Pensylvania ROCKS!!!

Good day to all!!!
On May 14 Isabel, Wonderbite, Sallie, & I Travelled to Damascus VA, to attend Trail Days, A Hiker's festival! Sallie & I walked in the Hiker parade which was a water gun & balloon war through the main street, someone said it was probably just a ploy to wash the stink off the hikers! it didnt seem to help much though, hikers are a fairly stinky bunch!! From there Isabel and I said our goodbyes and she began the 11 hour drive home to Starkvegas, and back to finish the school year. Dustin ((trailname MYCO-POLO)as in Where are the mushrooms, oh here are the mushrooms:)hitched a ride from Duncannon PA with Trail Angel Mary down to Trail Days. His girl friend Ali & our great friend Jared came up as well. So Sunday the 17 we headed towards PA, Where my awesome buddy Eric & his fiance opened their newly purchased home to the 5 of us and fed us diner and breakfast then showed us to a local outfitter to pick up last minute supplies. Then it was off to Duncannon Where Dustin had gotten off the trail for trail days, which is 1041 miles from Mt. Kathidin Maine. We began our trip walking through town, across the Juanita, then the Susquhanna Rivers, then up to the ridge top. The second day out someone passing us southbound told us there was some Trail Magic 5 miles ahead at a road crossing, it was awesome they fed us frozen fruit, gatorade, hamburgers & hotdogs, one of them had a pet groundhog. It was an awesome start. we also met to other guys headed to Maine one named Squeak & the other WD-40 cool guys from Chicago. any who Jared and Ali hiked 3 days with us then had to head back to other obligations. so Sallie, Myco,& I Headed North. we have had an awesome time stopping at views of PA farmland and even hiking with an Amish Family for a short distance. The flowers & trees blooming are wonderful, we always stop and take pictures of the ones we haven't seen yet, and attempt to identify them. If there is one thing to say about the trail in PA its ROCKS!!! big ones, little ones, sharp ones, slick ones, red ones, black ones, grey ones, the moss covered ones are nice, but lookout on the Lichen covered one they are slick as _____!! we we climbing down from Wolf Rocks overlook where it was to cloudy to look over when i took a spill on one but caught the edge with my fingertips which saved me from a good 10 foot drop. WHEW!!! I have loved almost every second of the trip so far, my feet have not loved quite as much as i have though. Sallie is just as excited every morning as ever to get started walking and she knows when we start putting our packs on its time to go and get her pack on. she was tolerating her botties for a while but when they were wet they rubbed her a little too much so she took them off, she has a pair of socks on the way. she loves chasing chipmonks however she tried to chase a porcupine and wound up with 5 quills in her nose, yet it didnt phase her. I am typing this message in the office of The Presbyterian Church of The Mountain in DWG (Deleware Water Gap) PA, we are 894 miles from Kathidin and enjoying the hospitality of the hostel here at the church. we will be back on the trail tomorrow in New Jersey, for the next 70 miles. I apologize for the gramatical errors i am trying to type quickly. Thank you for your Prayers and support!!! "Inch by Inch, Life's a Cinch!, Yard by Yard, Life's HARD!!!" Peace, Love, & Happiness to all!!!

Preperations for the AT

Yeah!!! I Graduated!!! on May 2 2009, I walked across the stage at the Humphrey coliseum to receive my diploma in Landscape Contracting. These are exciting times. on May first Iwas awarded The community service & outreach award from the LA department, I thought that was cool! Finally I get to focus on preparations for the trail. It's raining today Monday the eleventh, I love the rain especially when its raining on my yard and garden, Iwonder how much Iwill love the rain while I am hiking??? I do have a really cool Sylnylon poncho that my mom sewed together for me, to use as a tarp/packcover/poncho. Mom also sewed some hammock sleeves for me out of some ripstop fabric she had at home then she cut out a pattern of a sleeping bag liner out of some nice green polyester, and I sewed it together just last night, we will see just how well those stitches hold up can they handle constant use for about 160 days and nights??? Isabel took me to the grocery store last night to stock up for my first three days of hiking.