Mummy and My Adventures in Oregon

Hello, Everyone! Saint here.

Happy Summer. I hope that yours is starting off as well as mine is with Mummy.

We’ve been on the move again. Yesterday, Saturday, June 22, we drove from Logan, Utah, up to Boise, Idaho. We had a chance to go through Pocatello on the way. We surely saw some pretty country along our journey.

Then today, we set off for Oregon, which is very close to Boise. Mummy had never been to Oregon. It was the last of the lower 48 states that she had not visited. We decided to go to Bend, Oregon, which is a great place for adventures.

Mummy decided that we should take an Oregon Scenic Byway, Oregon Route 26. That was an amazing trip.

One of my favorite parts was when we met a herd a cattle. Cowboys were driving the cattle across the road, riding horses and ATVs. They told Mummy and me that we should gently go through the herd. The cattle took their time. That is, until some people on motorcycles came along. The poor cows were scared and came running at us. We were very brave, though. I guess that makes me a cowgirl!

We saw some other neat things, too. We stopped at a rest stop and saw a Conestoga wagon.

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We went to the John Day Fossil Beds.

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And we got a wonderful view from the Larkspur Overlook.

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Tonight we are in Bend. I bet we’ll have more adventures tomorrow. I’ll try to catch you up soon.

In the meantime, hugs and wags.

Saint

Saint and Mummy’s Adventures in Northern Utah

Hello, Everyone! Saint, here. Boy, have Mummy and I been having some wonderful times these last few days. So I had just had to share a bit with you.

On Wednesday, June 19, we left Cedar City. It was kind of hard to go and leave all those wonderful memories. But Mummy reminds me that we always carry memories in our hearts.

We were heading up to northern Utah. But on the way, we stopped off in West Jordan, a suburb of Salt Lake City. There we spoke with the West Jordan Rotary Club. What a wonderful group pf people. They made us very welcome. We talked about BEYOND LIMITS and our philosophy of building community and defying the notion of “can’t.” One of the Rotary members works in a doggie bakery. So she brought me some special treats, including a “pup cake.” Boy, dogs in Utah have some really neat things.

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The West Jordan Rotary is where we met up with our friend Pete Cardon.

After the Rotary meeting, Pete took us over to the Field of Dreams. This is a fully accessible ball field that the West Jordan Rotary built with know-how, perseverance and lots of guts and determination. The greater Salt Lake City area probably has more than 1 million people in it. So there are lots of little ones who can benefit from a field in which they can play ball and be like anyone else. That meant a lot to Mummy and me

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Then we headed up to Logan, Utah, our destination for the next few days. There were lots of highways and lots of road construction along the way. It was very warm and Miracle was really hot from having been shut up while we were visiting in West Jordan. Mummy props her phone, with the GPS, across the dial indicators on her dashboard. The glass must have been really hot. Suddenly, Mummy’s phone, Vicky, flashed a terrible message: iPhone too hot—shutting down. We didn’t know where to go. So we pulled off the highway and blasted the air conditioning. Then Mummy held Vicky in her lap for a while. After that, Vicky felt better.

We continued and found the Quality Inn in Logan, our base for a few days. The hotel is a little old, but the staff are super nice. We needed to get a good rest, because we had wonderful adventures planned for the next day.

The next day our friend, Pete, came up to Logan to show us around. Pete used to live in Logan, so he was a wonderful tour guide. Mummy really wanted to see Utah State University. That’s where her daddy went to school. Going to the school made her feel very close to him. So of course, I loved that, too. We rolled around the old quad where there were building that Grandpa would have gone into. One of my favorites was Old Main.

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When we were done at USU, we headed up Logan Canyon for the scenic drive. That was spectacular. The best part came at the top when we saw Bear Lake. Bear Lake is amazing. Pete says that it is probably his favorite lake in the world. It changes color, depending on the weather: sunny, cloudy, stormy. It can be blue, green, aquamarine. As we approached and first saw it, it was aquamarine. While we there, it changed color a bit.

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Then we drove down to the lake to LeBeau’s, a Logan/Bear Lake institution. There Pete got one of their famous raspberry milkshakes.

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It started to rain, so we were off for the lovely drive back to town and to have a late lunch/early dinner. Pete treated Mummy at the Beehive restaurant. Mummy had a wonderful veggie stir fry. We haven’t been eating out on our trip—not much fun with just us—so I was glad to see Mummy have a good meal with a good friend.

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Afterwards, we had to say goodbye to Pete. He had to get back to work. But we will see him this fall at a conference. And we have invited him to Maine to come hike with us. We would love that—I so love camping and sleeping in our tent.

We have a little more time in Utah and more adventures planned. I’ll try to blog again, soon.

Until then, hugs and wags.

Saint

Mummy and My Adventures Around Cedar City

Hello, Everyone. Saint here! Mummy reminded me that it was time to check back in with you all.

We have been seeing so many wonderful things. I would have to write books to tell you everything. But I will try to give you a few highlights, at least.

We came to Cedar City, Utah, on Saturday, from Wyoming. We drove through mountains, so the road was really curvy. I sure am glad that Mummy is such a good driver.

We got to the hotel and got settled. We wanted to get some rest for our big day on Sunday.

On Sunday, we went to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It is much less traveled than the South Rim. Mummy said that she has always preferred that side. It is several thousand feet higher than the South Rim. So it is not open in the winter. We got some amazing views. We even drove around Cape Royal and Point Imperial.

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On Monday, we took Miracle in for a spa treatment. We have put lots and lots of miles on her and she needed some TLC.

Then we called the sexton and met him at the cemetery. Mummy had wanted to see her daddy’s grave—my grampa—for so many years. I never met him but there was such a feeling of peace there. I lay right down by his grave. Mummy gave me a big hug. She said that Grampa would have been crazy about me.

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Tuesday was our last full day with Cedar City as a base. We wanted to really explore. We took Utah State Route 12, a Scenic Byway designated an All-American Road. We went by Bryce Canyon National Park, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and Capital Reef National Park.

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And on our way back to Cedar City, we went by the boyhood home of Butch Cassidy. Can you believe it!

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Tomorrow we head north. I’ll try to update you all, soon.

In the meantime, hugs and wags.

Saint

Mummy and My Adventures in Wyoming

Hello, everyone. Saint here! I’m sorry that it’s been so long since I last wrote. Mummy and I have been having so many adventures that it’s been tough to find time to blog.

Mummy figured that the best way to see the big four western states of our journey would be to have a base camp in two different parts of each state. Then we could travel out from the base and return at the end of the day.

In Wyoming, we planned to stay in Casper and Pinedale. But despite calling the actual hotel, explaining our situation, holding the room with a credit card and getting a confirmation, someone else got the room in Casper.

So we went to Cheyenne, instead, and that worked out fine.

From Cheyenne we went to Sundance one day. That’s where the Sundance Kid got his name—when he was in jail for horse stealing. Another day we went to Gillette.

Wyoming has lots of fuel industry—oil and gas. We saw lots of activity.

And we saw lots and lots of animals. There are so many cattle. Mummy saw her beloved sheep. We saw buffalo. The antelope were so cute. And we saw something called a “prairie dog.” I don’t know why they call it a dog, though. It doesn’t look like any dog I’ve ever seen.

A lot of Wyoming is very dry. But they still manage to have rest areas. One of them was so neat. It had a skylight for lighting and a composting toilet.

We went to Casper and saw the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center. It talked about the famous trails that went west from Casper: the California Gold Rush Trail; the Oregon Trail; the Mormon Trail. It took people months and months to make it. They faced such hardship. It made me extra grateful for Miracle.

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After several days in Cheyenne, we drove across the state to Pinedale. Pinedale is at the foot of the Wind River Range of the Rocky Mountains. Mummy really loves mountains so of course, I do, too. It is a big jumping off point for outfitting.

While we used this as a base, we traveled up to the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. They are so incredibly beautiful. There were lots and lots of people there. And you know what? Parts of Yellowstone were closed off because Vice President Mike Pence was also visiting that day. I wonder if he was looking for us?

Despite everything, we did manage to see Old Faithful. People were pretty excited about that. I just enjoyed the time to lie in the sun.

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I think that Mummy and I liked Grand Teton National Park best. We even saw a herd of buffalo!

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On our last full day in Pinedale, we did a couple of neat things. We took a drive on Skyline Drive up to the Jim Bridger-Grand Teton National Forest. At the top, we were at almost 10,000 feet and could see Fremont and Half Moon lakes.

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Then we went to the Museum of the Mountain Man. The mountain men are so famous. Most of us know something about them. They trapped beaver for high fashion clothes. But within 20 years, they had run out of beaver.

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I’ll try to write more again, soon. Thanks for following us.

Hugs and wags.

Saint

Mummy and My Adventures in Denver

Hello Everyone. Saint here! I’m sorry that I’ve been out of touch for a little while. Mummy and I have just been so busy with adventures. But I didn’t want you to worry, so I thought that I would catch you up a little on our time in Denver.

We went to Denver so that we could attend the GlobalMindED annual conference. The conference focuses on helping First Generation and At-Risk students. Mummy learned a lot and got very inspired. I learned, too. But, just between us, I also did take some naps during the presentations.

I was quite a hit at the conference. And you know what? There was another service dog there, too: he had a visually impaired mom. Mummy was the only one who had a beautiful wheelchair, though.

Mummy and I are not really city folks, but as far as cities go, we liked Denver. We made sure to drive into the city in the early afternoon to avoid rush hour. (Why do they call it “Rush Hour”? No one rushes then, that’s for sure.). We found the hotel pretty well, but finding the parking was a challenge. We got that, though.

The people at the Sheraton were so nice. We did find that our accessible room had some major issues, though. The bathroom did not work well for Mummy and most of the things in the room that she wanted to control—thermostat, draperies, clothes rod—were out of reach. There weren’t any automatic door openers on the outside doors, either. Mummy talked with the management to explain the issues. We hope that when they remodel the hotel in the fall that they will fix the problems.

While we were in Denver, Mummy called our next planned stop, the Super 8 in Casper, Wyoming. She was disappointed to learn that even though she had made the reservation for a wheelchair accessible room, gotten a confirmation and held it with a credit card, they had given our room to someone else. I could tell that Mummy was worried. She wondered where we would find a place to stay at such a late date. Wyoming isn’t a very populous state, so our options were limited. After a lot of calling around, Mummy found us a room at the Holiday Inn Express in Cheyenne.

We found a nice park—the Civic Center Park—a few blocks from the Sheraton. So Mummy and I would walk there every morning and evening. It had gardens, statues, fountains.

While we were in Denver, we had the chance to reconnect with some folks from Mummy’s past.

On Thursday evening, we visited with one of Mummy’s former students from the University of North Dakota, Michael Tanner. Mummy hadn’t seen Tanner in 12 years. He teaches kindergarten near where we were staying. It was wonderful for Mummy to have the chance to catch up with him. He and I got along great, too.

Michael Tanner, Saint and Mummy in the Lobby at the Sheraton in Denver--6.6.2019

Then on Saturday, before we left for Cheyenne, we had a chance to visit with Mark Yaeger, a friend from Maine. We became friends with Mark when we were first going to start hiking. We hadn’t seen Mark in a couple of years, so it was wonderful to fill in the blanks. And he even cleaned our windshield for us (we had every bug from Maine to Denver stuck on Miracle).

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We don’t have many more visits lined up. But maybe we’ll make some new friends. And I know that we’ll have lots more adventures to share.

I’ll try to blog again soon. Until next time, hugs and wags.

Saint

Some Adventures Getting to Denver

Hello, Everyone. Saint, here! Mummy and I have been having so many adventures. I will have to write for a very long time to document everything. But for now, we just wanted to share a few.

It’s such a privilege to be able to drive across the United States. You can’t really grasp what a big country this is if you fly. We’ve driven through some big cities—Chicago, Omaha. We’ve seen all kinds of farm and range land.

Mummy’s ancestors walked partway across the country to Utah. We learned that Iowa City, Iowa, was a prime location for the Mormons to get their pushcarts and continue their journey to Utah on foot. That was very moving.

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We also had a huge treat in Iowa City. One of Mummy’s former students, Jackie DeMolee, works in the registrar’s office at the University of Iowa. So we were able to stop and visit with her for a few hours. Mummy hadn’t seen her in more than a decade and I had never met her. But we took to each other right away. I can’t wait to see her again.

Saint Gives Jackie DeMolee a Kiss, Iowa City, Iowa--6.4.2019

When we got to Lincoln, NE, we learned that even though we had a reservation at the Red Roof Inn and had held it with a credit card, they had put someone else in our room. It was the end of a long, hot day and we really just wanted to rest. The lady at the desk was nice and called around and got us into another motel.

Mummy was a little nervous about driving into downtown Denver. The traffic is pretty different from northern Maine. But we made sure to get here before rush hour and really didn’t have much trouble. After we checked in, we found a nice park nearby so that I can walk and do my thing.

Saint and a Lion in Civic Center Park, Denver--6.6.2019

Mummy’s looking forward to learning lots at this conference. I figure that I will get a chance to catch up on my sleep. I try to pay attention, but all that talking makes me so sleepy.

I’ll try to write again soon to keep you all posted. In the meantime, hugs and wags.

Saint

Pumping Gas

Hello Everyone! Saint, here.

Tonight Mummy and I are in Morris, IL. That’s a little beyond Chicago.

Today we drove across Ohio and Indiana. It was beautiful farm country. There were lots and lots of trucks on the road and much road construction, so we pretty much just chugged along and didn’t get many photos.

In Indiana, we stopped at a rest area named for Ernie Pyle, a famous war correspondent during World War II who reported on the infantry and was killed during the battle of Okinawa.

Driving through the outskirts of Chicago was pretty exciting. I have never seen so much traffic. I don’t know if Mummy was nervous. I wasn’t nervous, though. I trust Mummy to get through anything.

One of the big achievements for us so far is that Mummy has been able to pump our own gas. Now, most people probably don’t really like to pump their gas, but for them it’s not a big deal. But for people in wheelchairs, it can be a very big deal. Gas pumps usually have a concrete curb around them to protect from being hit by a runaway car. These curbs used to be too wide for Mummy to get close enough to reach the pump. So when we travel, Mummy has always had to go into the gas station store and get someone from inside to pump for us. Most of the time people are pretty nice. Sometimes they are not. They seem to think that Mummy is annoying. And if there is only one person working in the store, we sometimes have to wait a long time.

So before we left for this trip, Mummy worked really hard to try to strengthen her arms enough to lift the pump. And so far, she’s done it! Also, the newer pumps now have a cutout that’s perfect for a wheelchair to get closer. Mummy says that this makes us a little freer.

Who knows what adventures lie ahead? I’ll try to keep you all posted.

Wags and hugs.

Saint

On our Way!

Hello, everyone. Saint, here! Mummy and I are on our way.

We got started yesterday, Saturday, June 1. It was all familiar territory. We headed down and stayed in Enfield, CT, for the night. It was really wonderful because Aunt Sharon came all the way from Massachusetts to see us and took us dinner. We had a wonderful visit.

Today we went back up into Massachusetts and then all the way across New York State. That was awesome. We went by some major cities that we have always heard about: Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo. We went by Ithaca, the home of Cornell. The country was unbelievably lovely: rolling hills of farmland. There were dairy farms, apple orchards and lots and lots of vineyards. We covered a lot of miles, so did not take many photos.

Tonight we are in Erie, PA. That’s Erie, as in the lake and the canal. Today we were driving along the historic Erie Canal Heritage Corridor. As you can tell, we’re having a great time.

We thought that everyone would get a kick out of the Presque Isle photo. I guess that it just shows that no matter how far you go, you can’t really leave home behind.

Mummy and I will try to keep you all up to date on how we are doing.

Until next time, wags and kisses.

Saint

Ready for a New Adventure

Hello everyone. Saint here. I know that it’s been a long time since we reached out to you. I’m very sorry about that: I can’t really type and Mummy’s been so busy with school that I hate to ask her to type for me. But now that we’re getting ready for our next great adventure, Mummy said that she would just have to take time so that our friends and loved ones can follow along.

We’re getting ready for a very long trip. Mummy calls it “BEYOND LIMITS: Back to the Roots Journey.” She explained that it got its name because we are going to travel west to where Mummy’s daddy and all of his family was from.

We’re going to a conference in Denver. Then we’ll continue on to Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Oregon and Montana. Mummy wants to pay it forward and pay it backward. She wants to thank the land and its people for helping make her who she is. She wants to spread the BEYOND LIMITS core that Challenge is an Opportunity and that together, there is nothing that we cannot do.

We are sure to have so many amazing experiences.

We also want to advocate for social justice and equity. Mummy says that everyone has the right to travel and gain lodging. Yet this is really hard for so many people—particularly those with physical challenges. So we plan to really push and see what is possible right now—and what needs to become possible.

Mummy says that we need to do this because we are so lucky. We need to advocate for those who cannot.

And we’re sure to have lots and lots of adventures.

I am sharing a few photos with you from our getting ready.

Mummy’s primary care giver, Mary Coffin, is retiring. So Mummy took a photo of me with her.

I also had a surprise surgery on my paw. I was very brave but I was worried about Mummy all day. She really needs me, so I don’t know how she managed. I was glad to get back on duty.

Our friend Brandy came to see us. She just graduated from UMPI and is getting ready to start a new chapter in her life. She’s become part of our family over the last four years. We will really miss her. But she did promise to come back to see us.

I must be about the luckiest service animal ever. Mummy and I have such good times. I hope that you will follow along and help us build and maintain our terrific community.

I’ll try to write again soon.

Saint
Saint Says Good-Bye to Brandy for a Little While--5.30.2019

It’s All About the Journey: Travels With Dr. J. and Saint—The First Week of Hiking — Part 6

After Heidi left us we did more hiking. We were coming to a trailhead to meet Honey and Bear and get some supplies. We also heard that there was some trail magic—a place that was offering a hiker feed. An older man, Jeremiah, and his younger male companion came up looking for us. Honey had told them about us. Jeremiah wanted to try carrying for a while. I was concerned about him. Jeremiah is not a young man and was quite heavyset. I was concerned about the strain that this was putting on him. He made it for about seven minutes, which was remarkable. Then we asked the young man, Justin, if he wanted to try. He hadn’t really thought about it, but stepped up and did well. Their rotations really helped out the Clemson Crew.

When we got to the trailhead, it was time for a break. Jeremiah is part of a group that has some hiker hostels along the trail. Here they had taken a double-decker bus and fixed it into a hostel. Everyone went over to check it out. I stayed put on the tailgate, grateful for the break. The rest of the gang had something to eat and drink, including an unusual tea. They also met some more of Jeremiah’s group, including his wife. His wife came over to meet Saint and me. She had a connection to Maine, so wanted to make herself known.

The crew was tired and there was a ways to go to get to a good camping area. So, again, we thought that we should get a ride for a mile or two. But in this area, the road was paved and had a speed limit, so sitting on the tailgate would not be an option. We thought that we would need to travel in two groups, with one going ahead to wait until the next one could come along. But, as always, we were lucky. There was a woman there who knew Honey and Bear—she had stayed with them some years back. (Honey and Bear are always meeting people whom they have helped along the way.) She offered to take some of our group to our next jumping off place. She was doing this with her own car, just to be helpful, and wanted nothing in return.

We got a ride to Neels Gap. Some of our group checked out the supplier or used the privies. Then we hiked to our camping spot for the night: Bull Gap. We got there with plenty of daylight to spare. This was fortunate, because it gave time to set up camp and send people on a rather long walk for water. It also may have been here that the line for our (Hopper, Saint and my) bear bag got tangled and broke. So from thereon, we used the Clemson Crew’s bear-bag line.

Bears are an issue along the AT. They can be attracted by anything with a scent. So one hangs one’s food and toiletries and cook pot in a bag suspended on a line from a tree limb high enough and far enough out that bears can’t reach it. There are some parts of the trail where bear canisters mandatory. Many hikers try to avoid these sections and also think that they are capricious—do the bears know where the regulations start and stop? :>) The bears are lured by easy food. But this harms everyone, especially the bears. Bears that eat trash don’t live as long. If they become aggressive, they may need to be killed. So there are people whose summer job is chasing bears, trying to re-instill fear of people into them. They may make loud noises at bears, bark at them, may even shoot bean bags at them. We never saw any bears during our stretch of hiking. And Saint would be a good deterrent for me. But we didn’t want to tempt the bears and make things more difficult for them, either.

By the third night, the hike was taking a toll on the kids, in particular. Some were getting serious blisters. They were consuming ibuprofen. But they remained game. We sat around a campfire that night with others whom we had not known. People were interested in what we were doing. One of my favorite moments from that experience came when a young man said, “That’s so great. I hope that when I’m really, really old, someone will carry me.” I’m not sure if he thought that that was what would make him unable to hike. Or if he thought of me as really, really old. Regardless, I did laugh inside. One doesn’t get a big ego on the AT.

Along the way, the four Clemson students acquired some trail names. When we had started, Hopper asked them if they wanted to pick a trail name or just let it happen. They decided to let it happen. Jimmy became “Gold Member.” That came about because he split his pants early on from the crotch all the way up the back. He tried to repair them with duct tape and all that we had available was gold. Brad had several names. Most of the Clemson called him Triple B. His name is Frederick Bradford Bradley. Sean mistakenly thought that his first name also started with a B, so called him Triple B and it stuck. I called him BOS—Buns of Steel. That’s because early on he said that the muscles in his buttocks were on fire. All the kids learned how useful Tiger Balm can be. Lindsay was the only girl and has a high-pitched voice. So she became Screech. Philip also had a variety of trail names. The one that seemed to stick the most was Philbo, at takeoff on Bilbo from Lord of the Rings. I had told the kids early on that I identify strongly with Frodo—a small person leaving behind his beloved county and off on a great adventure. So Philbo seemed particularly apt.

To pass the time as we went along, we would tell stories. I told the students many stories from my life and also about Saint. They said that my voice was soothing and kept them calm and upbeat. I wound up telling the same stories many times because some of them would be out of range and I would need to catch people up. I also tried to learn about the kids and their stories. This was more challenging, because they would be already exerting hard by carrying and could get out of breath. I did manage to learn a bit, though.

Jimmy is a self-made man. He hadn’t really thought much about going to college. He joined ROTC in high school and it changed his life. So as he got near graduating, he began to consider going to college: ROTC would pay his way. Jimmy is a business/human resources major and a junior and 21. He wants to become an officer in the reserves and go into HR to help people. He credits ROTC with helping develop his character. He also does some work with athletics, helping out at games.

Philip was the youngest. When we hiked, he was 19, although he turned 20 a week later. As the youngest and the shortest male, he was an object of good-natured teasing. He was also often the quietest. He has a sweet temperament and a huge heart. He is majoring in mechanical engineering. The others teased him that he was just going to be a fancy mechanic. He also did not know a popular meme based on Dr. Phil—“Meet me outside—how bou tha”–much to the delight of the others. But he stepped up big time when needed.

Lindsay was also a junior and a nutrition major. She is one gutsy lady. She joked and said that being with the guys was like hanging out in a locker room. She probably had the least outdoor experience of anyone. Sean took her for a hike one weekend day before our trip to see how she would do. He gave her a heavy pack to carry and reported that she did fine but that she never stopped talking. She is a chatterbox, but it helps pass the time. Her parents were concerned about her going on the trip, but she decided to do it anyway. She took her turn in the rotation and a few times even exceeded 10 minutes. Lindsay has a heart of gold and is a great believer in true love. When Hopper shared some of her background, Lindsay said that she was the most interesting person that Lindsay had ever known. But we countered that, really, everyone is interesting. Lindsay just got a chance to know more about Hopper. On the trail, people will share the most personal stories to help pass the time. A lot of the façade of civilization gets stripped off on the trail.

Brad was the oldest of the four: 24. He was working on his second bachelor’s degree. His first was in chemistry. This one is bio-chemistry. He was going for a second because he said that he had too much fun the first time around. At one time he had worked in an emergency room and seen quite a slice of life. That influenced him to want to become an ER doctor. He had two older sisters (twins?) who had also attended Clemson. He shared an apartment with one of his sisters in Clemson. Brad was largely putting himself through school. He worked full time for a men’s clothing store. Brad was the fashion plate of the group. He had many, many suits, sports coats, slacks. I was entertained one day listening to Brad give Philip clothing advice. He was talking about his ostrich leather shoes, among other things. He talked about hanging a suit jacket on a cedar hanger to absorb perspiration and help it keep its shape. He explained quality belts and how one should never wear black with brown. When Hopper talked about how few clothes she had, Brad said that that kind of made him question his wardrobe. But that did not last. He got discounts on the clothes and was built like a model: tall and slim. He was about 6’2” and weighed around 140 pounds. He liked to dress up and stand out.

I also learned about men’s jewelry from Brad. Clemson is very big on school rings. One can get them in various metals. Brad had one and the other students expected to get one as well. Brad had a mid-range ring that cost $1,000. Students get their rings in a ring ceremony. That’s when Brad got his first suit. He liked cuff links with shirts. And a wealthy, childless uncle had given him a vintage, refurbished Rolex watch. He didn’t have these things on the trip but wore them afterward when we saw him.

Brad had been quite a baseball player in high school. He and his dad had thought that Brad might make it in the pros. He was a pitcher with a very fast ball. But he tore up his shoulders so that dream did not come to pass.

Perhaps because he was a little older, Brad seemed to be the most immediately reflective about the trip and his transformation through it.

By our fourth day, Thursday March 23, our little bad was hurting. Hopper’s knee was very swollen. She has arthritis in that knee and will probably need to have it replaced. Sean seemed in the best shape—at least he wasn’t sharing his pain. Lindsay was rolling her ankles. Brad’s shoulders, never in good shape, were painful. But his feet were more problematic. He had a split toenail, nasty blisters and an angry blood blister. We tried emergency foot care, including using duct tape. But things were tough. One of the biggest problems was that we weren’t moving fast enough to get to more water. There wasn’t a trailhead to which Honey and Bear could take us that would get us close enough that we could reliably make it. No one wanted to stop. But we couldn’t go on without water. And we didn’t want anyone to get hurt. So we reluctantly decided to get off the trail that afternoon. The kids were relieved but also sad. Jimmy seemed to take it hardest, apologizing for letting me down. I needed more time with the kids and a chance to explain that no way did these folks let me down.

Our next blog will be about camping with the kids back in Dahlonega and then finding our way to and a place to stay in Clemson, SC. Until then, take care. Be well.

Dr. J.