Today is a bitter/sweet day for me!

This is my son and his lil adventure dog, in early spring,

checking out his new tent that just arrived, for this great

adventure in his life.

Happy Monday Morning to you all,

Well, this morning has been a bittersweet morning. Today is the day our son left for his Trek thru the Appalachian Mountain Trail. We are very happy and excited for him, because he is so excited about doing this and has been planning and reading about it for 4 months now, but of course we will miss him and of course, are concerned about his safety.

I have to say I am very impressed with what an amazing job he has done on the planning and execution of everything. Anything my husband and I or anyone would ask him about, did you think of this or do you have this or that item, the answer was always yes, I do. We asked because we know how easy it is to forget something when we are just packing for a weekend getaway, let alone a wilderness journey, where there is no where to buy anything most of the time. That is a scary thought to me, but I can't dwell upon it!!

My son is very capable and very ingenious about coming up with ways to do things, and ways to improvise, he gets that from his Dad and his Grampa's, and me too, I think!! Well, he was up and out by 7:30 a.m. and on the way to the airport with his daddy. I am so grateful my hubby took him, he had asked me, but I just didn't want to deal with it, I knew it would be hard to watch his lil dog have to go in that tiny cage, and I am a crier by nature, so thought it would be best for him and I, if daddy took him. I didn't want to literally rain on his parade, if you get my drift. I wanted to be excited for him, and I was........even if it was smilin' a bit thru a few tears, he knows me!! what more can I say, he would probably think there was something wrong with me, if I didn't shed a few tears cause you see I cry whether I am happy or sad.

He made tons of preparations, dehydrating all sorts of foods, putting food packets together,even made his own trail mix, and it is the best I have ever eaten, I might add. It has dehydrated strawberries, bananas, apples, and raisens with nuts and coconut and granola with a tinge of cinammon flavor to it, not additives of any kind. I told him he should see if he could sell it when he gets back, because it is seriously some of the best stuff I have ever seen, rather eaten!!

Here are some of his food packets he put together.

Some of them smell wonderful, I was wishing I had

the foresight to make some up for hurricane season,

cause I think they will taste pretty good.

At least if they taste as good as they smell.

and here is that yummy granola I was telling you about,

I just had some, can't be doing that too much tho, just

in case he needs more.

Plus he has been buying stuff off ebay that he can use for his

trip just like the tent above, and a small camera, and tiny cooking

stuff, and bed mats, and a carrier for Joey the adventure dog.

It has seemed like Christmas around here with packages coming

almost daily for awhile. I think he quite enjoyed that!! I think

the planning has been fun and exciting for him, at a time

when he certainly needed some fun and excitement.

Here he is with backpack and the dog carrier,this is my daughter's dog, Rosie, she only weights 8 pds, Joey weights 12 pds, but Rosie happened to be handy at the time. Unfortunately, it didn't work well for Joey sitting in it cause she is a lil longer than Rosie, so we had to reconifigure it some as you will see. Also, picture this backpack sticking out about 3-4 more inches, and about4-5" over the top of his head, it was about even with his head here. It weights over 40Pds, probably close to 45 pds. I would bet!!

We made it like a sling, so it goes around his neck

instead of being strapped to the front of him.

that way she can lay down. Then we also had

to come up with something to protect her feet,

because sometimes they will be hiking in rough

rocky terrain.

So at first he bought these little boots at the pet store

that have velcro, but they didn't stay on long at all.

2 mins. to be exact. When he put her down to walk

it was hysterical, wish we had a video of it, we would

surely have won a funniest home video award.

So then he tried baby socks and you know he used the handymans

secret weapon, duct tape!! That seemed to work okay, and he

was gonna put more duct tape on the bottom so it would be like

our shoes but of course, more limber. He was set to go with

that until yesterday. when his sister came over he was showing

her Joey in the socks and she managed to get some of them

off, and my daughter said, it almost seems like she needs

to have something go across her back that will hold them

up, and I said you know, I have thought the same thing

myself, so...........guess what we did all afternoon yesterday.

We had just the two straps across her but then had

to add the one across the chest. We are gonna call

them doggie garters!! this is our prototype model.

Doesn't she look stylish in her black and white. She is a trooper I am telling you!!

The thing down the back was still pinned, once I finished sewing it the white elastic

was no longer sticking up. He also added silicon to the bottom of her socks,

so that it would sort of be like tennis shoes. It seems to be working well here,

just hope it works well on the trail. He has some extra socks and a sewing

kit just in case he needs new sock feet.

Lest you think this dog is not up to the task, she is truly amazing and adventuresome,

the perfect dog for my son. She is a riot, and keeps us laughing most of the time.

She is a tough lil bugger, and can act as grumpy as can be, yet is really a sweet dog,

she just doesn't like you to know it.

Here she is working for my hubby, while he takes a coffee break!

Believe it or not, this white thing in my gardenia bush

is her, Joey in all her glory!! she tries to climb trees

as well, and I have found her sitting in my huge potted fern that

is in the back yard. She is a Jack Russell terrier,

and she is a tough lil girl!! And she adores my son,

and was so happy he was taking her this morning,

course, she has no idea where she is going, but I

can tell you when she find out she will be a happy

girl, cause she likes exploring, hiking and being

with her daddy!!

Well, as I just checked the clock they should be arriving

at their destination soon, but they will have a shuttle

to get to their hotel near the trail, and tomorrow

starts their big adventure, and ours.

He is gonna try to text us everyday, but we are

not expecting it to work, so if we get a message

before he gets to the next town that will be

Heaven!! If you feel led we would covet your

prayers for him and for us, that we will keep

our focus and remember that he & Joey are

not alone out there. Our son know the Lord

and Jesus goes wherever he goes, I just

have to keep reminding myself of that!

Well, thanks for dropping in, and hope you

enjoyed yourself, it has been an exciting

time for us as well as him. So I will

keep you updated on what is happening.

He is prepared to stay possibly 4 mos.,

but he will come back as soon as he has

had enough. Selfishly we, and his friends are

praying that it want be too long!! ha

Blessings and Love to you all,

Nellie