After mouths of planning its official, our tickets are purchased and we will be heading to Springer Mt. on March 13th. On the night of the 14th we will be sleeping in a tent somewhere on the Appalachian Trail.
For several different reasons we decided to take a train rather than a plane. First it is just as inexpensive as the cheapest fights that we could find on kayak.com. Next, it gets us closer then Atlanta’s airport by about 30 miles, which means a less expensive shuttle ride to the trial. Taking the train from Washington DC to Gainesville GA will also let us appreciate the Appalachian mountain range and put it all into perspective what we are about to do. There are no fees for baggage and guidelines are much simpler on the train. Lastly there is plenty of space on the train to move around and the seats are much larger then on a plane.
My mother and perhaps my father will drive us down to DC from Ithaca sometime early in the weekend. We will stay with my sister and bother-in-law in Arlington, Va before catching our train at 6:30pm on Sunday March 13th. A shuttle will pick us up when we arrive around 7am on the 14th and take us to Springer Mt.
I have a few small things to get and couple loose ends to tie up here before I can leave. But I have been ready and itching to get going for the last month or so. I think the hardest part of going is the change in life style as we transition to a life on the move. I am looking forward of getting away from our materialistic world to a simpler more peaceful way of living. I also cannot wait to see the beautiful Mother Nature in all of its forms and hope to meet some wonderful people along the way. These last two weeks are going to go by fast.
-jon
