It’s funnier if you know us.

“Sometimes I wake up in the night and want a drink of water. And then I wonder whether I should drink the whole glass of water in the cup or leave some. Then I think to myself that that water isn’t doing me any good in the cup.”

Nick F.

Trust me, it sounded SO MUCH MORE profound in my drunk state.

Vacation is awesome!!!!!!!!!!! I’ve had so many cheap beers! I love you Coors and your taller, skinnier 12 oz. cans! And oh man, crabs!

Exclamation Point!

This. Is. The life.

Hangin out at Nick and Mary’s, readin a book while Nick, Mary and Ryan play WoW and drinkin a couple of tasty tasty beers? PRETTY SWEET.

Wish you were here.

PS. Ryan and I got a new laptop! Eeeee! Now that I have absolutely no excuses, I swear that I’ll have AT pictures posted before Friday. (For realz!)

Sorry about the radio silence all. But we’ve been very busy sitting on our asses, watching TV and generally reverting back into our slovenly and lazy forms. Buh bye hard(er) body, hello soft body.

The postcard that announced that we were ending our trip obviously never showed up at Samantha’s door, but I suppose that I can let you know now what happened. We spent about 5 days at Uncle Johnny’s in Erwin, TN. It was great to have some time off, but we both wanted to start to get moving again. Ryan was feeling better after his stomach bug, and to be quite honest, we were getting kind of bored just sitting around reading terrible books and eating fast food. Turns out that sitting on your ass for 5 days, excessive heat and getting a resupply that seriously weighs down your packs makes that 4 mile, 2000 foot climb back into the mountains really REALLY hard (for me, anyway). It was on that day that I sat down at some point and decided that I didn’t want to continue on for that much longer and told Ryan as such. I let him know that if he wanted to continue on without me, I wouldn’t mind. I would just bum around sleeping on people’s couches for 6 weeks. He was unsure as to what he wanted to do, so I decided that I would make Damascus, VA my ending point and he decided that he would put off his decision until later.

My reasoning for ending at Damascus was twofold. First, I really wanted to see the Roan Highlands, where the Rhodedendrons only bloom once a year during the third week in June. We were going to hit the blooms at the perfect time. Second, I wanted to be able to say that I hiked from Georgia to Virginia. Nevermind that Damascus is only three miles into Virginia.

As we hiked, the scenery became more and more pretty and the weather was cooling down. I was beginning to question my decision to quit. Although everything was getting better, the more I thought of finishing in Damascus, I still felt this overwhelming sense of relief that I would not have to hike through those 600 miles that are Virginia. Ryan and I both knew that we were not going to be able to make it to PA anyway as our milage was not high enough to get there in time for the beach in August. So really it was just a question of when to call it. Ryan flipped a coin, heads for home, tails for trail. Heads had it, and we were heading home.

6/26

This particular adventure may be coming to a close, but is is by no means our last. Up next? An extended bike trip? The Coast-to-Coast path in the UK? Going back to school? Who knows!

Steph

So we’ve spent the last 5 days here at Uncle Johnny’s. A combo of poor water sources and exhaustion forced us off trail for a bit At one point we questioned whether we wanted to continue on, but then thought, “What else would we do?” Get jobs? PSHT. Not yet anyway.

Steph

6/9

So we’re way out of the Smokies by now, but could really only find Smokies postcards. The picture on the other side is lovely, but you should know that in person Clingman’s Dome is a Fraser Fir GRAVEYARD. Down trees are everywhere & it’s kind of sad.

Steph

6/9/08

The AT passes through Hot Springs, NC on its main street. Passing stores offering whitewater expeditions and ice cream, you come to the edge of town after only three blocks. The SPA & springs, which had once been a detainment camp for Germans during WWI, gave our bodies a much, much need[ed] soothing. We now prepare to leave, weighed down with seven days worth of provisions. Onward to Erwin, TN!

R

6/9

It’s always great to come out of the forest upon a scene like this one. The first thing that pops in my head is: PRETTY! The second thing is: Also, HOT! Things are going well here. Met the world’s worst snorer & had 3 sleepless nights in shelters. The guy had terrible sleep apnea and every 30 - 45 sec. were punctuated by a LOUD bear snore. Upside was no mice. Too scared, I guess.

Steph

*So, we hear they filmed The Fugitive here? Rumors are as of yet unconfirmed. Actually just watched that movie for the first time. Good old TNT.

*Our diets now consist of Clif Bars & mashed potatoes.

*R & I spent a whole day singing about bears. <--That bear ate my bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

*Running out of material.

Steph

Last night, the weather channel advised us that it will rain six of the next seven days. This used to not be so bad, what with the being indoors, dry, and warm. Anyway, time to leave Gatlinburg. Yay.

Ryan