...and, we're off!

It's almost time. Today is Saturday, March 7. I have taken my last shower, slept in my last bed, had my last ice cream...and I'm almost ready for my last breakfast. Later on this morning, I'll be taking off on a 2,176 mile, 5 million step odyssey to Maine. I know, however, that by the end of the week, I will not think about Maine...I will think about hiking for the day, until I find a good place to stop for the night. Every huge project needs to be broken into manageable chunks - if I only think about getting to Maine, progress will seem horribly slow and depressing and I'll give up. Not such a good plan.

The past couple of weeks have been fun (I missed my dog, though!) - living in Mississippi and working in a different office every day. I got to ride a bike a couple of times - a Schwinn mountain bike. I did get in one camping trip to Mandeville, just outside of New Orleans. From my base camp, I did a 70 mile bike trip down to the southernmost point in Louisiana, which was challenging - I missed my drops! (on a road bike, there are a number of positions that you can ride in, including a "dropped down" position, which is good when riding into a headwind...on a mountain bike, there is one position, upright). The next day I went to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, during the "family style" parades. After, I went to Middendorf's, where I used to have catfish growing up.

All towards this trip.......

More soon!