In addition to my email to the Selby girls, I also suggested to Marc that we should hike some of the AT as a family. Sometimes he's a really good sport about things and he said, "okay". I figured I needed to do some research after getting agreement from both the Mathewsies family (kids are all for it) and the Selby girls and I came across Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods.
I loved this book! It was hilarious, like the snort-coffee-through-your-nose-from-laughing-while-reading and annoy-the-people-around-you-reading-sections-aloud-to-them kind of funny. Especially the first half. It also has some thought-provoking insights into the AT, American culture, and the environment. It also may have saved us all from a miserable experience. My brief obsession with hiking the AT is now cured. Thank you Bill Bryson. Marc read it after me and he agreed: great book, not a place we need to hike. The AT sounds like a pretty funny place with some interesting people along the way but I think we can skip it for some better options.
Now, anyone want to hike Rim-to-rim in the Grand Canyon? That I'm still doing for sure!
And, read the book. You'll love it.
8 comments:
I have a vague memory of this book. I almost want to say it was a book on tape (for real! We were in the Suburban I think! That much I'm (kinda) sure of!)... but it might have been mom and dad reading to each other depending on who was in the passenger seat. Or, as you said, just reading certain parts.
In any case, I remember it being very funny. I think my Uncle Henry did some of it... involved a lot of Ramen noodles, I believe.
....and I do kinda want to do it. Still, I've been gone so long that the Red River Gorge looks AWESOME from here (especially with fall approaching... boohoo!)
I wouldn't be opposed to hiking some of the AT -- like the Shenandoah Valley sounds pretty nice, it just seems like there's so many more rewarding places to visit/hike. For the time, effort and expense, I'd rather do more of the National Parks and go back to some of the places we've already been. It's an amazing country in which we live!!
I'm serious about the Grand Canyon hike. We've hiked down into it but Will was too little to do the whole thing so we need to go back. Plus, I want to go back to Zion which tops the Mathewsies' favorite places list.
(The Gorge is pretty special and unique, I think. We hiked the Pinnacle in Berea a couple of weeks ago. It was raining and very reminiscent of Alaskan hiking except some how not as fun. After we finished, we questioned why in the world we felt compelled to go on a hike in the rain in Kentucky -- most have been some post-Alaskan kookiness.
hehe... other country-ness (or at least if there are countries in between your same country location) lends itself to the enjoyment of everything despite the elements, I think.
Might I just put this out there again that the CRAZY TRAVELING SELBIES KIDDOS HAVE NEVER BEEN TO THE GRAND CANYON!
Where is Mere? Is she seeing this? What happened there throughout all our cross country car trips???
Oh yeah...I forgot you don't live in the US, Peddie...MOVE BACK!!!
Where are Isabug and Mere these days??
I don't feel witty enough to respond on W2RN lately... and I've been super busy so I've only been going to a few blogs! I'll be back soon... as soon as wedding season ends...
Also sometimes I respond in my head and don't realize that I didn't actually type anything.
hehe, sometimes I re-read older posts and then want to comment and see that I've commented whatever I was thinking about already.
It's ok busybug. We are very happy that you are so good at your photoging!
Last night I dreamt that the Mathews rode their bikes to Yosemite. I was worried that we had granola bar wrappers in our bike basket and we would attract bears.
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