsylvania has been the toughest state so far. The terrain is pretty flat, but the rocks are ferocious, rain has been a constant, and the trail is flanked by dense forest, affording few views that let you know you're getting somewhere.

June 8: Allentown Hiking Club Shelter, PA

2009-06-08T07:51:00.000-05:00

1229.8 miles.

For months we've heard threats about the trail in PA. Though it's pretty flat we heard over and over, "yeah, but it's rocky." The first 100 miles in we stepped over a few boulders and thought, man, this is no big deal at all. And then the rocks began.

Fist sized rocks, head sized rocks, couch sized rocks, cow sized rocks, house sized rocks. They come in all shapes and sizes and, no doubt about it, they are right there in the middle of the trail. It's like every Pennsylvanian collected all the dinner plates and bowling balls they could find and scattered them along the path. Sometimes there's no dirt in sight, just thousands of small sharp stones that roll when you step on them. Sometimes there are boulders, big slabs of rock two or three feet high and just as far apart -up to you if you want to leap from one to the next or crawl up and over each one. But when they're wet, leaping is a risky venture. Even when they're dry they're jutting up at an angle, not nice and flat such that you could just put your foot out and step on one with confidence. We look like a bunch of toddlers walking around out here -slow penguin steps, arms out ready to catch you when you plop down, trip, or slide.

I'm sure Pennsylvania has some beautiful views, but I wouldn't dare look up to check it out.

Oh look, just started to rain. That'll make it even more fun.

June 4: Peters Mountain Shelter, PA

2009-06-04T07:40:00.001-05:00

1148.6 miles.

We are cruisin! Over the last week we've averaged more than twenty miles per day, and we're feeling great -no aches or injuries. We crossed the half way point of the AT two days back (1089.2 miles), which called for a celebratory drink from the whiskeypus -a platypus, which is a plastic bladder for carrying water, except ours is filled with knob creek. There are plenty of occasions that call for a toast out here, so it's pretty much carrying its own weight.

Mom came up to meet us in Boiling Springs the night before last. What a blast! We went out for dinner at the tavern and stayed at a cozy bed and breakfast in town, where they cooked us up a great breakfast, then we got on the trail and went a few miles together before mom hiked back to the car and headed home. How great of her to come up and see us and experience a little slice of life on the trail.

May 30: Blue Ridge Summit, PA

2009-05-30T07:24:00.001-05:00

1056.7 miles.

Well, that hostel on the other side of Harpers Ferry where we intended to stay a few nights back was lacking a sign, and we didn't figure out we'd passed it until we were two miles too far along. It was nearly eight at night at that point, foggy, and three steep miles to the next shelter, but we pressed on, sad and tired and ever so gross from wearing clothes that had been rained on four days straight. It was our first night hike since March when we headed up Springer Mountain, the AT's starting point in Georgia under the full moon. No full moon this time, and the fog made our headlamps useless, so we stumbled along in the dark over the rocky, muddy trail. And as it was just getting pitch black we arrived at the shelter, which was chock full, but everyone scooted together to make room for the two late comers. That's how it goes out here. We help each other out, we always greet people we pass, because a little kindness goes a long way.

We spent just two days hiking through Maryland. About forty miles of trail pass through there, and this evening we crossed into Pennsylvania, the seventh state along the trail, and the one where I was born. So far it's got lots of trees and hills and rocks and someone's firing their gun not too far from where we're sleeping. Not so different from the other side of the Mason Dixon line.

We've done a few twenty mile days this week and we're feeling good, walking fast, sleeping hard. I love this life. So simple and rewarding.

Two young amish girls and their grandma stopped to talk to us as we passed through a park today. They were curious about what we eat and where we sleep and how far we go everyday and what we do when it rains. We chatted for a while, and I showed them our gear and said that they should think about hiking the trail one day. The look in their eyes reminded me, as I'm reminded every day out here, of what an amazing time in our lives this is.

May 28: Blackburn AT Center, WV

2009-05-28T07:05:00.000-05:00

1001.0 miles!

One thousand miles. Whoa. Did I ever think I'd walk a thousand miles? And here we are, made it to West Virginia, and almost at the AT's half-way point. Yesterday we hiked the infamous roller coaster -13.5 miles of straight ups and downs (picture a heart beat monitor, that's what the profile of the trail looks like). If we'd hiked it a few months ago I would've been begging for mercy, but being in the shape we're in by now it was downright enjoyable.

We passed by Bear's Den Hostel midway, ate a pint of Ben and Jerry's, then pushed on to get to the Blackburn center, a PATC managed cabin where hikers can stay for free. Helen, awesome friend from Bolivia, was waiting to meet us when we arrived, and as we walked in the door the guy who runs the cabin handed us a beer and invited us to sit down for a homemade supper. Too cool!

It was great to catch up with Helen, reminisce about Bolivia and talk about what we're up to now. She's going back to Bolivia to lead summer trips for a group of students -put some ideas in my head....

Today we'll head to Harpers Ferry, WV and stay in a hostel so we can shower and wash our clothes. It's been raining for four straight days and my smartwools have a serious case of the funk.

We were hoping to meet mom in Harpers Ferry, but the timing didn't work out. She sent a package in her stead, but I wish we could hang out tonight.

We've been seriously blessed with visits from friends along the way. Last weekend Graeme and Nicole came up Skyline to meet us in Shenandoah National Park. It was a gorgeous weekend, perfect weather, and the four of us hiked up to Mary's Rocks, pitched our tents, and watched the sunset unfold. Which was made all the more spectacular by the BOX of wine they lugged up the mountain with them. The next day we hiked a good stretch to the north end of the park and stayed at a great little hostel (some guy's basement in a residential neighborhood) near front Royal, where we had all the fun to be had in a small town -beers and dinner at the tavern, a gripping round of trivial pursuit with Mike, the hostel owner, coffee and breakfast at a cafe on main street, and milkshakes before we got back on the trail.

Graeme and Nicole hiked in a few miles with us on Monday morning, then headed back home. They're hoping to come join us for the final stretch in Maine, too, which would rock. But for now, real world calls. And man does it make me ever grateful that we have this time, this fantastic opportunity to be out here.

Well, a call to all friends and loved ones: it's a darn good time on the Appalachian Trail! Come out and join us for a few days. You'll leave sore and dirty and not regretting it one little bit.

May 21: South River, Shenandoah National Park

2009-05-21T14:07:00.000-05:00

900.8 miles

Back at it and lovin life.

On Tuesday afternoon we hiked up to the AT from Sugar Hollow with Leah, then said goodbye to my awesome sister a little sad to leave home, but excited to continue our journey north. It's a different feeling to be walking away from home rather than towards it, as we did for the first two months of the trail.

Yesterday we stood on top of Loft Mountain and caught our last glimpse of home. We could see Charlottesville below, the university and monticello in the distance, and Fox Mountain, where we'd spent two great weeks with Leah and Joe in their new beautiful home, just below us. Now the distance between us and home has grown, and Albemarle county is out of sight.

Do I detect a twinge of homesickness? Maybe so, it's a place to be missed, no doubt about that. But I'm happy to be back out here, getting my butt kicked by these hills, feeling the thrill of a free day, taking in the air the trees the birds the flowers the wide open sky. What beautiful country we live in.

We timed where we'd pick up the trail just right. When we got to Black Rock hut the first night there were a pile of familiar faces -and some new ones, too. The trail felt downright crowded today. We were in a pack of eight or ten other thru-hikers, which felt bizarre since we'll sometimes go a whole day without seeing anyone else. Those two weeks off took their toll on us, and we stopped to camp after a fifteen mile day while everyone else pressed on to the next shelter, another five miles up the trail.

We'll get our legs back in another couple days I bet. For now, feeling good enough, happy to be where I am, and can't get over the good fortune I have to be in the midst of such a fine adventure next to such a fine adventuresome man.

what everyone really wants

2009-05-19T12:36:00.012-05:00

I could ramble on all day about the beauty of the trees and the flowers and the freedom of life on the trail, but I know that everyone just really wants to look at some pictures. So here you go (in no particular order, actually in rather reverse chronological order, and without captions, because that would take forever, and I'm due to be back in the woods in an hour):

two week vacation from our vacation

2009-05-19T11:43:00.007-05:00

Right on Schedule, we rolled into Charlottesville first week of May (with a little help from our friends, one of which was a car), and we've been here for two weeks, loving life, playing with friends, resting our legs, and enjoying home. Jeremy, our good bud and fellow volunteer from Okinawa Bolivia, came and hiked with us for a few days, and then we all headed into c'ville together to play a while.

Here we are with our friend Scott and his baby goats, Marie and Elizabeth. There's maybe nothing more fulfilling than holding a baby goat. For days after this I kept thinking, man, I just want to pick up a baby goat.

Then we went to Monticello to check out mister Jefferson's place.

And the farmers' market downtown,

where there was a woman from Bolivia making empanadas! Too cool.

Then Patrick and Hanna came from Omaha to visit us for a few days, and we hung out at the cabin, did some serious fishing (serious meaning even I caught something, which never happens), and we all went to see the Boss in action. that's right, Bruce Springsteen in our little ol hometown. How great is this life!

Then, cause we hadn't had enough fun yet, our friend Meg came into town for the weekend, and stayed at Leah and Joe's with us. Leah and Joe's new place is fabulous, perfect for them, and it was so great to spend so much time with those two. While Meg was there we made a few pitures of strawberry margaritas and made a day of it. Love that woman!

Inbetween playing with friends, we spent a lot of time playing with friends. The fun is on full-time when you come to your hometown for vacation. Everyone's game for playing. i love it. Here's Tom and Jed hanging out by the river at Jed's b-day bash.

On Thursday we headed down to the Tye River with Talley to deliver some trail magic to fellow hikers. We didn't know who we'd run into, and for a while there it looked like maybe no one would come through, but by the end of the day we'd made a feast for more than a half dozen hikers. It was fun to be on the giving end of magic, knowing how much it means to come upon an unexpected delicious meal. We fixed up burgers and dogs, chips and salsa and guac, fruit and salad, cokes and beers, cinnamon rolls and scones, juice, coffee, and rootbeer floats.

Some of the hikers who hung out for a few hours and ate up everything we put down.

And finally, just to squeeze in a little more fun, I headed down to South Carolina to hang out with my awesome women friends from college. It was a fantastic weekend and felt to good to be around such hilarious, wise women.

Susie and Steph singing the Wood Song -a funkhouse fave. Brought a tear to my eye.

And now, exhausted from all that fun and feeling fulfilled from the good time spent with our fam and friends, it's back to the trail for us.

This afternoon we're heading out from Sugar Hollow into Shenandoah National Park. I love that the AT goes right through our back yard. What a beautiful place we live in. We'll be back in three months, ready to hunker down, move back into our place, and start life anew. Jobs, school, house, whoa. I think I'll need these three months just to get used to the idea. And for now, that's exactly where I want to be.

April 30: Maupin Field Shelter, VA

2009-04-30T16:46:00.000-05:00

831.7 miles.

Perfect hiking day and another easy one. It was cool and cloudy and we got to where we were going by 1:00. There were gorgeous wildflowers all the way -spiderwort, pussytoes, trillium, and a pile of new ones I don't know.

Going over three ridges we climbed the last big mountain along the trail until we get to Vermont. I'll kind of miss those big ass-kickers.

Tom and I hiked this same section a few years ago for a weekend trip, and we have a picture of us about half way up the mountain looking like we're going to keel over. I remember when we got to the top and down the other side thinking I was going to barf. This time I was hardly out of breath. Sure is nice being in shape.

Skipping ahead 200 miles has landed us up the trail with the young and ambitious. All the hikers we've met up this far are guys in their young 20's covering 20 to 30 miles a day -kind of makes us look lazy. I think I'll be glad when we're back in with our cohort of slightly less maniacal trekers.

April 29: Harpers Creek Shelter, VA

2009-04-29T16:29:00.000-05:00

825.5 miles.

Man, you can cover some miles when you do the AT by car! We met up with Jeremy yesterday in Bland, and after covering our options of where we'd like to hike for the next few days and how we'd get there and back to civilization, we decided to drive up to C'ville, swap his car for Sven (on the logic of no one would ever want to steal a '91 Saab left by the woods edge), and head back down to the Tye River at Rt. 56, about a four day walk from home.

Those 200 miles of southwest VA we skipped , well, we'll just have to come back to see them next summer. We've figured given the pace we're going if we want to get to Katahdin by early August, we need to skip a section somewhere, so it might as well be the part that will be easy to come back to later.

So yesterday, at what seemed like the speed of light, Jer, Tom and I took the interstate to Charlottesville, where we planned to pick up the car and go incognito to go back to the trail lickity split. Should've figured how small of town it is though. We stopped to pick up the car at mom and dad's, stayed and chatted with them a while, then on our way out ran into brother Joe who'd come over to feed the horses. Then Graeme stopped by to work on something, so we chatted with him a while. then, on our way to Ryans where we planned to pitch a tent for the night, we stopped at Maupins to get some beers and there were Jessie and Stan taking a break from their bike ride. So we headed over to Ryan's and so did they, and Ryan and Laurel were cooking up a feast of fresh greens and mushrooms and asparagus from their garden for us. Leah and Joe came over, too, and it was just a regular ol perfect night in Free Union of friends and laughter and great food. It felt so good to be home.

We slept out under the trees, and the trees! Oh my lord, they have leaves up here, and everything is so green and alive! Spring is out of control. So beautiful.

This morning, after tea and breakfast with Ryan and Laurel and Nathan, who'd just come home from CA late last night, Tom, Jeremy, and I got Sven packed up, went to town for a few supplies (i.e. Greenberries and Bodos) and headed down 29 to Nelson County and the beautiful area around crabtree falls. We left our car there (hope it's still there in five days!) and headed up the hill to return to our adventure.

The three of us have about three and a half days to cover the 50 miles between here and home, so we'll be moving along at a nice pace. Forecast says it should be cloudy and soggy all week, but maybe it'll give us a break here and there, show us a little sunshine, perhaps a view or two. Can but hope.

April 27: Laurel Creek, VA

2009-04-27T16:08:00.001-05:00

576.1 miles.

Man. Perfect day.

Make that days. The sun has been shining strong for five straight, and it is glorious out. Yesterday as we climbed higher and higher up Brushy Mountain the dirt path became paved with sandstone, and at the top enormous sandstone boulders jutted up into the air at a diagonal, as though pushed up from below. Fossils of seaweed and shells marked the stones. To stand at the top of a mountain and know that it used to be at the floor of the ocean so long ago - that just knocks my little socks off.

The flowers are doing their thing in full force. Yesterday I must've seen a dozen, maybe two, different kinds of wildflowers -toothwort, bloodroot, chickweed, violets of all colors, crabapple, trillium, aster, lobelia, buttercups, wild strawberries, dandelion, hepatica, spring beauty, trout lily, mayapple, wood anemone, bluets -and then all the ones I don't know the name of, which is a lot more than I do know.

The leaves on the leaves are starting to come out, too, and we'll be glad for the shade since we're in the sunshine all day long without their cover.

Back to today, that perfect day. We woke up as the sun rose over Blake's Garden, the beautiful valley below, got up slowly and took our time over the first miles to the shelter ahead since we only had eight miles to cover all day. We got to the shelter, and there was a sign on the wall saying on Monday mornings from 9-12 the Methodist church five miles down the trail offers free all you can eat breakfast to hikers. Looked at the watch. Monday. 10:30. Tom said, "oh, that's too bad, we're gonna miss it." And I said, "oh I don't think so."

And then we ran. For five miles. Up a mountain and back down with our 30 pound packs on.

At 11:40 we came barrelling down the hill to the road, and there were two gentlemen with their trucks, waiting to give us a lift to the church shwere seven women were cooking up a feast. Packing up a feast actually, by the time we got there, but they welcomed us in and then placed before us coffee and juice and milk, grits, biscuits and breakfast casserole, sausage, pancakes, homemade applesauce, and bananas. And then we had seconds. And then they gave us cookies and fruit and fudge and bread for the road.

The pastor gave us a lift back to the trail (good thing, I don't think we could've walked), and we had just a half mile left to hike for the day. So here we've been , at this lovely campsite on Laurel Creek all afternoon. A bunch of friends from the trail who'd gotten to breakfast sooner were here, too, and so we played uno and told stories and relaxed in the sunshine until it was time to press on.

No pressing on for us cause tomorrow we'll get into Bland, VA where we'll meet up with Jeremy, one of our good friends from Okinawa, and then we'll head north a bit and hike with him towards Charlottesville, aiming to get there on the 3rd of May.

Once home, Patrick and Hannah are coming from Omaha to visit for a few days, and we're looking forward to hanging out with them, resting our legs, and catching up with friends and fam. We'll be taking about two weeks off the trail to fit in all of that good fun, then heading north again on the 18th from C'ville. Hope we don't get to squishy hanging out and drinking beers! But I guess if we got in shape once, we can do it again.

April 24: Davis Path Shelter, VA

2009-04-24T16:01:00.000-05:00

541.0 miles.

Today was the first morning it wasn't too cold to make me mind getting out of my sleeping bag. I love my sleeping bag.

Up until today I did everything I could do from inside it in the mornings -eat breakfast, get dressed, pack up- then I'd jump out, stuff it in my pack, and start moving quick as I could to get warm again.

But this morning as the sun rose the birds were singing and the air was, well, not freezing. That of course turned into a sweaty 80 degree day, and I wondered to myself how we'll ever deal with the smothering heat of the summer. For now it's just straight up spring in all of its glory -flowers everywhere, fresh leaves on the trees, warm air, and happy people.

April 21: Grayson Highlands State Park, VA

2009-04-21T15:44:00.001-05:00

496.1 miles.

Whoa! What a day.

When the newspaper says high of 58 and mostly sunny, they don't mention that if you might be heading up in the hills a few thousand feet you should subtract 25 degrees and multiply the weather by CRAZY.

We saw it all today. Sunshine, driving rain, sideways blowing snow, sleet, and hail. And now the sun's out again and on its way down.

We came through Grayson Highlands State Park today -what a gorgeous place. Who knew Virginia had such rugged country. High balds, open mountaintop meadows littered with house size boulders. Looked like braveheart territory. You half expected some blue chested men in kilts to come running over the hill. No men in kilts, but we did see the wild ponies, which stand about three and a half feet tall and are as friendly as could be.

We went up and over Mt. Rogers today, too, the highest peak in the state. It was covered in spruce and firs suited to its cold, wet climate. High as it may be, all we could see from the top was the clouds we were in.

It's so fun to see this part of the state. We've talked about coming down here many times -instead we came up to it. Well worth the walk.

Now it's snowing and time to hunker down. Big day.

April 20: Lost Mountain Shelter, VA

2009-04-18T15:34:00.000-05:00

478.8 miles.

Home sweet home we made it to VA! We crossed the TN/VA border on Saturday just before rolling into Damascus, where we took a day to rest and resupply. It's a cool little town -a little heavy on churches and police, and pretty hard to find a beer (we actually never did), but it's full of characters and, like all the god-blessed towns along the trail, offers a shower and bed and lots of food amd friendly people. I got a box of fruity pebbles and a half gallon of milk from the dollar general and worked on that most of Sunday. Got a new pair of shoes for my achin feet today, and we picked up a mail drop from mom that was chock full of delicious nutritiousness.

We got back on the trail this morning and took a detour on the Virginia Creeper trail for twelve miles or so along Whitetop Laurel Creek until it met back up with the AT. Weather changed from sunshine to rain and back about five times today, and the beautiful spring flowers were in full bloom all along the river. Up on top of the mountain here the trees haven't budded yet, the air is cold, and the ground is brown with last year's leaves. But spring is creeping higher and higher and soon we'll be surrounded by greens and grateful for the shade of the leaves. In the meantime, we're working on our gator tans (that ten inch section of bare leg between shorts and gators), sweating during the day and bundling up at night.

We're in a shelter tonight, and the rain on the tin roof is comforting. And a handy drone to soften the snorers' snores. Man, there are some really loud snorers out there. How come they always fall asleep before everyone else?

April 15: Watauga Lake Shelter, TN

2009-04-15T16:50:00.004-05:00

423.3 miles.

The last five days with Jessie and Sunny were waaaay too much fun to stop and write in the journal. What awesome company they are -you couldn't ask for two better travel companions. Two positive, adventuresome, flexible, athletic women, and they love to laugh.

Together we covered 60 miles of the AT -no small feat- and we just had an absolute blast the whole way: talking, laughing, planning out our futures, marvelling at the views, the ancient trees, the crazy weather, the change in seasons and forests as you go up and down and over the mountains.

On their second day we climbed Roan Mountain, one of the highest peaks on the AT, in a thick, drizzly fog. Kinda like the Smokys, couldn't see a dang thing. The trail at the top was a slushy ice river flowing over our feet and into our shoes. It was bitterly, drenchingly cold, but no complaints from those two.

At the gap on the other side we came upon a cooler that someone had left for hikers full of homemade brownies, cokes, pecans, and carrots, which got us talking about the trail magic we can bestow on hikers back home in VA -we've planned a feast of chili and cornbread, deeritos, and margaritas. Maybe in August or September we can catch some south bounders coming through VA. Definitely next May we'll catch the nobos. We also talked about how fun it would be to start a hostel up on the AT around Afton. And we talked about the farm we want to live on at great length -what we'll grow and build and do and love. We generated a great many inspired ideas walking through the mountains. That's one of my favorite things about life on the trail -all the time in the world to think and dream and plan.

The night before easter we stayed at a beautiful old barn that had been converted into a shelter. Tom and I had hauled in a pile of easter candy, a bunch of lunch bags I'd cut and colored to serve as baskets, and the dozen eggs we'd boiled and dyed back in Erwin. Before the sun rose on easter morning I went around and put a little basket of goodies at each sleeping hiker's head. There were probably fifteen or so of us there, and everyone was so appreciative and cute about it. A bunch of grown men in their 20's, 40's, and 60's stuffing chocolate in their mouths, taking pictures of their baskets, and offering thanks to the easter bunny. It was well worth carrying the extra pounds for a few days.

The days with Jessie and Sunny flew by. Yesterday we walked into Hampton, TN, ready to throw down and celebrate the ground we'd covered. They'd parked Jessie's truck there, so we drove over to Boone, NC for the night to whoop it up, found an awesome hotel for $40 for the four of us, and went out for beers and food, then some more beers and more food. It was everything we'd dreamed it would be.

This afternoon, after a rockin good breakfast, a few hours in the grocery and gear stores, and a quick drove back over the mountain, they dropped us off on the trail and headed home. What wonderful women. I'll miss their company.

April 10: Deep Gap, TN

2009-04-10T16:34:00.002-05:00

352.0 miles.

Whoa that mountain weather is crazy!

Sunday's sunny 70 turned into Monday's cold rain, and as we climbed higher the rain turned to sleet and then the sleet turned to snow. We hiked into Erwin late in the day with snow swirling down fast. Uncle Johnny's hostel was full since everyone was coming off the trail to get out of the storm, so we headed to the Holiday Inn Express for a night of luxury -two long soaks in the tub, individualized pillows with 'soft' and 'firm' embroidered on the cases, a huge comfy bed, and pizza delivery.

By the morning there was over two feet of snow on the trail, so we decided to stick around Erwin a few days and let our legs rest. We moved over to Uncle Johnny's -awesome place- where we had a little cabin to ourselves. We borrowed two bikes to ride to town, went to the library and the Choo Choo cafe, and got a good supply of easter candy so we can make easter baskets for hikers on easter morning. In the afternoon we dyed eggs and did some repairs to our gear -replacing gator straps, fixing the pot lid that snapped off, making a new journal out of cereal boxes. It was a wonderful couple of days.

Yesterday midday we got back on the trail and most of the snow had already melted and the sun was shining -feels good to be back in the woods. Last night we camped with a good crew of nobos (north bounders) -Phoenix, Crispy, Grayson, and Walkabout, hung out by the fire for a while, then slept soundly under the full moon in our Hubba Hubba. A full four weeks on the trail -we're really doing it!

Today we'll meet up with Jessie and Sunny who are coming down for a week to hike with us. I can't wait to see them! We meet lots of great people along the trail, but I miss our good buds back home, and I'm stoked to hang out with those two and share this experiences with them.

Gonna be awesome!!!

Hunger = Weird Burritos and Hot Pink Rice

2009-04-08T12:54:00.007-05:00

So we've had the usual bumps, bruises, sore spots and achy joints but most surprisingly is an insatiable hunger that has become ever present. Anna and I eat like food deprived teenagers and the selection of what we eat is just as scary, just think of some odd combination of tortillas, cheese, cheese nips, dried fruit, peperoni and then add chocolate and or peanut butter. Please do watch out for your small pets, scraps of food left on plates and really anything within a three foot radius of us when we get back into the civilized world. We may need some sort of "handler" for awhile, like an old zoo guard equipped with a sedative dart gun. I've watched Anna eat entire kitchens out of food, and southern kitchens at that. Oh and I've definitely had my share in scaring buffet owners and pie makers around the southern portion of the trail. We think that the restaurant owners are notifying towns further north of our imminent arrival in order to fortify their menus and or close down until we pass by like some thunderstorm of hunger.

The weird burrito: chocolate, peanut butter, raisins, cheese nips, almonds, dried mango's and a tortilla.

Hot pink rice meal! Yeah! Apparently dried beets added to anything will make anything hot pink.

Hey, why not add pretzels to Ramen noodles?

Overall we are just having a blast, some days better than others but more often than not we are having a good time. The worst thing we encounter out here is bad weather. A day of rain is fine and dandy but 5 straight days of rain hiking through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park is great for the drought but not the best for (enjoyable) hiking. Oh well, part of the adventure, right?

Some great hiker guy that was handing out Root Beers on a hot day!

Adventurous Anna, she almost fell, twice and I didn't even laugh once.

Hope everyone is doing well and we miss you all. T of T&A on the AT.

April 5: Bald Mountain Shelter, TN

2009-04-05T16:25:00.002-05:00

323.0 miles

Until yesterday we had barely seen the sun for 12 straight days. Friday was cold and the wind was blowing around 40 mph, but when we woke up Saturday the sun had finally come out. Today, too, was beautiful -up around 70 and nothing but sunshine. Two trail angels found us today -one bearing sodas and apples, a thru-hiker from '05, and then a really nice young couple offering drinks and snacks and a ride to anywhere we wanted to go. Despite their tempting offer, we stayed on the trail -an 18 miles day today, but now my feet are telling me we should've taken them up on the lift.

I like the long days of hiking, but the joints on the lower half of me are starting to fuss, and my feet ache pretty well at the end of the day. Maybe we'll cut back to something less ambitious, take our time a little more. Tomorrow we should make it to Erwin, TN (16 miles from here), and we're looking forward to another day off there. Everyone's saying snow is on the way. Good thing we didn't mail home our warm clothes at the last town. Our packs are heavier than when we started (mostly on account of me going to the grocery store hungry) and we're trying to ditch some weight so we can hike easier. When we left Hot Springs my pack was 33 lbs. with food and water -more than I ever want to carry again! Around 20-25 is good with me. In an effort to lighten our load, we've been eating as much as humanly possible on the trail -and I think we still have about three days worth of extra food. Gotta work on that!

We might just have to start planning ahead or something.

April 2: Hot Springs, NC

2009-04-02T16:13:00.003-05:00

271.8 miles

What with my sore legs and this bottomless pit of an appetite I've developed, these last two days in Hot Springs have been a slice of Heaven Pie. Elmer's, the renowned hiker hostel here, was full up when we walked into town late Tuesday evening. The rain started to fall again, and we'd about limped the last of the day's 20 miles, so we settled for a motel down the road. Not as charming, or as cheap, but there's just nothing like a hot shower and a soft bed to make you feel like royalty after days of hard hiking.

Yesterday we took our first day off the trail (a zero day as the hikers call it), went to the gear shop and dropped a paycheck on a new pair of boots and a new tent -an MSR Hubba Hubba- since our tarp tent has proven to be a bit of a soggy experience in the rain, then we took a good long soak in the hot springs, and went out for a supper and local beers with a few other hikers. The Smoky Mountain Diner has fed us about five times since we arrived -awesome, inexpensive, and not holding back on the calories, it's just right.

Last night we got a room at Elmers, had a family style breakfast with twelve other hikers there for the night, and now, refreshed and excited to try out our new gear, we're heading back to the trail for some more of that mountain love.

Walk on.

a few pics from the trail

2009-04-02T12:48:00.002-05:00

signs of spring

2009-04-02T12:45:00.000-05:00

March 30: Max Patch Bald, NC

2009-03-30T12:20:00.000-05:00

252.o miles.

Wow, what a soft bed and a little sunshine will do for the soul. We spent last night at Standing Bear Farm just outside of Great Smoky Mountain National Park. After five days of cold rain we were so excited for a hot shower, some dry clothes, and a warm place to sleep. We shared a cabin, which was complete with a fireplace and flannel sheets, with Ducky, whom we've been traveling with for a few days, and Tagless and Tagalong, a wonderful couple we met there. I took my normal thirty minute once a week shower -loved every minute of it- and we went for a beer run, got some bbq and frozen pizzas and made a fine night of it. Amazing how much you enjoy those things when you've been away from it all. The bed and the cozy cabin and the good company were so nice. The shower was just downright necessary.

This morning we headed back up the mountain for a steady fourteen mile climb to Max Patch Summit, a huge bald at 4,600 feet with a phenomenal 360 degree view. We pitched our tent and watched the sunset go from pretty to holy crap that is gorgeous, to clear sky darkness.

We're hoping for no rain for a few days -been on the trail about 19 days, 9 of which it's rained. Life's just so much kinder when your feet and your cookies are dry. Tomorrow, if we can crank out 20 miles, we'll make it to Hot Springs. Can't wait!

March 28: Icewater Spring Shelter, GSMNP

2009-03-28T12:11:00.002-05:00

207.7 miles.

We've been on the trail 18 days, and this is the 8th day we've woken up to rain. Cold, hard rain. So it goes in the spring time I suppose. Yesterday we summited Clingman's Dome, the highest point on the AT at 6,643 feet, in the midst of a thrashing storm. We hear the views from up here in the Smokies are splendid, but it's been pure rain and wind for days, and we haven't seen much but the muddy, slippery trail under our feet. We'll have to come back another time to see all there is to see.

Yesterday and today the trail has been a flowing creek, ankle deep sometimes. No one's feet are dry. No one's anything is dry.

And yet we're all still laughin and sharing stories and communing in the fulness of a great adventure.

In the Smokies you're not permitted to camp, everyone must stay in the Shelters, which are old three walled, metal roofed stone buildings. They're simple but beautiful dirt floored structures with an upper and a lower wooden platform for sleeping. About twelve to sixteen could sleep inside comfortably, but in the rain there's always room for one or two more. Inside there's you find an assortment of AT thru-hikers of all ages, a couple locals out for a night or two, maybe some kids on spring break. We'd heard that the AT is a social trail, and it couldn't be truer. So many interesting characters to meet and get to know out here.

March 26: Silers Bald Shelter, GSMNP

2009-03-26T12:10:00.000-05:00

192.2 miles.

The cool thing about the trail also being a flowing creek is that when you're thirsty, you can just bend down and suck on your socks.

March 25: Spence Field Shelter, GSMNP

2009-03-25T12:01:00.000-05:00

180.4 miles.

Just did ten miles today because some kind of freezing hurricane blew in during the night. Now cozied up in our sleeping bags on the top bunk of a shelter listening to the wind and the rain. This is one of the first chances we've had to sit and reflect and relax during the day. We normally hike until it's just about to get dark, then find a good place to camp, but cuddling up is a way better option on such a nasty day. All this time to sit and think, I naturally turn to the existential questions. I asked Tom what he likes about this AT experience, and he said the following: getting in shape, spending time with his lovely wife (what a nice guy, eh), seeing so many beautiful things, feeling relaxed. I said letting my mind wander wherever it wants to, feeling my body get strong, being surrounded by nature and noticing patterns in the way the birds move and sing, where certain plants grow, watching the flowers begin to bloom.

Then I thought about what I miss being out here on the trail. Sometimes a big comfy bed, being around the people we know and love, intellectual and artisitic things -NPR, music, conversations. Tom misses bed and coffee, cooking, friends and dinners.

Then I asked what's the point of this slow, long journey. What are we out here for? To relax, to endure, to accomplish a goal, to see our country, to be in the wilderness, to grow, to know each other better, to learn more about myself, to feel at peace, to appreciate what we have -health, nourishment, shelter, and then all the other stuff we don't need but sure is nice to have -the comforts we miss but have learned we can do without.

March 24: Birch Spring Gap, Great Smoky Mountain National Park, NC

2009-03-24T11:57:00.000-05:00

169.6 miles.

We've made it to Great Smoky Mountain National Park (GSMNP)! Had a nice stop at Fontana Dam this morning. Filled my pack with junkfood I'd never have eaten back home (donuts, poptarts, candy bars, pretzels). Then ate lots of it on the 3,000 foot climb out and felt like barfing. Good to know.

We saw our first wildflowers yesterday -spring is on her way! The weather's been perfect -sunny and in the 60's, but they say rain's on the way. I just hope we can see the gerat Smokies along the way. The views are said to be spectacular. We climbed a fire tower up on a high hill this afternoon for a glimpse of the waves of mountains ahead of us. What an amazing place.

March 22: Nantahala Outdoor Center, NC

2009-03-22T11:48:00.000-05:00

135.0 miles.

Ahh, just polished off a one pund breakfast burrito, stack of pancakes, bacon, and five cups of coffee. Soooo happy. Spent last night at Rufus Morgan shelter with Toad, Chipmunk, and Almond Joy after an absolutely brutal 7 mile downhill stretch from Wesser Bald. Now, our bellies full, it's eight miles straight up the other side, up from 1700 to 5000 feet.

It seems Tom and I are the only ones who've made it this far without being pegged with trail names. We'd better start doing outlandish and notable things to earn us some good ones. So far, everyone just calls us T&A. Guess that'll do.

Have I mentioned that I love this? Not just the occassional huge breakfasts, though they do rock my world. I mean the life in the woods. What a way to spend your days: wake up slowly, have some tea and breakfast, pack up our house and start walking. Go up a mountain, sweat, breathe, focus on the trail, feel your legs push and stride, stretching out in front of you over and over like a tireless machine. Reach the top, take a deep breath. Go down a mountain, thoughts meander, legs relax, body cools, reach the gap, do it all over again. Take a rest, eat a feast, set out again. Find a beautiful spot, set up home, feast again, sit and talk, stretch, swap backrubs, get in our bags, chat until we fall asleep. Sleep. A perfect day. No stress, no worries, just lots of good exercise, clean air, hard work, beautiful views, and free thinking.

March 20: Licklog Gap, NC

2009-03-20T11:43:00.003-05:00

120.0 miles.

Happy first day of spring! My pen is frozen, and the ink doesn't want to come out too well, but it was a sunny, pretty day, and we got back on the trail around noon after a supremely fantastic stop in Franklin, NC. We went out with a crew of hikers for breakfast this morning and got our fill of eggs and biscuits and gravy and coffee and oj and bacon and hashbrowns (all for about $5) -it was everything I dreamed it would be.

Tom and I spent lots of time with Thinmint and Ziggy (Hope and Michael) over the last few days. Really cool couple, also from VA. They stayed another night in Franklin to give their feet a break, but I hope we catch back up with them soon.

Fingers frozen now, too. Time for sleep.

we're doing it!

2009-03-19T18:13:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone! We've been on the trail nine days, walked over a hundred miles now, and made it up to North Carolina in high spirits. We're doing fabulous and loving this life. We've been keeping journals on the trail, but we don't get to emails, or towns for that matter, too often, but we'll record our journal entries here when we can.

Life on the trail is truly wonderful. We're hiking about twelve to fifteen miles a day, our legs are turning rock solid, every meal is a pure, ravenous joy, and the days are long and meandering. I love it out here.

We're in Franklin, North Carolina right now -splendid town, full of wonderful, generous people. Multiple cars have pulled over to offer us a ride in town, and a really nice couple set up a tent by the trail to offer drinks and snacks and chairs for hikers as they pass by. Tomorrow we'll go back to the hiking life, but for today we've got a hot shower, clean clothes, bbq ribs, and a soft bed in store. This is the good life.

March 17: Standing Indian Mountain, NC

2009-03-17T19:13:00.000-05:00

85.7 miles

Happy St. Patty's Day! (wish I had a guinness to celebrate)

I love North Carolina! The sun came out this morning, and it was a gorgeous day in the mountains. We're up at 5,500 feet sleeping at the summit of Standing Indian Mountain. We didn't intend to stay, since it's only nine miles from where we were last night, but it's just too pretty to leave.

We had a long lunch break at a beautiful creek this afternoon where we washed our clothes and dried out all our sopping gear -even got a much needed bath in the creek. It was a great day -amazing what a little sunshine will do for you. We're happy as clams, and I'm loving this trail life. I can't wait to watch the sun set over the waves of blue mountains before us.

Yesterday in the rain (the fourth day of it) we came up with a reward system to try and make up for the blow to morale that each slip and slide on the trail can be. Goes like this:

Frequent Faller Rewards
Slip or trip (a good one that throws you off balance and makes your heart pound): one donut.
Spill (going down on your butt, knees, pack, or face): any meal you want from any restaurant along the way.
Ankel turner: a Guinness
Knee slope (a long, steep descent that makes your knee -or hips, or ankles, or toes- beg for mercy): a stop at Starbucks -or more likely a gas station coffee

Just coming down Powell Mountain yesterday I earned a donut, a cup of coffee, and a meal. All in all, I've got seven donuts, three cups of coffee, and an all you can eat breakfast buffet at Shoneys. Can't wait!

We'll stop in Franklin in a few days -our first time off the trail- where we'll get a shower and our fill of good eatin. Yippeee!

March 16: Bly Gap, NC

2009-03-16T19:06:00.002-05:00

76.5 miles.

We made it to North Carolina! Four straight days and nights of rain -we're cold and pretty much everything on and around us is wet. Sun's supposed to come out tomorrow -hope she does.

Today was our first fifteen mile day, felt pretty good. Legs are tired, but not really more than they have been at the end of the other days. Georgia was pretty -we missed most of the views on account of being in the middle of a cloud for most of it, but the forest is beautiful -lots of mountain laurel, tall oaks and poplars, and rolling mountains. Birds started singing a few times, too, when the rain let up a bit. We saw junkos, woodpeckers, chickadees, titmouse, and rufus sided tohees. Heard woodcocks, and thrush, and a number of grouse, too.

I love it out here in the woods.

Got to call home from a mountain top under my umbrella today to wish dad a happy birthday. Great to catch up with him and ma. Also talked to Ryan who said that Sven broke down on him forty minutes after he dropped us off at Neel's Gap. Sorry about that, Ryan!

To pop, I wish you the peace of the forest, the steadfastness of the trees, the gentleness of rain, and the happiness of being surrounded by it all. Happy birthday.

four days of Georgia rain

2009-03-16T12:44:00.002-05:00

March 14: Blue Mountain, GA

2009-03-14T19:03:00.000-05:00

48.7 miles. Thirty-five degrees and raining, raining, raining.

It was a sloppy, cold day. No way to keep warm but to walk. And walk. brrrr.

March 13: Whitley Gap, GA

2009-03-13T18:49:00.000-05:00

36.9 miles. Looks good, runs good.

This is going awesome so far. We met back up with Ryan yesterday midday and he hiked north with us to Neel's Gap. We camped up on a ridge, made a great fire, and had fun hanging out last night. This morning we made it to Neel's Gap by 10 or so, which is the best gear shop I've ever been in and has an amazing staff. Tom and I took a shower, which was pure heaven. Ryan and Sven headed back to VA (he hated leaving us -I know he wishes he were doing this hike, too), and Tom and I headed out again. A lot of people stayed at the hostel, but we were feeling good and ready to keep moving. Too early for hotels!

We were hoping we'd make it to Maine without getting rained on, but no such luck. It's raining steady and pretty cold out -forty maybe. This is our first night in a shelter, and I really like it. It's not even dark yet, and everyone is hunkered down in their bags for the night since it's so wet and cold out. But it was fun to chat with people and feel the sense of joy of what we're all doing as we made our separate dinners.

Now time to give tom a back rub before he falls asleep.

March 11: Justus Creek, GA

2009-03-11T18:35:00.001-05:00

Mile 13.8. Great first day. Georgia is beautiful! Pack feels great, legs feel good, gear all seems to be working great. Today we tried our plan to stop midday, cook our big meal, take a nap, then hike some more. We both loved it -felt refreshed in the afternoon and liked not having to cook after setting up camp -just ate leftovers and snacks. Did backrubs, too, which I loved. Hope we keep that tradition up.

March 10: Springer Mountain, GA

2009-03-10T18:23:00.002-05:00

Mile 0. Left Charlottesville this morning, got to Springer Mt, GA just as the sun set and the full moon rose. Ryan, Tom and I set out to the summit of Springer hiking by the light of the moon (only a mile and a bit). Got to the top, took lots of pictures with the plaque marking the start of the AT and are sleeping up top.

Here we go, here we go!

geared up

2009-03-08T08:09:00.003-05:00

Well folks, it looks like we're finally ready.

After months of research, reading, talking to friends, many trips to the outdoor store, hours at the sewing machine, and a few days in the woods, it looks like we've got the gear and are ready to begin this adventure.

Preparing to leave home for six months takes a lot of planning. There are bills and renters and cars and insurance that still need tending to while we're gone, so that requires a lot of prep work up front. And on top of thinking of what we'll be leaving behind, we've put a lot of thought into where we're heading and what we'll take with us. The bulk of the hours I've spent getting ready for the AT have centered around what is going into my backpack. Makes sense as my pack will serve as my kitchen, my bedroom, my shelter, my lunchbox, and my car. The goal is to stuff everything I will need to live well for six months into a comfortable, accessible, and very lightweight bag, and leave out anything I can do without. Which, apparently, is a lot.

Hikers love talking about gear, and, for many long distance hikers, the main goal of fine tuning their gear is to get the backpack as light as humanly possible. Some people cut the tags out of their shirts and drill holes in their toothbrushes to shave off puny amounts of weight; I haven't gotten quite that obsessive, but I have weeded out everything I think I can sanely go without and have gotten my pack down to less than 20 pounds (that's without food and water in it).

Another goal in preparing for the trip has been to keep our costs down and use what we have instead of buying new gear. We were able to use a lot of the clothes we already have, and we got some hand-me-downs from friends and siblings that have helped out, too. Some items we clearly needed to invest in, and for those we looked for sales and asked a few stores to support us in our fund raising hike. Overall we saved 30% on the purchases we made.

I did a cost analysis of the trip, curious of how expensive life in the woods will be. Turns out with food, clothing, all the gear plus anticipated replacements, insurance and other unavoidable evils, the five month trip for the two of us will cost around $5,500. Put another way, that is an annual cost of living of roughly $6,000 for one person. That's cheap. Somehow we survived on half that amount in Bolivia, but for American standards, I think walking through the woods must be one of the least expensive ways to get by. Sitting in the woods perhaps would be even cheaper, but not as fun.

For anyone curious about those 20 pounds coming with me, here's a breakdown of the gear, what each thing weighs (for the ones I can remember) and what it cost:

The *starred* items Tom and I will share, so that helps keep our weight down (mine, in particular, since he's manly and will probably carry most of them). The un-starred things are what I've got in my pack. Tom's pretty much got the same stuff in his, but somehow he spent a lot less than I did.

Pack: Gregory Jade 50. 3 lbs. $179 at 10% off
Pack cover: plastic bag. 4. oz. Pretty much free.
Sleeping bag: Western Mountaineering 10 degree down bag. 2 lbs. $400 at 10% off (this was hands down the most expensive item on our list, but a girl's gotta get her beauty rest.) Tom is using a sleeping bag he already had.
Sleeping pad: Thermarest Z-lite. 14 oz. Christmas present.
*Tent: Golite Hut Two. 2lbs. $156 (this is a tarp tent -it has no floor and no poles to hold it up; you hang it between two trees or use a trekking pole to put it up. The tent we already had weighs 8 lbs, so this was a good thing to spend on)
Ground cloth: plastic bag. 4 oz. More or less free.
*Stove: Primus pocket rocket. 8 oz. Already had it.
*Pots: MSR duralite 1.5 L and 2 L. $20 at 40% off
Trekking poles: Leki Youth adventurer. $25 at 50% off (they're kid poles, a benefit of being 5'2")
Water storage: camelbak I already had, plus 2 new nalgenes without the toxins. $10
*Water treatment: MSR ultralite pump. 8 oz. $89
Umbrella: Birdipal ultralite trekker. 8 oz. $24
Stuff sacks: homemade. $10 of materials.
Hiking shoes: Solomon gortex trail runners: $45 at 50% off.
Camp shoes: Crocs. 7 oz. Already had them.
Socks: two pairs of Smartwool hikers. $30 at %20 off.
Gators: Garmont gators. Already had them.
Lightweight long underwear top and bottom: silk underwear. Already had em.
Midweight long underwear top and bottom: fleece pants I already had and a patagonia wool 4 top $75 at 50% off.
Warm top: Down vest. 8 oz. Bought it for $3 in Bolivia on the one day it was cold in our site. Also doubles as a pillow.
Raincoat: Marmot precip. $50 at 50% off.
Rain pants: homemade. $10 for materials
Underwear: one, maybe two pairs (still contemplating this one). Already had em.
Sport bra: Champion synthetic. $14
T shirt: Icebreaker wool. $20 at 60% off
Shorts: Old Navy running shorts. Already had them (and they ran a marathon with me, so I figured they'd like this trip, too)
Hat: one of Ryan's fleece warm ones. Christmas present. And an OR rain hat. $28 at %20 off.
Bandanna: already had one.
*Medicine cabinet: toothbrush and paste, floss, nail clippers, sun block, daily vitamins, ibuprofen, band aids, tweezers, needle and thread, diva cup, and 4 oz. of dr. bronner's soap. I think we're gonna look and smell weird. For $20 and a life of freedom, can't complain.
*Cell phone and charger: 6 oz. Already had them
*Camera: Canon SD1000 plus charger and USB cord. Already had them.
Journal, one pen, one pencil.
Maybe a book -can't decide if I like reading or not yet. No, I think I'll skip it for now.

And that's it! That, plus food and water is all I will have with me. All said and done, Tom and I have spent about $1,200 on gear for the trail. His pack is under 20 pounds as well, and we imagine that at their fullest (the days we go to towns to buy food), we will be carrying around 30 to 35 pounds -a manageable amount for both of us. We'll cross roads frequently and head into nearby towns every three to five days to buy supplies and pick up packages that my mama sends. That way we won't have to carry ten days worth of food or hunt squirrels to stay alive.

We get a lot of questions about the hike, but mostly people want to know if we're glad we're about to hike the AT, if we really want to do this and are excited. There's often a slow shaking of the head and a look that says, "I can't believe you're going to do this," which might translate to, "why in god's name would you do this?" or perhaps, "thank god you're doing this and not me."

I guess a five month hike isn't for everyone, but I for one am downright stoked. I can't wait to be out in the forest, surrounded by trees and birds and beautiful views, my lungs full of fresh air, my legs working hard, my mind wandering. I don't really know what it will be like. I'm certain it will be miserable some days when we're soaked and cold and our socks are dirty and the stove won't light, but I'm equally sure that I will feel alive and purposeful and lucky to be where I am most days. I'll try to keep a pulse on that and keep you all posted.

So, friends, it's time to begin. Wish us well!

eastward home

2009-02-20T11:57:00.000-05:00

Our trip back east from Omaha was fantastic. We first stopped in KC, MO to see our friend Brandon from Peace Corps Bolivia. It's great to reminisce with buds who saw and tasted everything we did down there, and it's fun to see those friends in their homes, driving cars, bathed, in untattered clothing -it's a different lifestyle we have up in the USA, but we've all made that transition back and forth without too much pain.

Brandon made an amazing banner to welcome us, held a deafening band practice while we sat on the couch four feet away, showed us the beauty of KC, brought his friends over to play Apples to Apples, and, of course, fed us lots of Boulevard. All that in about twelve hours. It was awesome.

From KC we headed into Kansas proper, center of the USA to see Tom's folks Mary Claire and Kirby. They are fabulous, and I love relaxing at their place with them. Makes me think that one day maybe Tom and I will have a normal life with a house, a dog, jobs, kids, cars -the stuff of American dreams. But not just yet.

From Kansas we went to see our friends Matt and Maggie in Fayetteville, Arkansas. In Fayetteville most folks talk just like Bill Clinton, and I like that. Our friends Cat and Talley ventured out from VA to meet us there and harass Matt and Maggie for about a full week. It was absolutely great. The highlight, no doubt, was paddling down the Mulberry River on a cold and stormy day. Cat and Talley flipped their canoe in a gnarly set of waves, and the rest of us set about to rescuing them before hypothermia set in. It was hands down the most entertaining part of our trip.

Other highlights from Arkansas: attending a college course on medical anthropology taught by Dr. Justin Nolan, good friend of Matt and Maggie's, which made me want to go back to school (just might have to get that PhD one of these days); distracting Maggie while she was nobly trying to attend to her grad school homework; talking gear with Matt who works in an outdoor store and is wise in the way of the woods; hot tubbing and fish tacos at Justin's; doing anything within the presence of Spring; and being jumped on every morning by Ruby, and most evenings, too.

We left Arkansas and had a good long day of driving to get ourselves to Cincinnati, OH -home of most of my relatives and our good bud Ben Ranz, also from our Bolivian days. We only had a few waking hours there with Ben, but he took us to the places we'd fantacized about while sitting in the searing Bolivian sun: Skyline Chili (spaghetti with chili on top, and about three inches of grated cheese -so delicious), White Castle for breakfast (greasy, and the coffee was good too), and a drive through beer place that I can't remember the name of, but I do remember thinking that Virginia is a little behind the times for not having drive through beer places. It's was a short stint with Ben, but great to catch up and make plans for him to come join us on the trail in Maine.

From Cinci, we had a nice short trip to West Virginia, one of my favorite states, where we'd rented a cabin and met up with a great bunch of friends from c'ville. We've been to this place two times before, I think six and four years ago -lord how times flies- and both times before there had been ridiculous blizzards, and the mountains were white as far as we could see (which was not very far). This year though, it had been in the 70's the week before, there was not a flake on the ground, and our plans to cross country ski turned into plans to do a six mile run through the woods, followed by three days of pure inactivity submerged in a hottub that seated eight. Well, it seated four, but eight fit. I love those buds. We talked about land and farming and food and relationships and work and all those things we love and are grappling with at this funny stage in life. And we cooked delicious food and played games and drank a lot of boxed wine and wished we had more beer.

And finally, it was Monday, and at least half way into February, and time to get back to Virginia. And so Sven, our trusty Saab (who deserves his own blog), took us those last three hours home. Hmm, not home, someone else lives in our home -for longer than we've ever lived in it come to think- but to Charlottesville, where we have enough friends to make it work. We've been staying at the farm house on Millington, which is heaven, and has provided the perfect setting to see all our friends and gather up our gear in preparation for our next venture.

trippin pics

2009-02-20T11:09:00.001-05:00

First stop on our long and winding road home was to see Brandon in Missouri

we got to hear some of his new tunes

Brandon, cooking up what became the tastiest bacon egg and cheese biscuit I've ever eaten.

At Brandon's place with our welcome sign. What a cool dude.

we liked our sign so much we took it downtown so we could welcome ourselves all over the city

hands down the erectest building in KC

As far west as we went, here we are in Salina, Kansas. the boys on the porch

and the girls working in the kitchen. what's new.

Kirby and Mary Claire with their Harley. What a bunch of hotties.

me and mama claire

As soon as we got to Arkansas Maggie and Matt threw us in some boats and sent us down the river. i love me a canoe.

our teams: tom and spring in the HMS Hammered

matt and ruby

me and maggie and ruby

and talley and cat -prehypothermic

spring, she makes darn near anything fun.

me and maggie and ruby, who did most of the work

Dr. Nolan at work while we were having fun on the river

tom and talley playing some one handed mozart

Fish taco night at Justin's place.

Cat and Justin

And east we go. This is j. ben ranz. Silly us, we didn't take any pics in Cincinnati, so I borrowed this one of tom and ben from argentina. That was the day we went on a bicycling wine tour. Boy howdy. Not recommendable, but real real fun.

And then east some more we went. by the fire at the cabin in west virginia.

joe and leah

nicole and graeme

getting ready for our six mile mountain run

and the feast that followed

May west virginia weekends forever be a part of our lives.

And finally back home in VA. hanging out at the farm house in Free Union. I hope we can live here again one day. What a great place.

jed in boots

about to get into a lickin-slammin-suckin round.

Brian and April came to visit to check out UVA. Here they are in a pavillion at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home (it's on the back of the nickel, and also on the back of our mountain in the ville)

on Mr. Jefferson's academic lawn with Brian and April. We did our best to woo them into moving to C'ville. Verdict is still out on that one.

As for me, I'm so excited to move back here. But first, have a few mountains to climb.

2009 car of the year

2009-02-19T13:30:00.000-05:00

This year's uncontested recipient of the 2009 Car of the Year award goes to. . .

Sven. Saab. 1991. 178,000 miles. And kicking.

Over the last three months, we have driven Sven over 8,000 miles across the country (please forgive our carbon footprint -we'll make up for it by walking 2,200 miles this spring). He's been to the beach and the mountains, the south, the midwest, and the land of 10,000 lakes. He is AMAZING! Having sat in our friend's driveway for a year and a half, we thought he might be running a little rough. But to the contrary, this incredible Swedish machine has been running in top form all the way to the far side and back.

In Minnesota in negative 20 degree weather, our friend's 2004 Volvo would not start; Our eighteen year old Saab cranked right up, and then jump started their car. Running at nearly 30 miles a gallon, he saved us hundreds, maybe thousands compared to what we could have spent on airfare to get where we were going. And with a fold down back seat providing twenty-four square feet of hatch back space, he's carried all our possessions -clothes, packs, cooler, and fishing poles, comfortably behind us. What a machine.

the good life

2009-02-17T12:32:00.002-05:00

Part of our great scheme in coming home from South America for a few months around Christmas depended on the good will and mercy of our friends and family who would, whilst we have no home, have to take us in and play with us. We are enormously blessed to have our loved ones, and the big thanks this year goes out to all of those who have put us up and made us feel at home in what is surely not our home. Namely, to my sis and bro, Leah and Joe, and to Tom's bro and (nearly) sis, Patrick and Hannah: you are wonderfully generous, and we would be homeless and far less entertained without you.

We had a great five weeks in Omaha, and Tom and I were both really fortunate to have super jobs for such a short time (thanks, Tony and Annemarie!) and a pretty perfect living situation with Pat and Hannah, who remind me of me and Tom when we first met (i.e. so in love they are rarely seen apart; in fact, just rarely seen).

While in Nebraska, we played with all our friends, visited the smallest town in the state (Monowi, population: 1), went to Brian's river cabin for a weekend, hung out at the Homy Inn, got some good time with the fam, ate delicious french food I can't pronounce, delicious spanish food I can pronounce, and a little bit of everything else. It was a refreshing few weeks, lucrative and relaxing all at once, freezing, but only outside; all in all, owning up to it's motto, Nebraska really is the good life.

Thanks to all our friends out there who make it that way!

Pat and Hannah on their seriously comfortable couch

the sullivan boys

the sullivan's girls

welcome to Monowi. Used to be double the population it is now.

we found this sweet bike out in a field outside Monowi

The bar and it's owner -the One who resides in Monowi

and then we found a bathtub in a field

The Missouri river on the border of Nebraska and South Dakota. It runs clear blue and beautiful up there.

Up at Hansen's cabin, April and I made a pie and assembled a 1,000 piece puzzle while the guys did manyly stuff like changing the oil

and knife fights

this is gus, Brian and April's 8,400 pound st. bernard

and that's the good life.

upgrade in the llama department

2009-01-29T14:52:00.005-05:00

Tom and I have been living the good life in Omaha these last few weeks. It's snowy and beautiful here -a winter I haven't experienced in maybe twenty years. We're living with Tom's brother Patrick and his girlfriend Hannah who are super cool and have been amazingly kind to take us into their home for so long. Tom's been working at his friend Tony's auto body shop welding racks and doing other fun maintenance jobs, and I've been working with my friend Annemarie at Voices For Children, a non profit that works to promote better education, health, justice, and all those other rights that kids are not always afforded.

We lucked out in both the house and the job departments, and we think we've got enough in the bank to cover the cost of our AT hike (even with good health insurance thrown in there -don't get me started on that one). So, given our good fortune, we're changing our plan of giving 80% of donations collected through our Hike to End Hunger, and we'll now be giving 100% of donations to Heifer International projects in Bolivia.

Heifer International does wonderful work, and we're excited to provide even more support to families in Bolivia that can't afford to eat well. With the added twenty percent of donations that will now go to Heifer, we'll be able to get another llama! And that's just based off of donations we've already received. We hope friends and family will continue to contribute to our Hike to End Hunger in the coming weeks as we prepare for this great adventure.

Thanks, all, for your continued support!

so let us mark this day with remembrance

2009-01-20T18:27:00.005-05:00

President Obama's inaugural address delivered today, January 20, 2009:

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path toward prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: Know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive ... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

30 things i believe -by Tarak McLain

2009-01-19T10:22:00.002-05:00

Tarak is seven years old, and he wrote this:

30 Things I Believe

I believe life is good.
I believe God is in everything.
I believe we're all equal.
I believe we can help people.
I believe everyone is weird in their own way.
I believe hate is a cause for love.
I believe that when I meditate I feel peaceful.
I believe we should be generous.
I believe brothers and sisters should be kind to each other.
I believe kids should respect their parents.
I believe I should not whine.
I believe people should wake up early.
I believe people should go outside more.
I believe in nature.
I believe people should use less trees.
I believe we should help the Arctic and rainforest animals.
I believe people shouldn't throw litter on the ground.
I believe people should not smoke.
I believe God is in good and bad.
I believe in magic.
I believe people should not give up.
I believe love is everywhere.
I believe that God helps us to have a good time.
I believe we live best in a community.
I believe we can protect people in danger.
I believe we should help the poor.
I believe it's OK to die but not to kill.
I believe war should not have started.
I believe war should stop.
I believe we can make peace.

To listen to Tarak read this in his own voice, and to see more pictures of this wise little man, go to http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99478226

the thrills and chills of pre-inauguration

2009-01-17T14:33:00.007-05:00

I'm sitting in my car; it's seven thirty in the morning, four degrees outside, and not much warmer in my car. As I'm waiting for someone else to arrive at my new workplace to open the door, I'm listening to NPR. They're covering a story on the books Barack Obama has been reading.

My undeniable crush deepens. I know I am not alone in this. An eloquent, intelligent, proactive, thoughtful hunk is about to be our president. Is anyone else shaking with anticipation? Given the incredible amount of media coverage, the millions anticipated to be present for his inauguration, and the air of excitement that is coursing through every city in America, yeah, I think so.

But the excitement is dampened just a little by the enormity of what we're facing. A war that has lasted too long. A world economy in shambles. Israel is talking about upping their offensive in Gaza while Bin Laden sounds his battle cry for retaliation. Our foreign relations are in disrepair. The environment is deteriorating. And the entire WORLD is looking at Obama to step in and fix it all. Whispers of assassimation make me want to cry. Can my superhero do it? Will he soar? Or is it that no matter what he does, he will come under relentless attack for not being good enough, fast enough, smart enough?

How about we step up and, instead of complaining, ask what we can do to help? I want to help. I want Obama to say, Americans, here's what I need from you. . . And I'll do it. I will call my congressman or ride my bike to work or buy stock in potatoes or get my teeth cleaned or do whatever it is I need to do to show my support for this great country and its new and improved leadership.

Mr. Obama, you must be wildly aware of this already, but we are behind you. May you have peace as you take on this new role. May you be well and happy, your family blessed, and your actions guided by wisdom. And finally, thanks. This is a big job, and I'm glad you're the one to do it.

happy 30th tom!

2009-01-10T20:15:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday honey! Three decades. Boy howdy. It's almost like we're adults now.

We got some friends in Omaha to help us celebrate.

Picking out gifts was a snap this year, since we need about fifty types of gear for the trail. Here's some new stuff sacks and a 2 oz. backpacker's pooper scooper -the ipood.

I also got Tom five inches of snow. Gotta love the midwest. Virginia's winters are triffling these days! I love this snowy cold weather out here.

You are the hottest and sweetest, Tom Sullivan. I love you real bad. Happy b-day.

now this is winter

2009-01-07T20:42:00.008-05:00

In normal Tom and Anna fashion, we took a little road trip to bring in the new year with some excellent friends from Peace Corps Bolivia up in northern Minnesota. It was a grand reunion.

Nine of us came from all over the country (Alaska, Cali, VA, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Florida) to convene at Britta's familiy's cabin on Leech Lake, where we spent four days playing in the snow, talking by the fire, smoking the hookah, dancing, singing, drinking, and hugging -all those wholesome things peace corps volunteers do.

There was a foot and a half of snow on the ground, and an enormous frozen lake to play on. A true winter playground. The temperature got up to around zero degrees most days. At night it went down to negative twenty or thirty. Which was chilly. But we bundled up and had a blast outside. And in.

Tom and George playing uno at the picnic table.

Naya and her pretty, frozen lashes.

Britta with Paul Bunyon's girlfriend there in the background. Nice girl, kind of big, but real friendly.

Me and Emily tucked in after a cold night hike.

george, jacky, inflatable small snowman, tom, inflatable big snowman, and inflatable smaller snowman.

Out on the lake. Too snowy to skate on, but perfect for the hat game.

In the hat game, played by two people, there is a hat on the ground, and the goal of the game is to get your opponoent to touch the hat. No other rules. Lots of snow in the face. Very fun.

This is Chapare, Emily's dog which she brought home from her site in the hot desert of Bolivia. Despite his climactic upbringing, he was a champion in the snow.

Me and Tom. Just plain happy.

representing bolivia. The flag on the left is Bolivia's national flag. the flag on the right is called a wipala, the flag of the indiginous tribes of the Andes.

Ben, pant sledding.

family photo by the fireplace.

It wouldn't be a party without Charlotte McGurgle, our trusty hookah.

that's tiffany. ben pushed her over.

What a fine way to bring in the new year. It was wonderful to be amongst our close friends from Bolivia, to talk about all we're going through in life, how it's been being back home, what each of us is loving and hating and grateful for and missing. I miss those peeps. We made some really amazing friends down there.

For new years, we turned over all the clocks, turned off our phones, and took off our watches. Instead of celebrating a short moment, we all took turns throughout the night leading everyone through whatever sort of moment we felt called to -group hugs, sharing things to be thankful for, dance-offs, backrubs, projections at where we'll be a year from now -man, what a bunch of hippies. I loved every minute of it.

And Ben, it's true, your french toast is the best.

my kind of christmas

2009-01-03T15:23:00.002-05:00

It's so nice to be home for the holidays. There's nothing like being with family this time of year.

We celebrated Christmas with the Montgomery clan in VA. The theme for this year's gifts: Home mades and Hand-me-ups. That meant all gifts were made with our own sweat and tears (well, more like sugar and butter) or donated from our collections of drawers and closets. End result: fabulous edible, wearable, gifts that had more thought than cash put into them.

And we finally got to eat the meal Tom and I spent so many days in Bolivia fantasizing about. Christmas dinner at my mom and dad's is what I would choose if I had to eat one meal for the rest of my life. Roast beef, mashed potatoes, yorkshire pudding, and chocolate log for dessert. I bet there was a vegetable in there, but I don't remember it. Mmm, that kitchen smelled so good.

Other highlights from our time in Charlottesville in December:

Making loads of holiday goodies. Eating loads of holiday goodies.

Playing with friends. Here's Jed, our godson playing with the best toy man ever invented -the cardboard box.

Throwing parties. Going to parties.

Being with our good friends.

At one holiday get together, there were five of us who'd been in the Peace Corps. At 30, I was the youngest of the five, and in her late 70's, Ginger was the most grown up of all. She is a current volunteer in South Africa. The others, who were all in the Peace Corps in the 60's: Alison, my ma, served in Malaysia, Trina was in the Marshall Islands, and Rick was in Panama. So cool.

Kirby and Jenna came to visit us after Christmas. We stayed at the farm house and it was just like the good old days in Free Union. It's so good to be home amongst great friends and beautiful places.

Gabe and Luke went goose hunting and got two geese, and Sunny, Jessie, and I helped pluck them. That was the coolest thing i've ever plucked. The outer feathers came off first, in big handfuls, revealing a layer of thick, warm down underneath. We bagged up the down (covering ourselves in feathers from head to toe in the process) and Gabe cooked the birds. That's the good Virginia life right there.

Our friends threw a sweet Christmas Sweater party.

And we had a fun get together for Jessie's b-day.

I made a cheesecake for her, and then Tom drop kicked it on the way to the car.

But we scooped up a good portion of it, and gave it to her anyway.

She didn't mind a bit.

Our Hike to End Hunger!

2008-12-26T12:14:00.001-05:00

Tom and Anna are planning their next adventure: Hiking the Appalachian Trail, a 2,200 mile journey through the woods and mountains from Georgia to Maine. They will begin their journey in March, and, wanting to use their time on the trail for a good cause, they are raising support for Heifer International, a non-profit that is working to end hunger all around the globe.

Had all gone according to plan, Tom and Anna would still be in Bolivia working to provide clean, safe drinking water for the people in their village. Alas, their Peace Corps program was closed due to political unrest, and while Tom and Anna are grateful to be safe and happy back home, they miss Bolivia and want to continue to support the people of the beautiful but impoverished country they called home for the last year and a half.

In order to make a contribution to the Heifer projects in Bolivia, they will collect donations here through their blog and designate them to the Heifer International programs operating in Bolivia. 80% of donations received will be used to fund the five Heifer projects in Bolivia, where they are working hard to provide animals, bees, and trees to families in the poorest regions of the country. 20% of donations will help cover the expenses of gear and food for the trail.

Heifer accomplishes their mission to help end hunger through the generous donations they receive each year. With these contributions they provide community education as well as animals and plants that give ongoing nourishment and income to villages around the world. Families learn how to raise and care for the animals they receive and how to generate income from the wool, eggs, and meat their animals produce. In turn, these families donate the offspring of their animals to neighbors in need. Heifer's sustainable programs promote gender equity, environmental stewardship, and improved nutrition for thousands of families each year.
Your donation will help deliver llamas, cattle, fish, chickens, ducks, bees, and trees to families in Bolivia. In turn these gifts will provide warm wool, food, and a sustainable income for many families in the poorest regions of Bolivia.

Please consider helping Tom and Anna fight hunger in Bolivia. Your contribution will make a difference!

(the donate button is at the top of our blog)

Heifer animals make great presents!

2008-12-26T11:20:00.001-05:00

Flock of Chicks: $20
Flock of Ducks: $20
Honeybees: $30
Trees: $60
Sheep: $120
Llama: $150
Heifer: $500

We invite you to donate the cost of an animal that will be sent to a family in Bolivia in the name of someone you love. Heifer's website has great holiday cards that you can print and send to your loved ones to let them know about the contribution you made in their name. Just click the donate button at the top of our blog to donate the amount of the animal you want to purchase, then go to Heifer's website http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.3441339/ to print a card and send it off.

Happy Holidays from us to you!

2008-12-24T08:14:00.004-05:00

Here's our little video of all the good things we've been up to this year, plus a preview of the adventures to come. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiGlUxtTPxg

Happy Holidays! Lots of love,

Tom and Anna

homeward bound

2008-12-24T07:02:00.000-05:00

Well, next up would have been the beautiful pictures of Macchu Pichu, except that one day while sitting in an internet cafe, I read an email from my mom talking about their plans to go see our friends at the beach over thanksgiving. I got a little nostalgic, entertained the idea of going home for the holidays, mentioned it to Tom, and within four minutes we'd changed our flights to return home that week. Surprise style.

On thanksgiving evening we showed up on the front porch in a refrigerator box wrapped in chritmas wrapping paper and knocked their socks off. It was awesome!

So here we are, home again home again, and loving it! And that there is the end of our travel stories. For now.

It's Christmas eve, and I'd better got off the computer and go spend some qt with my rockin family. It's so great to be here.

the navel of the earth

2008-12-23T11:34:00.001-05:00

We crossed Bolivia's border for the fourteenth and last time in mid November, and headed into Peru. We bussed straight to Cuzco, where we planned to hang for a few days while planning our next adventure -backpacking up to Macchu Pichu.

Cuzco is a beautiful city. It was founded by the Incans a few centuries ago after the area was identified as the navel of the earth, and it's the oldest inhabited city in the western hemisphere.

Awesome stonework. These rocks weigh thousands of pounds, and no one knows how the Incans managed to get them in place.

Plumbing systems hundreds of years old that still work perfectly.

These steps on a temple look like poured cement, but they were hand carved out of the face of the rock. Absolutely incredible stonework.

The Spanish ruined as much as they could, knocked down everything they could push over, and plundered most of the structures they came across, but Cuzco's center still has a number of buildings with walls built by the Incans.

And a whole lot of great restaurants. This was a cool irish pub where we watched some rugby and drank some drinkable beer. Bolivia, while wonderful in many, many ways, has the world's worst beer.

the island of the sun

2008-12-23T10:30:00.000-05:00

After a few relaxing days in La Paz we said adios to the good friends we'd been traveling with for the last few weeks and headed to Lake Titicaca on the border of Bolivia and Peru.

This gorgeous turquoise lake is the highest navigable lake in the world (have you noticed how into superlatives Bolivia is? -highest city, highest capital, highest lake, most birds and frogs in their park, friendliest, most likely to succeed, etc). Anyhow, Lake Titicaca was the home to a number of ancient civilizations that date back long before the Incans came to town. The history of this place is incredible, and as legend has it, it's also the birthplace of mankind. And it's pretty.

We spent three days on the island, camping and exploring and enjoying the wonderful people who call Isla del Sol (the island of the sun) their home. Quechua is the language the Incans spoke, and many still speak throughout Bolivia; Aymara is a pre-Incan language that is still spoken in pockets in the highlands, including Isla del Sol. The Incans and their predescesors terraced every slope on the island hundreds of years ago, and the people living there still work the fields and live in a way that seems unchanged by the centuries.

We encountered incredibly hardworking, hospitable people throughout the island. Wonderful, friendly folks.

This nice guy rowed us out to the island for a few dollars. You can see the terraces in the background -a true technological feat for its time. And a lot of work.

On the island we came across a number of Incan ruins. These beautiful stone buildings used no mortar to hold them together, and many of them are still in great shape. Tupac, one of the most powerful Incan kings, constructed this temple to the sun.

Man, it was just really hard to find a perfectly flat campsite next to the water with spectacular views and no one else in sight. Oh wait, there's one.

Oh, and there's another.

Small fishing towns dot the island, which is only about six miles long. The buildings are made of adobe (mud and straw) with tile, metal, or straw roofs.

And the kids are so beautiful.

Even the rocks are cute.

What a great place. After a few great days on the island we headed back to La Paz and said our final farewell to Bolivia. Man, I miss her.

a big time in the jungle

2008-12-23T09:44:00.013-05:00

After playing with dynamite in the highest city in the world, we dropped down into the jungle.

The Yungas is the gorgeous, rainy, highland forest of Bolivia where they grow most of the coca.

La hoja no es droga!

The roads down there are a little dicey, but the views are spectacular.

We went down, down, down the mountains to the town of Rurrenbarque, the gateway to Madidi National Park, home of the widest variety of birds and amphibians in the world. Bolivia has over one-third of all the bird species out there. Isn't that groovy?

We did a three day pampas jungle tour, some by foot, mostly by boat.

Our guide, Baldemar (sea bucket) was spectacular. He explained all the wonders of the pampas (the flat, swampy area we were exploring), and because we were in the midst of the dry season, all the animals were concentrated along the banks of the narrow river we followed.

We passed by hundreds and hundreds of alligators and caimen, monkeys, exotic birds, and capybaras, the largest rodent you ever saw.

In the Amazon and its tributaries in Bolivia and Peru swim the pink river dolphins. No joke. They are beautiful, have smaller eyes and dorsal fins than their ocean dwelling cousins and a long prehistoric nose with their teeth showing. And they're pink. Wild. They are shy, but a number of them swam alongside our boat, and we slipped in the water to bathe with them a few times. Rolando assured us that they would protect us from the alligators that lined the shore.

Not a one of us got eaten by a croc, so I guess he was right.

There was such a concentration of animals along the banks of the river, little monkeys and families of capybaras played on the ground and in the water right next to the gators. They seemed to have a peace treaty going on.

By foot we crossed the area around the river that, for half of the year, is covered in water.

Facsinating place.

We spent each night in a cool lodge beside the river.

Where the beer ran warm and the mosquitos got their fill.

Back in Rurrenbarque we chilled out at a groovy little hostel with their pet squirrel monkey.

From there we took the treacherous trip back up, up, up through the Yungas to La Paz, Bolivia's beautiful capital city.

Great swimming hole where we stopped to play along the way.

Updates a Comin'

2008-12-14T08:11:00.003-05:00

We have been absolutely delinquent in publishing our blog, sorry. More to come with lots of pictures, bright colors and perhaps a comic or two.

We've been back since November 24th and surprised the Montgomery clan and family friends at the annual Thanksgiving get together in Morehead City/Atlantic Beach area of North Carolina, the looks on their faces was priceless.

We are looking forward to:

Publishing more blogs
Informing y'all (we are back in VA and therefore allowed to use "y'all") of our upcoming adventures
Holidays without buying a bunch of stuff we don't need anyway
Moving to Omaha....? Yes, more on that soon.
Christmas food
And of course catching up with y'all.

Peace and merriment, Tom and Anna.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

2008-11-08T17:31:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow is the 100th anniversary of their.... last bank robbery.

The narrow european style streets of Potosi with Cerro Rico in the background. Spain took enough silver out of Cerro Rico to build a bridge, made of silver, from Bolivia to Spain and back again.

While I would love to be out doing the mine tour and seeing where Butch and Sundance met their maker I´m all curled up and tuckered out with the flu. Guess it had to happen at some point and I´m glad it happened in a town with a nice hostel than at forteen thousand feet walking our way up a mountain. Anna and the gang are out viewing the mine on Cerro Rico or rich mountain, apparently Spain took quite a bit of silver out of Bolivia and tempted Butch and Sundance to do the same. We should be heading to La Paz tomorrow evening and then jumping into a taxi the following morning to drive to Rurrenbarque where we will depart on a hot and humid jungle tour. Croc´s, monkeys, and cappaybarra Oh My. More to come chicos, paz.

last night I cried for joy

2008-11-05T15:56:00.001-05:00

This morning I woke up on the floor of a small room in Sucre, Bolivia, three friends sleeping beside me, peace washing over us.

You won. We won. Barack Obama, you will be our next president. You, a man of great composure, vision, heart, wisdom, passion, and dangerous good looks, will be at the helm of our nation. I have never felt so proud to be an American.

Last night twenty of us, Peace Corps Volunteers of Bolivia along with friends from many nations -Bolivia, Germany, England, Australia, Nigeria, Norway, and Holland- huddled in a little hostel around a television, and we watched victory come down on you. On all of us. Tears rolled down as we watched your numbers rise, as Virginia, my home state, gave you her thirteen electoral votes (the fist time it’s gone democrat in over fifty years), as CNN declared you the victor, and as we listened to you speak of your gratitude for the opportunity you’ve been given, of your passion for making our country great again, and of the great tasks that lay before us.

The whole world was watching this race. The whole world was hoping. And now we’ve done it. We, the people of the United States of America, have elected a man we believe in, a man who has defied history and started a revolution –a wave of renewed hope in our nation, a belief in what America can be, can do, can give.

On September 14, 2008, the 113 Peace Corps Volunteers of Bolivia were evacuated to Peru. Because of political tension between the US and Bolivia, we could no longer live and serve and work in the country that had become our second home. A number of us went on to continue Peace Corps service in other countries, some returned to the States to carry on with life there, and many of us, myself and my husband included, returned to Bolivia on our own to carry out the projects we’d begun and to say goodbye to the friends in our village that had become our family. We are grateful for the opportunity to be back in this beautiful and impoverished country. And though it is so many worlds away from the USA, I am at home, and, today, I feel more American than ever. Throughout the campaign our Bolivian friends cheered on ‘El Negro,’ and last night, it was not only the Americans who felt the victory. There is much to be done to mend relations with the dozens of nations that the US has wounded and disregarded over the last eight years, and we will work with you, for you, to that end. We will work for peace, and we will work for a brighter future for the children of all nations.

In a few months we will return to the US. I am excited to come back home, to work hard there, as I have worked hard here, to increase community activism, to empower women and children to be leaders, and to protect the human rights and natural resources of the world. I am excited, too, to turn on NPR and hear your voice, to witness the unfolding of new education, health care, and environmental programs, to watch you extend a hand of friendship to the powerful and poor nations alike, and to work with you to make America the country it was born to be. It is a place of possibility and innovation, of astounding natural beauty, and of opportunity for all whom are born within or cross her borders. May it be forever so.

I extend my deepest congratulations to you and your beautiful family and the warmest welcome I can offer from afar. I hope one day to shake your hand. You give us hope for the future of our great nation; together we will serve it well.

south america the beautiful

2008-11-04T15:51:00.000-05:00

Holy moly. I love this place. Since our wonderful week in Patagonia with Kirby and Patrick, Tom and I have been on the rampage to see all the beauty Argentina and Bolivia possess. There is plainly too much to see, but everywhere we’ve been has knocked off our socks and smeared smiles on our faces.

The first week we spent camping around Bariloche, cooking dinner over a fire on the shore of glacial lakes, and tromping across mountains and through forests and snow fields (breathtaking).

From there we headed north to Mendoza, Argentina’s wine country, where we met up with our friends Ben, Britta, Brittany, Mike, and Dan. We took a tour of the area’s wineries by bicycle, got decently hammered and nearly crashed our bicycle built for two many times, under the foot of the Andes and surrounded by grapes ate the most delicious picnic lunch of fresh bread and cheese, olive spread, apples, pears, salami, sun dried tomatoes, chocolate, and (of course) wine, then drank some more, swerved our way back to town, and immediately got on an eighteen hour bus ride headed to Salta (ill-advised, yet awesome).

In Salta we ate the delicious ice cream, sat in the plaza for a few hours, and then got on another eighteen hour bus ride headed for Bolivia (what are we thinking?).

We crossed the Border from Argentina into Bolivia at six in the morning, nearly kissed the ground of my second favorite country in the world, then got on yet another bus headed for Tupiza, land of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, gorgeous red cliffs, and rolling dessert hills (almost tired of bus rides at this point).

Argentina is stupendous, delicious, beautiful, hospitable, but Bolivia. . . Bolivia. . . I love her. I couldn’t wait to get back.

In Tupiza we met up with our friends Helen, Diana, Tiffany, and Emily and got ready for a four day trip into the Salar to see the crazy colored lakes and biggest salt flats in the world. Words cannot describe this place. Starting from Tupiza was absolutely the way to go –we began the journey in the wild red hills of south west Bolivia, then worked our way west and north towards Chile to see the lakes of blue and green and white and red. Finally, on the last day at sunrise, we entered the Salar de Uyuni, a vast and flat expanse of white that stretches to the horizon in every direction. It was once the floor of a sea, trapped high in the Andes with nowhere to drain but down into the ground. Over the last few hundred thousand years the sea has dried up and left its heavy deposits of salt and other minerals, creating what looks like the best snow fall Oklahoma ever had.

Words can’t do it justice, so I will pour on the pictures.

Tonight, the fourth of November, we will find a television, cross our fingers, and pray for salvation.

GO, OBAMA, GO!

they had the peace corps in argentina?

2008-11-04T14:20:00.004-05:00

This place is amazing. Hard to believe just a few years ago it was considered a developing country. It´s certainly had its share of political and economical turmoil, but Argentina was as kind and hospitable as could be. Gorgeous country. We had an awesome time with Tom´s dad and bro. Hope they did, too.

Tom and Patrick in a pub in Buenos Aires.

On a boat headed to Isla Victoria, a national park in the lake district of Patagonia.

The pine forests of Isla Victoria.

Those boys are good travel companions.

i fell asleep playing my new charango. Sweet Bolivian instrument, similar to a mandolin.

up in the snow.

Villa Angostura has some seriously big dogs.

a sweet spot in the mountains on the way to Chile where we spent the night.

Pat running for mayor in Chile.

best bubble bath ever. Did you know you´re not supposed to put bubble bath in a jacuzzi tub? Turns out awesome though.

a walk by the pacific on the island of Chiloe, lake district of Chile.

After Patrick and Kirby headed home, Tom and I headed for the hills and spent the week in our tent. Which, turns out, is not particularly waterproof. No worries, it only rained for three days, and then we dried out and warmed up, and then headed for the snow.

the trouble with Patagonia is there´s not really anything interesting to do or see.

just kidding.

good free fun in Colonia Suiza.

anyone else think that´s a funny name for a fire department?

Flowers from the alpine forest.

Some glass art I made in our campfire.

Cooking dinner over the fire at our campsite on the lake near Colonia Suiza.

Bariloche at sunset.

a house built into a boulder half way up to the Frey, a beautiful outcrop of rocks where we hiked. We went to the same place last year with Matt and Maggie.

The Frey´s refugio (mountain hut) where we spent the night.

The resident cat of the refugion at the Frey. Resourceful critter.

Tom, resting his dogs after a long hike down the mountain.

From Bariloche, we headed north to Mendoza to meet up with some friends.

tom and ben and a cool old chevy.

springtime flowers.

Our crew in Mendoza -Dan, Mike, his wife Brittany, Tom, his wife me, Britta, and Ben. All former Bolivia Peace Corps volunteers. Those people make some good travel companions! Flexible, resourceful, delighted at the tiniest luxury (like toilet seats).

The cellar of one of the wineries we toured.

vineyards, with south america´s tallest peak in the background. Rising to over 22,000, it puts our little 14,000 footers to shame.

Mike and Brittany, taking thier perilous turn on the bicycle built for two. Tom reports that I am a very unstable back seat rider, but i´d blame that on the wine samples.

Plazearing. That´s a verb they use down here, which means to chill in the plaza. Why don´t we have one of those verbs?

Salta makes the best ice cream ever.

But Bolivia makes the best playground ever . . .

mars and the moon and lakes of red and green, white and blue

2008-11-04T12:45:00.006-05:00

We left for our four day Salar trip from Tupiza, rolling through the red hills of Potosi up, up, up to the altiplano. There were six of us -Tom, me, Emily, Tiffany, Helen, and Diana- plus our driver Gonzalo, a great and capable driver who fixed all eighteen of the car troubles we encountered along the way.

in the altiplano we passed four thousand llamas and nearly five people or so. It´s desolate and beautiful.

These kids, used to tourists passing through, asked us for money. We offered them bananas instead, which they happily took. Not much fruit growing up in these parts.

moss and scruby desert shrubs are about the only vegetation up there.

We came upon an ancient Incan village called el pueblo de fantasmos, the village of ghosts. The story goes that the Incans worked here as slaves for the Spanish Colonialists mining silver. They booted the spaniards at some point and continued to mine for themselves, becoming incredibly wealthy. The riches went to their heads, they went a little crazy and started burning their wheat and generally wasting things that had been considered precious for generations. A grandmother in the town, seeing the destruction they were bringing upon themselves, went door to door one week and caste a spell on everyone. Soon, disease came and there were no more people in the village, just its empty, haunting houses and streets.

then we took a wrong turn and ended up on mars.

mars is lovely this time of year.

a few million miles later we arrived on the moon, which has great rocks for climbing. And is good for human pyramids.

on the moon we encountered big steaming, bubbling geysers. That sign, in case you don´t speak Spanish, says ´Danger, don´t get close.´ Tiff and Em don´t speak Spanish well either.

from there we headed back to earth, which has lakes. lakes of funny colors in southwest Bolivia. Some are red from iron, some white from Borax, some blue from arsenic (don´t swim in that one), some green from something green, and each is just a few inches deep all the way across and teeming with minerals.

The lakes and desert expanses between them are dotted with the beautiful animals of the altiplano, the Andean plateau chillin at 13,000 to 16,000 feet. The llamas didn´t appear to have a hard time breathing, but we were sucking for air.

Thank goodness for the hoja de coca. Que no es droga!

fuzzy baby alpacas. I think we´ll get one when we get home. Make good pets and lovely sweaters.

highland flamingos wading in the cold blue water.

on halloween we turned into altiplano superheroes. Helen and Emily were flamingos, Diana was a coca leaf, Tiffany was the sunset, and I was the wind. Tom took pictures and hardly made any fun of us at all.

Then the superheroes went to some fine hot springs and soaked themselves until they turned pruney. It was glorious.

After three days in the car bouncing down roads of rock and sand, we arrived at the Salar, the greatest salt flats in the world. Amazing.

the salar de uyuni

2008-11-04T12:15:00.006-05:00

amazing place. pictures will say it better than words.

the hotel where we stayed was made entirely of salt. wicked. and lickable.

and then came the sunrise.

and then we came upon an oasis of cactus 1,000 years old. Whoa.

and then we got weird. so much space, couldn´t help ourselves.

Back in Bolivia

2008-11-04T07:53:00.006-05:00

It is definitely nice to be back in Bolivia where idiomatic phrases are familiar, things are much more inexpensive, and petty theft is a widespread occurrence. Start with the bad news and end with the good, right? Anna and I crossed the Argentinean/Bolivian border and then jumped on a bus headed for Tupiza. A short two hour bus ride from the border to Tupiza seemed easy as pie compared to the fifty some odd hours of bus rides the previous five days in Argentina we paid about three dollars total, fell into our seats exhausted but glad to be back.

I had put my backpack on the shelf above my seat, a horrible traveling rookie move, and then I fell asleep, another awful rookie move. To say the least when I woke my bag was not there and of course no one on the bus saw anything. The best part was that the entire busload of people, about eighteen people, all started looking for my bag and telling me to get off the bus first and watch everyone while Anna stayed on the bus to look for the backpack, but I’m sure the bag was taken earlier on in the trip by the random passengers that busses pick up along the route. It could have been much worse but all that was lost was a couple of good books, my leatherman, some good travel food and a GPS receiver, luckily no important documents or large sums of money where absconded. I have spent my entire Peace Corps service without a robbery incident and there I was back in Bolivia for less than two hours and I lose my backpack, so it goes.

After Tupiza we did a four-day salt flat tour, which was absolutely amazing, and I think Anna is writing a blog on this one and it should have tons of great pictures, as Anna is an incredible photographer/documentation-er.

Just outside of Tupiza.

Top to bottom and left to right: Anna, Tiff, Helen, Diana, me, and Emily, yes thats correct five girls and one boy for a four day trip, we had a blast. Human pyramid at 13 K feet, on our way to the Salar from Tupiza.

Currently, we are in Sucre, a beautiful town, with seven other former Peace Corps volunteers. We’ll be throwing an election party this eve and hopefully we will all be in high spirits at the end of the evening. After the election we will be heading towards La Paz and then onto Maddidi, which is a Bolivian rainforest destination, so more to come.

Paz, Tomas.

patagonia rocks

2008-10-24T17:50:00.003-05:00

The day after the marathon Tom, Patrick, Kirby, and myself headed south to Patagonia and the lakeside town of Bariloche, Argentina. It is beautiful.

We spent the next five days playing in the mountains and lakes of Patagonia, ate our share of delicious Argentinian steaks, drank a few bottles of their excellent wine, and even made it over to Chile to see the Pacific.

After Pat and Kirby flew off to the states, Tom and I headed for the mountains where we've been camping for the last week. More awesomeness. It's spring here and snowy still, and we're, as normal, mildly underprepared in terms of gear. No worries though, we've kept warm enough and have been living high on the fresh air and spectacular scenery that surrounds us.

Sorry for the lack of genuine photos -we don't have the camera/computer hook-ups here to let you see all the fun we've been up to. Soon enough.

Here are some of the views we've been looking at (thanks to others' websites).

the mountains around Bariloche.

and the lakes. So perty.

We spent last night in this little haven in the mountains. Snowy and cozy and could've stayed for a month, but we've got friends to meet up with and so much more to see.

Tomorrow we're headed to Mendoza, Argentina, land of cheap and excellent wine and more pretty mountains. From there we'll head back into Bolivia to play with friends we left behind and see the western side we've yet to see.

holy $@#% we ran a marathon

2008-10-13T19:52:00.007-05:00

Who woulda thunk that Anna would ever do something so crazy. Tom, sure, but me? Phew. I can't even believe it. But we did it, all of it, and it was awesome.

Here's a play by play of how it all went down:

7:00 am, Sunday morning. It's raining and 55 out. Perfect for a long run. 5,000 athletes gather, cheering, pumped, ready to race. We count down from ten to one in Spanish and then cross the start line in a crowded pack.

Mile 1: Energized, feeling the thrill of starting something magnificent.

Mile 2: From the mile markers, realize our nike+ipod pedometers are mis-calibrated. Laugh about it for a minute, then realize this means that all through our training we've been running a lot shorter runs than we'd thought we'd been (they're about 20% off), and that our times are about a minute longer per mile than we'd thought. Oh. That means our longest training run was actually only about 16 miles, instead of 20. Hmm. This could be hard. Whadya do.

Mile 3: Tom rolls his ankle in a pothole. He limps for a while, but he's okay, keeps trucking.

Mile 9: One-third of the way, feel awesome and am enjoying the race and smiling all the way. Think to myself, I'll look back on this and remember this part the best. Buenos Aires is a beautiful city, and the energy of the runners is contagious.

Mile 13: Half way. We've been running 2:20, longer than we thought the first half would take. Of course our ipod said we'd already done 15, in which case our times would have been pretty good by our standards -a personal best for me at least.

Mile 14: Tom speeds up and pulls ahead of me. I think he's slightly crazy but am filled with admiration.

Mile 16: I slip on a banana peel at one of the water and fruit stations. Almost pulled a hammy, but did no harm, and had a good laugh with some nearby runners about slipping on banana peels.

Mile 18: Start to feel my legs. Not bad, but I know that they're starting to get tired. Eight miles to go yet, but with eighteen behind me, I know I'll make it.

Mile 20: Fight the urge to eject fluids from both ends. Feeling a little queasy.

Mile 21: Catch up to Tom again, he's gimping but still rockin.

Mile 22: My ipod says, "congratulations, you just completed your goal of 26.2 miles!" Want to stomp on it, but don't have the energy.

Miles 23-26: Pure hell. At least we were in hell together.

Mile 26: The finish line is in sight! We give it our all, sped on by the crowd's cheers.

Mile 26.2: Tom and I cross the finish line together, hand in hand. 4:49:57. Done. Thank god. My ipod tells me I just ran 31.4 miles. Sweet.

Overall, the race was awesome, and I'm so glad we were able to do it. Kirby and Patrick ran all over town to cheer us on at various points and take our pictures. They are so cool to be here for this, and their support meant so much. Now done, I'm feeling 20% proud, 30% grateful, 10% sore, and 40% glad it's over. It was great. I'm not sure I'll ever do it again, but it was really something special. My legs are so tired, but my eight toenails held up like champions, and only one ankle bothered me a little bit in the middle of the race. We both came out in good shape, no chaffed nipples or thighs, no knee problems, not even a blister. Granted, we have to use our hands to climb the stairs up to our hotel room, and we're walking kind of funny, but I feel great overall. I didn't even do my signature post-long run barf. Amazing.

An enormous thanks to all of you who sent us your love and energy during the race and sponsored us with Karma Miles. I thought about each of you through the miles, recalling the good times we've had together and thinking sweet thoughts about your awesome contributions to your communities. You were my inspiration, and you rock. Keep up the good work.

Now we will reward ourselves with delicious Argentinean steaks and good wine and beer and a week or two in Patagonia, the prettiest place I know. I hope we can will our legs into doing some good hikes. Those mountains are calling.

we're doin it!

2008-10-11T14:50:00.003-05:00

We said adios to Bolivia yesterday afternoon and flew into Buenos Aires, city of thirteen million and host of the marathon that we have been training for and looking forward to/dreading for the past four months.

It's on.

This morning we picked up Kirby and Patrick, Tom's dad and brother, at the airport after their thirteen hour flight. They came down to Agentina to cheer us on for the race and join us for a week of adventuring in Patagonia. We just picked up our race numbers, and Pat brought us some gu to eat during the race and body glide to rub on our toes/thighs/nipples. That's all you really need to run a marathon, right?

Our training schedule was fairly disrupted by the evacuation out of Bolivia, so I don't think we're in quite as prime condition as we could be, but we're both feeling good about it and looking forward to tackling this beast tomorrow. Tom's goal is to finish in four hours. Mine is to finish. If I can beat Katie Holmes' time of 5:30, I'll consider myself a super star.

I've gotten so many supporters for the Karma miles -an awesome array of commitments from friends and family members to do something that will help their communities. I love it. Thank you, all of you, for supporting me through this and stepping up to make this world a sweeter one. You are my inspiration.

Well, off to eat an enormous plate of pasta and drink another liter of water. Wish us luck!

so long, oki

2008-10-11T14:10:00.006-05:00

After three weeks in Peru, we were really fortunate to get to go back to Okinawa for one last week. It was hard, but not so hard as I thought it would be. Seeing friends one last time, getting some closure on our projects, and saying a proper farewell just what i needed.

Here's how we spent our final days in Oki:

we squeezed all our loved ones

had one last great afternoon with my mom's club

threw some good hoe downs with our catholic buds (this one was an old people and infants party)

spent a lot of hours with friends, enjoying their company. It was tough explaining why we have to leave early, but everyone was so understanding

did everything we could to wrap up our projects

(Tom, on our very last day in Bolivia, bought the lab for our water cooperative -yippeeeee!)

spent one lsat hour waiting outside the mayor's office, then an hour in it wondering, as usual, what on earth he's talking about

gave our friends our bikes and furniture and clothes and forks and spoons and books and everything else in the house that could be put to use

burned all the papers we'd collected over the last year and a half (the peace corps doesn't skimp on manuals)

had our last supper with our japanese mom and dad, Tomoko and Gorge

i will miss these feasts!

threw another party to celebrate marie's 27th bday, my thirtieth, and my and tom's fifth year anniversary

emptied the house and piled up all the things to take with us or ship home

And off we went.

And so begins the next adventure. . .