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Departing the Norm, Arrive at Adventure


It was an early wake up. I had to be at the airport by 6:30 am to make my 7:30 am departure.

The night before my thoughts were cluttered with my pre-trip checklist. Did I have everything ready. Was I forgetting anything? Oh and holy crap...I am about to hike the Appalachian Trail!! I'm guessing I only got about 4 hours of actual sleep.

When I did get to the airport the goodbye's were short and sweet. I prefer to keep it that way; no sense in making it a big show, I love my family and I know they love me. Plus, it was only 33 degrees outside and I was dropped off in the unloading/loading zone. I hooked up with my brother at the airport and I am not sure if it was the matching Warrior Hike outfits or the fact we are twins, but the nice lady working for Delta Airlines changed our seating so that we had more leg room and no third person in a row with three seats. Shout out to Delta Airlines and the awesome lady who hooked us up! Plus, our flight arrived 15 minutes early into Atlanta! Boom! Everything is going smooth and I am loving it.

In Atlanta we jumped on the terminal train to head to the arrival lobby and just like clockwork, Andrew, (one of the other hikers who flew into Atlanta) jumps on the same car at the first terminal stop. The link-up is going smoother than any planned mission the military has EVER had. Okay, so we did miss our first link up spot with two other hikers, Diana and Barbra, but we fixed that quickly and met up at the "extraction point". After a quick call to Sean, the Warrior Hike founder, he picked us up right at 11. Everything is still going smooth.

Then we stopped for a quick bite to eat and continued on to Forest Hills Resort. When we got to the "Resort" Jon, hiker number 6, was waiting on us. He had driven down and gotten to the resort about 10-15 minutes before us. Throughout the day everyone else showed up; Josh, Brandon, Cody, and then Daniel.

The night was spent getting to know each other and ensuring all the various hiking apps, Google sharing apps, Fitbit app, photo app, etc. were working for everyone. One side note, Thomas has crowned himself the Warrior Hike horseshoe champion based on one game with me and Andrew. We will see how long his reign will last. We all ate dinner at the resort in a buffet style. They served up a delicious grilled chicken with a tasty sauce and a pear and black berry cobbler that was just what the doctor ordered! We finished off with some more conversation and called it a relatively early evening.

Tomorrow we go over gear and get ready for the trail on Monday!

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