Holy Moly, Golly Gosh … Farewell … Time’s Up!

Alexa and I have been planning the AT SOBO Thru Hike for bloody E.V.E.R. and our departure and farewell

felt so far away. First, she had to graduate from “The U”, then there was a family vacay to enjoy before final AT prep was possible.

Back to Reality and 2 Week Countdown

No matter how much we accomplished on “The TO DO List”, more items popped on until yesterday … finally, items were crossed OFF the list and the chaos of expedition prep settled into completed labeled and packed food boxes, bags of stuff to be stuffed into burgeoning backpacks, etc. … whatev! I was going to post our gear list, but since we are SOBO thru hikers, and there have already been so many NOBO posts on the subject, more is just more and not necessarily new or helpful. Summary: Our packs weigh in at 18 pounds and with 7 days of food (12.6#) and 2 liters of water (4.4#) we are at the maximum weight (35#) and volume we were willing to carry. ‘Nough said!

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow …

Yes, there are still a few significant items to be dealt with and then the hugs and tears of farewell will roll in. First farewell just happened with my youngest son, Eric, who helped us with final backpack “guy stuffing techniques” … I will MISS MISS MISS him more than words can say … and our farewells with my eldest, Sean, will happen Tuesday night … no doubt followed by more sniffles n hugs … Wednesday will have me sobbing farewell to my husband, Bruce, who will be manning the fort and providing us with love from afar along with food and supply boxes along the route. With heavy hearts we leave behind our 17 year old precious friend “Gohan” who we will unlikely meet again … he’s been the soul of our family and the best friend ever!

… We Whistle While we Work and Celebrate the Bay …

Ordering, dehydrating (Alexa is Vegan!!!), bagging and sorting the 22 BOXES from HELL made us Hungry Hungry Hungry so we dove into our first Jumbo Crab feast of the year!

Change is a Good Thing … Or So They Say …

It is poignant that we will leave a waterside community for a mountainous trail, swapping what is familiar and comfortable for the unknown and lumpy, saying goodbye to family and friends for new connections and “tramilies” (trail families), abandoning our “names” and adopting trail aliases, all the while stepping through the looking glass into an adventure of a lifetime.

 

“So Long Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Good Night … I Hate to Go and Leave This Pretty Sight.

So, we bid all who know, love, care and worry about us a “See you later!” as we make final preparations to fly on Wednesday June 7th to Bangor and the trail that beckons …

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