07/16/2002

Wow! I had SO much fun during this weekend! I have to say that I was just blown away by the group of walkers that joined me for the campout/training weekend. They were absolutely great!

Friday night we walked 5.2 miles around the state park then along the bluff trail. I'm pretty sure a few folks were wondering what they had gotten themselves into after doing some of those hills! We were rewarded with an awesome sunset though. I also enjoyed watching other campers faces when 20+ walkers went walking by! After dinner we hung out at the fire for a bit then headed to bed.

Saturday started around 5:45 when an overly ambitious squirell announced his presence about 6 inches from my head! After breakfast we headed out to meet our day walkers for 16.2 miles. The weather was a bit chilly but we warmed up after walking for a while. Lunch was brought to the island by my son Jason and his friend Nick. They did a great job! The weather even cleared up in time for our lunch on the beach! After lunch - more walking! 24 walkers decided that 16 miles was quite enough but 3 of us went on to complete 22 miles. I was so pleased by how good I felt. No blisters, no serious knee problems, just tired. YEAH!! After dinner we sat around the fire again and laughed ourselves silly. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time!

Sunday morning we decided to shorten our walk to 8 miles so we would have enough time to break camp and get everything loaded. It was pretty cool to watch everyone sit around after walking just visiting. It felt like people weren't quite ready to go yet. I know that I definately have met some people that I want to stay in touch with. This definately felt like a "mini 3 Day" right down to having a hard time explaining to people how much fun it was!

On our way home Danielle and I stopped and dug some clams. Danielle hadn't been clamming before so it was fun to share that experience with her. The clams were great too!

Now I'm back home, unpacked, and getting ready to print my final newsletter. Once I get that done I'll work on a team BBQ and Day Zero rides. Wish me luck!