One Week to Go!

The time has passed so quickly. Where did it go? It was here one day, and then gone the next. I have only one week to go before I board the plane that will take me to take me to Georgia.

Speaking of planes…I’m nervous about flying. I’ve flown a lot as an adult. I use to do fine, but it has gotten more and more nerve-wracking as time has gone on. I explored all the possibilities of getting to Georgia, and ultimately decided to face my fear of flying. Now that it is one week away, I’M A’SCARED! Please pray for me, people. If the big, bad TSA lady decides to grope me in my privates, I’m afraid I’ll deck her. No, seriously! It will be an automatic reaction. I react when people touch my private parts. It’s like when the Neurologist tests your reflexes with that little rubber hammer thingee. Your knee just pops up of it’s own volition. That’s the way my hand will be if my privates are poked.

With all of the turmoil in the world (you know what I mean) airports are not my favorite place to be. Too, there is the actual flight and my safe arrival on the other side. I know that statistically, I’m safer in a plane, rather than in a car. Somehow that doesn’t comfort me much. The airport…I get nervous in really crowded, confined spaces. *Sigh* I know…suck it up and put on my Ex-Officio big girl panties. OKAY…as long as TSA will keep their grubby, gloved fingers OFF my Ex-Officio panties! One of my goals for this hike is to face a few of my fears. I’ve already camped out in the woods by myself! If I can do that, surely I can face the airport and flight.

I’m still trying to figure out how I’m going to fly with my humongous backpack. You see, the Osprey Aura 65 has a really aggressive hip belt. It ain’t goin’ nowhere, and it ain’t givin’ an inch! That thing stays in a permanent, out-stretched hug. There is a minimum size requirement for luggage on Southwest Airlines. The total added inches of Length plus Width plus Height has to be under 62 inches. I tried a plastic tub, but the one that fits my backpack exceeds the total inches I’m allowed. I’m still trying to figure out a way to squish it all into the smaller tub…maybe taking everything out of the pack and packing it that way.

I posed a question on an Appalachian Facebook Ladies group, and the consensus was to put the pack in a large duffle bag. I’m not sure I can find one to fit my backpack because of the hip belt, and I’m not sure it would meet the size requirements. The other most popular suggestion was putting it in a contractor trash bag. If I can’t find a way to check my bag under their size requirements, I will have to pay an extra $75. Right now, I really want to DRIVE to Georgia. It would solve a lot of problems and alleviate worries. Just me and my pack on an epic road trip to an adventure…sans the crowd.

Food (blah, blah, blah). YES, I’m still dehydrating food! FOOD, glorious FOOOOOD! I think I might make it with breakfast and supper. I’m almost at 150 with both of those. Lunch…I’m just hoping to get enough done for my six most important ‘mail drop’ locations according to appalachiantrials.com where it is known that ‘re-supply’ options will be very limited. Otherwise, when I drop into towns to pick up my mail drop boxes, I’ll stop by the grocery store and pick up something for that week’s lunches. Organizing and dehydrating Food and Mail Drops has been the single-most stressful part of this deal so far! I have a week to go, and I haven’t yet started packing my mail drop boxes. (I did finish my mail drop list.) I’m going to start working on organizing and filling boxes today, by taping the box bottoms, and starting to address my mailing labels.

I’m still whittling down my backpack weight, and I’m still trying to walk on a semi-regular basis. For those of you who are not on my Facebook, I cut off all of my hair. I decided that long hair would be too much trouble to deal with on my hike. Sorry, no pics. I hate it…hate looking at myself this way. Yesterday, I threatened to shave it all off, because it’s still trouble to mess with. There is still too much of it, that it looks horrible in the mornings. I have always been at war with my hair, and this is one battle I just don’t want have to deal with on my hike. I’ll have too many other battles to which I’ll need to devote my time and energy.

Did I mention that I am stressed? If you feel so inclined, I could really use a prayer or two…or three. If anyone wants to organize a ’round the clock prayer vigil, I’m sure that would be extremely beneficial. Fasting might not be a bad idea either.