Just back from Boston....and boy do my feet hurt!!

Waiting on our taxi outside UMass. It will be a LONG time before I carry that dang camping pack again! Finished!!!! Now where are my flip-flops! And can someone find me a beer??

Boston skyline in the background.
They had these signs that you could carry while walking. So I carried one for Gran!
We went to the Sam Adams brewery for a tour.
(***Warning: Could be lengthy post!)

Wendy & I made it back in one piece! Boston was so much fun and the walk was one of those experiences I don't think I'll ever forget. We made it to her friend Amy's apartment about 9 pm on Thursday night. Amy & her husband, Ashley, have recently moved to Boston from Birmingham and live in the Fenway neighborhood. We were pretty pooped by the time we got there but not too tired to go eat some Italian and drink some wine at a great little place about 25 yards from their building. Little did I know it would be my last edible meal until Sunday night!

We got up at 4:15 am Friday morning (which is really 3:15 for those of us in the central time zone!) and headed out to Gillette Stadium, where the Patriots play, to start our walk. We had an Opening Ceremony and we were off! Wahoo! Until about 5 minutes later when it started pouring rain and our rain jackets were in our bags. Booo!!!! Neither of us can remember why in the world we left them in there but anyway....So about 30 minutes in to our rain soaked walk, we came upon a grocery store where we made a dash for it and bought some ponchos. They helped a little bit but by then we were already soaked and FREEZING! But eventually the rain stopped and we dried out. Friday we walked a total of 18.5 miles. Unfortunately for about 80% of the walkers, the early rain resulted in hellacious blisters that made many of them resort to just walking in flip-flops b/c it hurt too much to wear tennis shoes. I was one of the few that managed not to get any blisters. Thank you Jesus!

Just as we were finishing up and walking in to camp, the skies grew dark again and they made us all go in to the school. We grabbed our bags- even though they told us not to- and began the 2 hour "lock in" at the middle school. While we sat in the hallway and watched it pour, we made the executive decision to just sleep in the school Friday night rather than put our tent up and take our chances outside. Eventually, they made everyone sleep inside because it was supposed to storm all night. Note: The spaghetti dinner they served us Friday night was the only meal I can honestly say was OK.

Lucky for us walkers, we woke up to a nice day on Saturday. Otherwise known as "so hot" to the people in Boston. I think it might have broke 90 but I'm not sure. What a bunch of wimps:) Saturday's walk was pretty uneventful, except for my short ride the the "Support Shuttle" due to a little bought of low blood sugar. Nothing a lift to the next pit stop for some food couldn't fix. Saturday we walked 20.7 miles (I think this number will be ingrained in my memory forever!). About half way through Saturday is when I started experiencing mega pain in my feet! We got to do the whole tent thing Saturday night. It was pretty cool, except if you had to pee in the middle of the night. The potties were a little bit of a walk.

Sunday was the last day. We only had to walk 15 miles, what a relief! When I got up that morning I almost fell I was so sore! But I was so excited it was the last day that I just kept popping Motrin and walked through the pain. With about 2 miles left, we came upon a bunch of the walkers sitting on a patio outside a restaurant having cocktails. Not ones to be a party pooper, Wendy & I stopped for a beer and joined the fun! Eventually we got back on the road and finished the walk. It was such a neat experience, definitely one I will never forget!

Sunday night we headed back to Amy's apartment, showered and went on the hunt for edible food and wine! After some searching and an inpromtu tour from a recent Harvard grad, we ended up at this italian place in Little Italy. It was the best fettuccini alfredo I've ever had! We befriended the guy sitting next to us, drank wine, cleaned our plates and Wendy caught her hair on fire. By the time we made it back to Amy's, we were spent and looking forward to sleeping past 5 am!

Monday, Amy took us around the city of Boston. We ate breakfast in Cambridge, drove through Harvard & MIT, attempted to go on a Duck Tour, visited the Sam Adams brewery and saw Amy's studio where she makes awesome clay jewelry (I bought 3 pieces!-http://www.olariastudio.com/). After an hour delay at the airport, we finally took off for Atlanta. By 11:45, I was finally sleeping in an actual bed for the first time since Wednesday!

I encourage everyone to consider the 3-Day walk. It was such a great experience and so moving to see the survivors and people currently undergoing treatment have the energy to do the walk. Definitely made us think twice when we were complaning about our sore muscles and blisters!

Pictures coming soon. Hopefully I can steal the computer for a few minutes this weekend!