Emily's mom here - thought you'd all like to know how it's going.
On April 15 I delivered Emily to US Air, there were tears - mostly mine. I had to watch her go through security before I could leave. She was so happy and energetic, did TSA notice? Probably not.
Then we started what, I think for us, will always be known as "The Long Wait". We're going to spend a lot of time waiting over the next few months. I'm so appreciative of Emily's friends who have been positive and encouraging during this period. And finally, she called toward late evening.
As planned, her "ANGELS" met her at the San Diego airport. Apparently she already knew them from the year she did trail maintenance with Ga Tech.
This is the busy season for the ANGELS. There were 13 hikers staying overnight at their house. They all shared vegetarian lasagna and salad together at dinner and discussed the trail and their equipment. Imagine an entire dinner discussing who has the best water purifier. Well, who else to discuss it with. Since she bought completely new equipment, Emily found that she was in good shape.
She had a great time meeting all the new people: a couple from New Zealand in their sixties and two girls from Israel who arrived without a stitch of equipment. The ANGELS were WONDERFUL, they drove everyone to REI, the supermarket, the drugstore. Emily is in great company and has gotten the best possible sendoff.
Reportedly, the ANGELS delivered seventeen hikers to the trail the day before Emily arrived. They planned to deliver Emily and two other solo hikers yesterday morning - both male one from TN, the other from Chicago. We got a text from her last night at 11:49PM (8PM her time). She's OK!
Stay tuned!
Mrs. Shirley -- thank you for the update. I'm glad her departure went well. Have you heard from her since? Is she well? If you haven't heard from her, when do you expect to?
ReplyDeleteBest,
Robert
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ReplyDeleteHello Mrs. Shirley-
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to check in on Emily and see how she is doing. Gosh, I'm sure it was hard to see her go. What an AMAZING daughter you have and what an amazing support system she has in you and the rest of her family and the people she calls friends! I'm one of her Caribou Coffee buddies that got to watch her anticipation and determination grow as each day passed and it came closer for her journey to begin. After sharing all of her passion and enthusiasm towards this journey and all the things that she was looking forward to experiencing and learning, I was ready to pack up and go with her!!! LOL I'll be checking in from time to time in hopes of hearing from her and be able to share some first hand experiences along the way. Take care and many blessings....
Duan
Hi Mrs. Shirley,
ReplyDeleteI had a lovely chat with Emily at the PCT send off in April. Just wondered how she is getting along with the snow. Hope she is doing well and forging on! I wish her well and would love to hear how things are going.
Dona, in Seattle