My Trails

This picture has nothing to do with this post. I just felt like showing you a photo of Karen and Kenz(Noahs girlfriend).

One of the nice things about being mobile is the ability to move on if you feel uncomfortable with any location or circumstance. Sometimes you will meet someone that doesn’t share the same outlook you have. That’s what happened when I found a campsite at Oak Flats. It’s not that I didn’t feel safe or was threatened in any way, but I felt a little uncomfortable when my neighbor stopped to chat.

He started by telling me he was a disabled veteran on total disability and spends a lot of time helping other vets get money by claiming disability. There is nothing wrong with vets that need help getting it, but I had the feeling he likes to work the system. He told one friend that had a terminal illness to get a lot of credit cards and run up a bunch of debt. I guess I’m being kind of judgmental. I don’t know what his disability is. He may have a mental illness from the war, but it made me suspicious when he said he was on his way to California to do some surfing. He’s also hoping to hook up with two Mexican girls later on this week for threesome sex. He asked me if I wanted to travel with him and sell his headlight cleaning solution he invented.

When I was at the Salt River I met a guy that I had a lot in common with. I really enjoyed the two evenings we spent talking in the shade of my camper, discussing travel plans and talking about the philosophy of traveling alone. He had lost his wife to cancer four years ago and I think he may be on a healing journey. One thing that keeps this life interesting is the people you meet.

I’m not going to avoid meeting people but I pretty much stayed out of sight the rest of the afternoon. I’ll slip out of here by myself tomorrow. No Fooling!

I was sound asleep last night when Donna knocked on my door with news that there was a Mesa Police Officer at the door. We learned that there has been a rash of tire slashings in the area, and I had been targeted. Whoever is doing this punctures one tire on the vehicle and randomly moves on down the road to their next target. I park my van in the street and sometimes worry that it is more vulnerable to vandalism and theft, but even cars parked in driveways were hit.

Tires are not cheap! I have been pinching pennies lately, trying to live within a budget, saving for dental work this spring, and this is not an expense that I was planning on. With some of the violence we hear about, I guess it could be worse – that’s something to be thankful for anyway. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Worth a thousand words!

It has been one month since I finished the trail. Every day I think of some way to tell people what it was like to walk through a chain of mountains on a footpath that extends nearly 2200 miles in length.  I can tell of the misery of bad weather, explain the aches and pain the body endures, try to convey the fears we were confronted with every day, and describe what it’s like to dedicate such a large portion of your life to something no one told you you had to do.  I can tell of the beauty of the mountains, describe what it’s like to be one with nature, live simply with basic needs, and find motivation in moving forward towards the inevitable goal you have set for yourself. After all this time, I still don’t know how to put my AT journey into words that reflect my life for those six months; I’m not sure I even want to.

How has the trail changed me? In the past few years I read numerous journals and books about thruhiking the AT, all with great insight into what a person undergoes on the trail. I thought I was well prepared for what I would encounter out there. I thought I would know how I would feel both during and after the hike. I thought wrong.  Until you hike it yourself, you can never know what it’s like or how you will feel.  It might be selfish to say, but we belong to an exclusive club. I want to share the experience, but in some deep personal way there is a part of me that doesn’t want people to understand; I have something that’s mine, and everyone else should find a peace of their own. Other than knowing I have accomplished something extraordinary and maybe dealing with things a little more patiently, I don’t think I’ve changed at all.

I’m often asked what was the best part of the trail.  I have to say that each day I was out there was better than the day before.  The mountains get more beautiful the further North you travel, the friends you make become closer with each passing day, and every day puts you closer to accomplishing your goal.  There was never a day when I wanted to give up. Sure, some days things didn’t always go as planned, but even those days were better than days when I had to work for a living.  If I was younger and had a healthy body, I may have turned around and hiked south from Maine

I just reread a couple of my recent posts and realized that I use the conjunction ‘but’ in quite a few of my sentences. It puzzled me why I write this way and I came up with several reasons to explain it. I might be trying to convey an opposing view, or maybe I’m not sure about my point, or I could just like the way the sentence sounds. I’m not sure exactly why I do it, but I don’t think I can stop.

Everyone is probably wondering where I’m living. The last information I posted hinted of staying in a motel, getting a room at the YMCA, or just living in my van. One by one I ruled these out on the grounds that they were too expensive, too far away, or invited uncleanness. Even though the Y was up in Niagara Falls, I probably would have stayed there. Unfortunately, when I went back to check on rooms, they had rented the last one. I was stuck. I resigned myself to either cough up the money for a motel or jump in my van and take off for a warmer climate.

Fortunately, Louie found me a place to ride out the rest of the winter. His cousin had a vacant apartment, only a couple of miles from where we were staying that I could rent without security deposit, hooking up utilities, or signing a long-term lease. We made an agreement for a set amount and I moved in. It’s not in the best neighborhood or anything pretty to look at, but it will do for now.

I did just buy a luxury. Every since I bought the new van, I’ve thought about getting a bigger TV for it. One van-camper told me how he installed a flat screen on hinges so it could be stowed against the ceiling when traveling, and lowered for viewing when parked. I liked the idea and decided to splurge early so that I could enjoy it while I’m waiting for departure. It’s a Vizio 27” razor. I chose it because it was so thin.

I’m limited to about eight over the air stations. There’s not a lot that I like on TV anymore but I do get some PBS stations and a couple of local broadcasts that have sitcoms I like. Over the weekend, I got hooked on a public broadcast and watched three hours detailing the life of Lincoln. The FOX news channel comes in crystal clear. Who knew I would be able to get fair and balanced news every night!