Trekked Macon

Gentle readers, it is with great fondness for all of your interest in Macon's great trek that I will be signing off this blog and bid you adieu.  Missy has left for the ATL airport to pick up Macon this afternoon at 3:00, and I wanted to make one final post.

I went back to the beginning of the blog and re-read many of the posts. The names like Hiawassi, Franklin, Gatlinburg, Clingman's Dome, Damascus, Harper's Ferry, and on and on....seem so long ago and brought back so many memories.  However, it is with very mixed emotions that it is time to acknowledge that this trek is over.  When she started, we were, how can I phrase this delicately, concerned.  We worried about her safety, we worried about her health (injury), we worried about the wisdom of starting a business and then leaving it for six months, we were worried about ourselves bidding her farewell.  What we found was a strong, gregarious, adaptable, innovative, observant, tough adventurer we had as our daughter.  We found that the trail is a wonderful sub-culture that is supportive of these kinds of dreams, that takes in for its own all types, all strata, all persuasions of folks who are bound by a common love and adventure.  Macon has made many friends, many of whom I have no doubt she will stay in touch with for many, many years to come.  There has been a status for us too, kinda like the parents of a "starter" on the team that comes with being the parents of a "thru hiker" that has been fun and served to open many conversations.

I am so looking forward to spending some time with her while she figures out the next big adventure and to hearing the stories and tales of the trail.  The layout and designer part of her will have her edit, re-format, and basically clean up this very amateurish project of love.  So, with that I sign off, but you should stay tuned as Daystar has more to say to you!