Goodbye Hooter, Hello Paperwork

The 3 Amigos, heading out.

I apologize profusely for the long delay in posting. I have not succumbed to the elements, disease, or attack by wild animals. I've merely been distracted by paperwork. But first thing's first. On Friday the 16th, we took Hooter on his first long hike. It ended up being over 15 miles, most of which was pretty flat, but it did include a nice 1,200 foot climb at the end. Of course, none of it was made easier by the shenanigans of my hiking partners...

So THAT'S why Daddy's pack was so heavy...Thanks for the rock, Hooter.

The Docs at Doc's Knob.

But despite the tomfoolery, it was a beautiful day. We met a young man from Sweden who was section hiking. It's a long walk from Sweden, for sure. The AT draws them from all over the world. We were pretty worn out after the long hike, and really excited to go out to eat. My bison burger was delicious. It was Hooter's last night with us too, and we were glad to share that with him. The next morning, Hooter dropped us off at the trail, and we had to say goodbye. It was so good to see you, Hooter. Thank you for your diesel truck, your ice cream maker, and your endless sense of humor.

Even if you were always laying down on the job...

After we got dropped off, we made it about 2.5 miles before it started pouring down rain. We had 10 miles to go total. Within 30 minutes after the storm him, I was completely soaked. That's what I get for forgetting my rain pants.

Nice view, bad weather.

Yeah, we have a trail umbrella. So what?

Hiding under rocks works well too.

It was definately an occasion where I was very happy to get to the RV. It was an extra special arrival too, because it signaled the beginning of a few days of rest. I've recently received several secondary medical school applications, and it would be very bad to get behind in that paperwork and miss a deadline. Even more exciting, the minor revisions to my publication were due back to the journal ASAP, and I was chomping to get that finished. So, we parked the RV, and Trail Angel Mamma and Daddy stayed in a Bed and Breakfast while I got the RV to myself to use as my office.

Sunrise at the B&B.

The Office.

The good news is that I got the revisions finished on my paper, which is on it's way back to the publisher and I submitted 3 more secondary applications. So overall, a few days well spent. We also got a visit from a special friend from home, Razz, who drove up with his son to bring us our Jeep so we have a less unwieldy vehicle to buzz around in.

Thanks, Razz and Razz Jr.!

Unfortunately, the Jeep had some minor difficulties which left Mamma and Daddy stranded in town 2o miles away from the RV park where I was working for a night. But everything worked out in the end, and all technical problems have been resolved. We even got to go out to eat to a very nice restaurant here that serves all local, organic food to celebrate me getting my MCAT scores back. They are so committed to it that their menu changes daily depending on what is fresh, and it was delicious. Today, I wrapped up some final paperwork and we hiked about 2.5 miles to the last road in town. Tomorrow, we'll head out for an overnight in the woods. I've had to take a lot of zeroes this week, and I feel like I'm still getting the hang of juggling this adventure and the "real world" responsibilities I have, namely applying to medical school. But so far, it seems to be working out, and hey, you have to kiss a few frogs before you get things right.

And I don't mean figuratively.