June 9th through 12th: Our visit down south and returning to the trail

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Graduation went well, it was so nice to see Matt walk across the stage and get
his diploma. He was Sigmacomlauda (I think that is how it's spelled)// I will leave it how my dad typed it because I think his phonetic version is awesome - matt//, any way he
had a 4.0 GPA. Very good for a guy who was working third shift and raising a
family at the same time. It was held in the aviation museum on NAS Pensacola, a neat place
to visit if you can get there. We stayed at Tammi's parent’s home while in
Florida. They always treat us very well when we visit. They also fed us well.
Dave is very good at the grill and the deserts are the best.
Went back to AL on Sunday evening, and then we departed there on Monday the 11th.
Stopped in Phenix City, AL for a visit with an old Army friend. Frank is going
to pick us up at Springer Mtn when we get there. We went over the pickup plan
and caught up on what has happened since we last met. After that we headed for
Atlanta. Stopped in at REI to get the last few things we needed for the trail.
Just caught the early traffic headed north on GA400 toward Gainsville and
Springer Mtn. Pre-drove the pickup route so I can send Frank a detailed set of
instructions to ensure a smooth extraction from the trail.
Spent the night just north of Knoxville, TN. Turned the car in at Bristol and
caught the shuttle back to Damascus, VA. Arrived at the hostel by 11AM. Spent the
day doing the return mail box along with putting a two-day re-supply box together.
We have found that five days supplies are about as much weight as we can
comfortably carry. To keep from doing seven days food out of here, we will
pick up this box at a hostel five days from here. It will then get us to the next
re-supply town in seven days. We had a nice Mexican microwave supper, then went
to a trail angel’s house for some hiker provided music. Back at the hostel and
time for bed. We are going to stop by the outfitters tomorrow morning on our way
out of town. He has a scale we can get the weight of our packs on. I will let
you all know how the lightening project turns out.
My pack was running between 60-65lbs with a five day food supply and a days
water. Weight today with five days food and a days water 55. CC's pack was
between 35-40lbs with the five days supplies, now 27lbs . We are hitting the trail now
and will let you all know how nine days off affected us in five days when we get
to the hostel.
Patrick, Deborah Mooney aka OD & CC
All Who Wander Are Not Lost

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Comments

[Heather]

Katrina just e-mailed the link to this site to me. Pat you are an amazing writer... I went back and read quite a few of your entries... almost feels like I'm there. The pics are wonderful too! You guys are awesome! Praying for you! Heather

[Micki]

How Awesome!!
Mom and Dad.... I can not believe you ran into the Bag Lady. I was really hoping that you would. I hope you guys had a nice time together and you will have to tell me how you ran into her and recognized her. Logan right now has a little bitty flu bug, 1st official one in 4 years. Not bad!!! We have a huge Hawks nest up in the pines in the back yard. They had 3 babies. One just over last weekend feel out and something got to it. Logan said Poor Birdy. The baby is doing well. She is moving around a lot. With Logan he always just gave me a punch or a kick, this one is kicking her legs and moving her arms at the same time. Hope that doesn't mean she is going to be a stinker. We love them anyways. Well, All is well here and Ginger is doing really good. Loves to be outside and under my feet where ever I go. I love and miss you guys but really proud of you. I think I would have quit a long time ago. See you in Sept. Love Micki

[Tanya Byers]

Miss you
Hey you guys....love the pics...those are amazing shots and sights you will never forget...I cant believe you ran into the bag lady either....how cool is that....totally meant to be....moving today...lots going on .....starting to build our new house 2nd week in July....moving to clayton and renting from Cathy Danielson.....schools out next week...summer is here! very warm all week and no rain since last fri....so glad you were able to make Matts graduation....you must be proud parents.....all your kids are great kids.....well better run....wont have computer til next week...take care..praying for you ....God Bless....Tanya

[Jeffrey]

Hi Guys
Hey Moon, and Moonette, I have been following your travels when I am near Internet access, and have been enjoying them very much. Got your message the other day and it was good hearing from you. Bad news, the map never made it to our house, just to let you know. Love you Guys Jeff Spirdione