Catching Up...

Hello!  Glad you could make it.  :)
     Just a quick "catch-up" for the last few months to get us started - I moved back to New Jersey, mainly to spend some quality time with my Papa.  He's doing pretty well these days - but he's had his ups and downs - and I wanted to enjoy some time with him, as he is...a pretty cool dude. 
     The timing on my move back (September) happened to work out perfectly for me to reconnect with long-lost friends - The Von Thuns.  They have an amazing family farm in South Brunswick that I (and most of my family at some point) worked on as a kid.  I gave Cindy a call, after re-connecting on Face Book, and ended up working there again all fall.  It was a lot of fun - school tours and fall festival weekends.  I actually worked until Christmas, decorating and selling wreaths and grave-blankets.  Good times!  But as will happen on a farm...work grinds to a crawl for a few months and I'm currently searching for something to hold me over, work-wise until April. 
     Why until April, you ask?  I'll tell you...I am FINALLY going to hike the Appalachian Trail!  It's been a dream ever since attending 4-H summer camp in Stokes State Forest, at about 12.  I'm hoping to leave April 1st and how far i get along the trail will depend on finances.  The AT is close to 2,200 miles, running North from Georgia to Maine.  The average completion time for a thru-hike is 5 months.  I could say right now that I'll make it all the way - and I'm gonna do my damnedest - but I've decided to enjoy myself and not really hold back.  You see - the AT is a very social trail. Thousands of people hike it every year and you are rarely in the woods for more than 3 days at a time without having the opportunity to stop in a town.  There you have numerous opportunities to spend money - hot food, laundry, hostels or hotels with showers, replacing worn gear, etc.  So....I'm gonna go with the money that I've got to spend on this...and get as far as I can get.  If I make it to Maine...awesome!  If not...I won't regret it for a minute.  I'm ready for an amazing journey...and I can always pick it back up in the future too.  I'm really excited to spend a bunch of low-key, low-tech time in the woods...but I also can't wait to meet a bunch of interesting people and have a bunch of adventures!  I'm going to see so many places that I've never seen...and I'll share photos here.
     So that about catches you up.  Right now my days are split between job hunting and trail planning.  I'm pretty sure I am not going to bring my phone with me on this hike (well-debated...no phone won out for a bunch of reasons) so I think this blog will be a great way to stay in touch.  I'll try to check in about once a week or so.  Please...leave me comments or better yet - start a blog!  I'll follow you if you follow me. :)