0 Recorded Trail Miles
Elevation: 37,000 ft
Temperature: Controlled from a spiffy ceiling valve
Last minute details:
Woopse, I packed my hiking gloves away into storage. That was one more thing i had to do, stop by REI and get new gloves. Oh well, found a slightly better pair on sale. The trip to REI was fun. I went with my good friend Cory, we joked about showiing up at the trail on an ATV, shocking my hiking partners by saying "WHAT, you want walk the whole way, I'm outta here" or showing up with nothing but my "tighty whiteys and a butterfly net."
While over at REI, I stopped in at UrbanGrind Coffeeshop on 14th and Kearney. The coffee shop will have a map on the wall, with postcards i send while hiking the trail. If you live in Portland, OR, feel free to swing by and check it out. The coffee is dark and robust (for Saskia) and the Panini Sandwiches are great. Don't forget to tip your friendly Barista.
I had a fair amount of other small details to work out before i left, but for the most part my last week was spent saying goodbye.
Saying Goodbyes:
I am in the airplane right now, flying to San Diego, where i will meet Jon for the first time. We have chatted often enough on the phone that i believe he will be a good hiking partner. But we will see. I have been telling people that I am flying to San Diego, but don't have enough money, so I am walking home.
As i had a great deal of things to do before I left town, I decided to leave work a week early, and I am glad I did, as I was still wrapping things up at 1:00 am this morning.
I had a going away party a week ago to say bye to the friends. But that didn't quite seem to work all that well, as i spent the remainder of the week going out with all of them at one time or another. Every morning I awoke and said "I have to do this this this and this," and then my phone would ring. Someone wanting lunch, dinner, beer, ice cream, or chess. As i love all those who called i tried to cram in time with them. I did miss a few though, sorry to whom i did not get to see.
Oddly enough last night an impromptu party gathered at my place to have drinks on my empty dirty floor while i finished packing. Many Beers and hugs later i said bye to a few more friends, preceded to clean my apartment and then go to sleep...or at least try.
Giddy as a little schoolboy going to disneyland i layed in bed until 3 or 4 in the morning, finally falling asleep, only to wake up at 6:15 in a panic, thinking I overslept. For fear of oversleeping, i layed on the couch for one more hour, hopped in the shower, and shaved for the last time in hopefully 5 months.
Once out of the shower i woke Joe, my roommate up and paced back and forth eager to get going while he showered. Showered and ready to go, we wandered downstairs, got some large black coffees, and set out toward downtown. Why I got a coffee is beyond me. I was wide awake, with a heart racing to the trail.
Once Downtown, Miranda met up with Joe and I, where we took a towncar out to the airport. Miranda was giving me all sorts of songs to sing while out on the trail; in general, being the person i was glad to have see me off. Joe left behind is typical sarcastic jokes and said goodbye while wishing me luck.
Now I sit in a plane, about to land, disboard and chase my dream.
Happy Trails, Inner Peace, & Harmony
Miranda and I
Joe and I