Who has not had plans go awry when you least expect it. So it was for our hike in 2007. We had intended to leave the night before on Feb 28th to begin our hike March 1st and the start of a new
month. But it was not to be. Like even the hike itself, one must expect the unexpected and go with the flow. And alter plans even before you hit the trailhead!
From our Journal -
Feb 28, 2007
Tonight we are supposed to be at the Hike Inn in GA, ready to embark on this nearly six month long hike.
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| Maildrops had to be changed |
Instead we are at home tonight - I with a cold, Paul Bunyan still has a fever, and Skipper is trying to keep everything together. Still not sure yet when we will be leaving. We got our dog back from the farm where she stayed last night in prep for us leaving today (which we didn't). So we will keep her until we are ready to depart. I went through my Smokies mail drop to check on the weight as it seemed very heavy. Answered a few e-mails. But not doing too much. Basically in a holding pattern until the illness passes. But better here at home than hold up for days at some motel spending money and wondering what will happen. As it is, Skipper won't be able to hike as far as he planned. The maildrops have all changed. But blessed are the flexible. Still, I can't be sad about the setback. Esp when I just heard yesterday of a great Christian author and speaker, whom I've had the privilege of learning from at writers' conferences - who lost his home and a family member in a terrible fire yesterday. I prayed for him last night and thought about my own circumstances that seemed to pale by comparison. But God is good and yet received encouragement today from others. Of course one can't and shouldn't be comparing what we each go through in life. But it did get my eyes off of me for a time, which is always a good thing to do.
March 1
March 1st and the day I was to begin my hike. But seeing the atrocious weather in Georgia this day and the many comments I have received that all things work together for good - I must say that has
come into play here with our continuing illness. I believe we are starting to mend, but it's hard to know when to go. When will we be fit enough to hike without suffering relapse or something else? In my heart I would like to go for a March 5th start. But I don't know. So we will see how tomorrow goes and then make a decision from there. All you can do is take it day by day.
March 2
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| Waiting to see this place, sigh... |
Here we are, T plus two days. When I told Paul Bunyan that we will have to delay longer if he doesn't start eating (cause we won't go if he is that sick), he suddenly became hungry and began to eat. In the back of my mind I am hoping we might leave Sunday for a March 5th start, but we are still in a wait and see. Thankfully our neighbor agreed to watch our dog, so we are not bound to the schedule for the kennel where we were planning to take her. So this gives us a bit of leeway. Still, Skipper is getting edgy to leave since he only had ten days to hike with us, which has now been lessened to a week. Every day lost means less time he has to spend with us on the trail as he must be back by March 11 for work. So it's really a tough decision to make when to go. Right now I am holding to leaving Sunday, March 4th for GA. All we can do is continue to wait and see.
March 3
We're going to go for it - leave for GA tomorrow, that is, and begin the hike on March 5th. I'm not 100% and neither is Paul Bunyan, but we decided to go slower than we were planning, plus we have a cabin to stay in at the end of the week in Neel's Gap which will be nice.
Thanks to all who are following our journal and for your continued thoughts and prayers. God bless and see you on the trail.
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