Post Hike Thoughts

I'm back in Florida and boy does it feel strange. Traveling in a car at 70mph was a total different sensation than having maxed out at 4mph hiking over the past few months. I want to give a big thank you to Courtney for coming and picking me up and putting up with my smell in a small car. It was great to have somebody to talk to for the ride home rather than being stuck on a bus. While I am thanking people I would like to thank everybody that sent me Mail Magic and also my Uncle Ford who sent me Mail Magic but the P.O. lost it or it was stolen who knows. To all of you who encouraged me, prayed for me, and commented on the blog or photo's I really appreciate it. Mark and Brandon thank you once again for stopping by the house last year and giving me pre-hike advice. My biggest thanks goes to our Lord and Savior for never forsaking me, always getting me through tough times, and for providing me the opportunity to do this hike. My parents need some help around their houses for a while so that will give me something to do for the remainder of the year and I will stay with them until January. Taking a shower felt great and to be honest I cannot sleep right now. It's gonna be strange adjusting to a life other than the trail. The Appalachian Trail was not just a hike, but a journey, and was my home for 111 days. I literally was living in the outdoors 24/7 breathing the fresh mountain air for majority of the hike... that's a crazy concept to fathom. I heard on the radio that the high is 79 and low of 56. That is sooo different than a low around freezing every night and a high in the 60s. One thing I have been thinking about recently is I have been wearing the same shirt and shorts every day of this hike. When I got to my folks house I put on some shorts and nothing fits at all. What do I do when I am so skinny. I dont want to go shopping and spend a ton of money when there are no sales going on right now you know what I mean? So I guess a belt cinched very tight will have to suffice for now. One of my biggest concerns is how my weight will change after this hike. I will no longer be hiking 20+ miles a day 7 days a week in the mountains. I want to maintain this physique but build up the upper body mass that I lost during the hike. So I guess I will start doing some running if my knees can handle it, maybe bike a bunch, get some bands to do muscle workouts, or whatever else I can think of. I'm not sure but I don't want to become a lazy bum and lose all this leg muscle that I have just worked so hard to build. I am 147 lbs at the end and I started at 159 lbs if I remember right. Another thing I hope will get fixed on its own is my bladder. Problem number 1 is it has shrunk because I have had my pack hip belt cinched down tight on it for a long time and that has reduced its size. Problem number 2 is I don't have much in the way of bladder control. You see whenever I had to take a leak i could go and I just went wherever it doesn't matter. Sometimes there would be a cool looking tree, or a sign post, or a cliff, uhhh maybe I should stop there. Haha. So learning to actually have to hold it and not being able to go whenever and wherever will be interesting. Hopefully I don't need my mommy to teach me potty training lessons like when i was a toddler. Getting used to being around people will be a challenge I forsee when in areas that are very crowded. To be honest though I am not concerned and should adjust fine with time. Loud music like at church will be tough too but with time I will be able to handle it again.