Week 1 So Far

It is night 5 and for the first time since beginning this journey I have found both the time and internet connection to be able to post to this blog.

I am exhausted at the moment but given I do not know when I will be able to post again I wanted to jump on here and let everyone know we are doing well so far.  The rain the last few days held us at bay for a little while but it gave us time to sharpen our outdoor living skills in camp as well as pinpoint trouble spots in some of the gear we originally left with.  For instance, today I traded in my cotton tank tops for some 100 percent Polyester tops...cotton and water are not a good combination when you're struggling to keep dry in rainy conditions.  We also invested in some better shoes to help make the trek as pain-free as humanly possible!

We are currently in Danville, VA...we got here partly from hiking (I would say about 25 miles total) and partly from hitching rides with various good-hearted strangers.  I don't have enough time to get into detail here but I am keeping a pretty in-depth written journal that will hopefully be shared in a published book after we finish trekking the perimeter of the country.

Tomorrow we have a ride to the Appalachian Trail (Southwest VA) after which we plan to hike the entire southern portion of the trail down to Springer Mountain in GA.  I am not sure how much (if any) internet connection we will have during that time but will update everyone as often as possible and continue to keep the written journal going.

I will finish by saying that I feel blessed to have met so many wonderful people since we left Virginia Beach this past Tuesday morning - it is good to know that people like them still exist in society today.  I also want to add that while there have already been some rough spots in the journey (aching muscles - particularly my hip - rain that kept us from making any progress for two days and left everything in camp damp - to name a couple) I feel happy, free, and harbor no regrets for the decison to do what we are doing!

Here are some photos taken so far (most taken just outside of Clarksville, VA near Occaneechee State Park, where we camped for 3 nights during the rain - one cool thing about the damp weather was the appearance of various forms of fungi in the campground which, as you'll notice, I saw as a photo opportunity!):