Friday, December 6, 2019 (12:58 AM)

It has been a while since I posted to my blog. I tried to keep the blog up while on the Appalachian Trail but that just didn’t work. It was too hard and clumsy to post pictures and write posts using a phone, so I just posted quick updates on Facebook. Even that was problematic at times, mostly because I am at best inept with social media. And I hope to still be at best inept with social media when I leave this world.

There have been some big changes in my life since last I posted. The two of note are finishing the Appalachian Trail and moving to West Lafayette, Indiana. Yes, I’m now living in the state that elected Mike Pence as governor. Dark times, but we must do what me must do.

I didn’t come straight off the trail to here. Lise and my brother Rich came up to Maine for my thru hike finish. Rich and I summited Mt. Katahdin on September 17. I really can’t convey my emotions at having summited Katahdin and finishing the trail, and especially having Rich finish with me. Over 35 years ago Rich and I hiked most of the AT in Pennsylvania. When I retired three years ago, we went back and re-did what we did 35 years prior. Maybe a bit slower the second time. It meant a lot to me that he was there to finish with me. I will be writing more about my experience as I get my thoughts together. I’ve been trying to get my photos and notes organized into something coherent, but that effort got sidetracked in a major way with our move to West Lafayette.

Finishing the AT

Rich climbing Mt. Katahdin.

Rich and I at the summit of Mt. Katahdin.

After the finishing the AT, Lise and I went from Maine to Lewes, Delaware for a few weeks. Arriving there in the evening we went to Crooked Hammock for dinner. It was in the Crooked Hammock with a beer that the reality of finishing the AT sank in. Which makes some sense. I left from Lewes to start the trail so coming back to Lewes completed the circuit.

We didn’t get too much play time in Delaware. Some birding and beach walking, but mostly working on the trailer. Lise flew back to West Lafayette and I stayed for another couple weeks. Got lots of work done and the trailer is fairly livable now. At least as a beach crash pad which is all it’s meant to be.

Cape Henlopen, black & white.

Semipalmated plover.

Putting a floor in the trailer.

Finished floor.

With furniture.

While I was still in Delaware, Lise bought us a house in West Lafayette. Being the incredible comparison shopper that she is, it was the first house she visited. She looked at it, decided it had what we needed, and bought it. This boy can’t complain. It has space for the pool table and an “Ed Shed out” out back for woodworking. What else can you ask for? Well, maybe indoor plumbing, which the house has. So, life is good.

I came back for the closing which was on November 15 and our household shipment arrived on November 17. Our lives since then have pretty much been a nonstop blur of unpacking, arranging, rearranging, re-rearranging, assembling stuff, jettisoning stuff, and bleeding money. Things are finally settling down and we are now getting comfortable in our new home. In the state that elected Mike Pence as governor.

Our new home.

We’ve had some play time too. Like going to Jasper-Pulaski State Game Area for the sandhill crane migration. Jasper-Pulaski is one of the major staging grounds for migrating cranes in the Midwest flyway. We haven’t been there since we went with our friend Joanna several years ago. Pretty hard to not be impressed watch several thousand cranes come flying in in waves.

Sandhill cranes at dusk, Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area.