TECMH were off and running

“I wish I could express in words right now all that is going through our heads. the excitement and challenge of all that is happening right now. On Wen this week we get on the bus headed for South Florida to begin the 4400 mile journy. The goodbye's have been said. the mail drops all packed. So , well be seeing you as often as possible. Thank you everyone for all your support. Well see ya soon Jill and Bill”

“good luck to you folks. hope to meet up with you when you come through.”

“Good luck, Jill and Bill.”

“Can't wait to keep up with your journey. Jill you must call me ASAP. I think I have a hook up for you in West Palm Beach.
See you in the Smoky's
Barbara”

“Best wishes”

“Barb I have tryed to call you and cant seem to catch you please email me the contact info at whitebird6@yahoo.com I have a computer at moms house in Fort Lauderdale before we get to Palm beach. thanks!!!!!”

“Best wishes MOM!!!!, to you and Bill and the others. Stay warm!!”

“Hello from sunny south Florida. the weather has been absolutly perfect the last 2 days and weve done some really great hiking. I now have a total of thirteen blisters on two feet but were haveing a great time. were staying at a friends house with a wonderful hot tub on the balconey overlooking the ocean , so we hurry to get the hiking for the day done just to get home. although this is the last night we get to stay here then we move on. anyway, so far everything is going real well, Coconuts(a local bar here) had a big party for us the night before we headed out it was great. and pladges for the American Cancer Society are really starting to come in now. we made front page of the newspaper down here and even had one man stop in his car to had us a pledge.We got attacked by chickens while eating lunch yesterday. and Bill saw a shark right next to shore(it was about 4 feet long) anyway it may be about two weeks till i get ahold of a computer again but keep checking our web site for more updates.”

“well, for those of you not following our journal at www.geocities.com/tecmh3 we have now entered the mainland of Florida. were burning up in the heat and so far the actual hiking experiance has been less than desirable to say the least.the people in the Keys however have offset the heat and miserable buggie situation by being extreamly friendly to us on our way through. we have now decided however to change our route just a little . instead of hiking up AIA we will be hiking some canals in south florida and they have given us permission to do this. it will be much less expensive this way. we can now attempt to camp without paying outragous prices for campgrounds.(we have paid as much as 50 dollars one night and that was primitive camping)Our money is going fast and we must find ways of cutting expenses and this will help. anyway, were all doing fine just very sore feet . well be on with more trip reports in 6 days when we get back to civilization. bye for now Mom”

“we have changed our plans a little from the origonal route. we are now hiking up a canal beside the everglades. it is much better than the plan of walking up A1A. we needed less people and more places to tent camp. the canal is fresh water but still does not taste to good even after filtering. allagators are everywhere so we have to watch what were doing. the sun is extreme here because there is no shade anywhere here. so far its been real tough hiking. blisters abound! but were going on. we hope to get on the Florida trail around Lake Ochechobe(?)in about a week from now, and hope the weather gets a little cooler up there . SNOW would be nice right now.”

“Good luck MOM! About the snow, be careful what you wish for. You'll be in the mountains before spring. But it would be nice if it would cool down and cloud over for your Florida section. Be safe.”

“you're posting from a tent, at midnight?”

“MOM, spray your feet with anti-persperant. Most likely your feet are swimming in sweat and that causing more blisters than normal.”

“pee-yuu! pleeeeeze!!!!”

“Sorry Rad but it's the reality of hiking in Florida heat.”

“really? i've never hiked in florida. especially in july and august. wow, it must me amazing. i really hope to do it one day because, like i said, i have never done anything like that.”

“Rad ate pissed-in cornflakes today, can you tell?

Give the guy a break, not everyone knows all the intimate details of the life of the great Radster.”

“i effectively conveyed sarcasm! moooAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!

lindys needs to go on an ECT. REEEEEALLY BADLY!!!!!!!”

“I'm cool with sarcasm Lyndy.

Ya know as soon as I posted that I remembered that you used to live in Switzerland (Florida).

Ever try that trick Rad?”

“no. i just sweat.

and swim in sinkholes! whoo-hoo!”

“ok, Im going to try if at all posible to explain what is happening right now. we are in Fort Lauderdale Florida at my moms house. Bill and I have made a decision to split up this happy group and go hike by ourselves. we all just dont have the same hiking ideas and pace and the group of the three of us is not working. so... Bill and I right now are talking about what and where were going from here. I think we are heading to the Pinhoti in Alabama with a short stop off in Gainsville Florida. then on to the AT. This is only my opinion and should not be taken as anything other, but I have a very strong opinion that hikers should hike and camp where it is allowed not just anywhere they feel like stopping. Hiking up a road is very difficult because of the lack of camping facilities. Bill and I are going on to trail where both hiking and camping are allowed. I think in the past a lot of people with private and public land have gotten upset with hikers who just go wherever they feel like and I personally dont feel that it is right. the Florida trail is not an option here as it is currently underwater.so ... on we go. we will still hike the 4400 miles we promised people but we are not going to follow the origional plan. We are attempting to stall getting on the AT the first of November by going ahead with the pinhoti and the benton mackay trails. this will stall the AT till at least Dec. that puts us in the Smokies in Jan. its tough in the Smokies in Jan but were also close to home so we can get off and rest, and warm up if we need.so Ill let you all know what happeneds as soon as I know.Also Bill and I will be useing the old web site at www.tecmh.freeservers.com and will update it as soon as we can. we are still hiking for the American Cancer Society and will still all three of us be collecting the pledges . this is not some competition we still really just want the money to all go where it started out going. so nothing has changed there. we just will not be hiking together anymore.”

“Thanks for the update MOM, we'll be thinking of you!”

“well were off to the Ocala National Forest. we can actually be on trail there and have the wonderful oppertunity to meet some tters especially arclite who has so graciously offered to help us out through his stomping grounds. we leave Fort Lauderdale on Tues morning so well see ya all next weekend from arclites house!”

“Now were hiking ! please see our web site for full details as Im on Arclites computer and really need to get going. but it has been one fantastic trip now. www.tecmh.freeservers.com”

“well were home for right now. we called home from Ga and the DR has said the new grandbaby will not wait. so we went home for awhile. we will resume the trip as soon as our new grandson comes and our daughter is back on her feet. We have had the trip of a lifetime in Florida thanks to Arclite who showed us the best Florida has to offer. I will try to get all the pictures on our web site soon.Bill and i even got to pet manatees it was the coolest trip I have ever done and were getting real excited to get back out there.”