Channel Fever or Trail Fever?

According to blog protocol, I guess this is the part where I introduce myself.

My name is Ryan and first off I, like Mark, would like you to know that I am not a bitch. Although, I do recall hearing a song made about Mark highlighting qualities one would define as "bitchy", but we'll save that for a later post.

I was born and raised in Toledo, OH where I spent my youth playing street hockey, climbing trees, causing my parents grief and eating large quantities of Oreo pie.

I worked all through high school at the small, family owned Inky's Fine Italian Restaurant, I couldn't have asked for a better first job and I still keep in touch!

After high school I worked at UPS and did a semester of college before realizing that UPS nor college was interesting enough to stick around. Before I knew it I was following in my good friend Mike's footsteps by enlisting in the U.S. Navy. Only Mike was stationed in Virginia and I ended up with orders to San Diego, as far apart as we could possibly be in the continental states. I dealt.

I am by no means a suck up, but I wouldn't have met these fine gentleman had I not been stationed here, on this ship. I would also like to clarify that I do not hate the Navy or my decision to join. I joined for change, travel, education benefits, and most importantly, time. I needed time to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and more specifically what I wanted to go to school for.

So here I am five years later, time invested, world travels, and a prepaid college degree, what more could I ask for?!

Now for today's post.....


Not only am I making my blog debut with this post, it will serve as the first of many that will highlight our post-Navy adventures. Most important being the Appalachian Trail, making this a win-win for me!

There are dozens of unwritten blog entries that belong here. Problem is, we've been having so much fun the past 8 months that this thing was put on the back burner and forgotten. If Justin, Mark, or I were to take the time keeping this thing up to date you would have read about everything from late night drunken rap battles, bowling, or Rock Band to what happens in Patong Beach,Thailand on Halloween(ok...you'd be better off without this knowledge).

First, I'd like you to know the number of days Mark and I have spent on land over the last 3 months can be counted on one hand....

Now, on to an update as to where each of us is and what we're doing. As you may know the three of us are in the Navy. Well, Justin was released about a month ago. Yes I said released, this place resembles prison more than prison. As for Mark and I, we are still here for another month at which time we fly back to San Diego and finish the final out processing. Our lives right now lack excitement, on the other hand Mark and I have logged enough hours playing NHL 10 to qualify for a Guinness record. As I type this, Justin and Joe are making a cross country road trip with plans on being in Time Square for New years. Reason number one why the Navy is similar to prison, you can't take dope ass road trips when you want to.

Now, on to the things that turn my frown upside down. Mark and I purchased our first pieces of gear needed for our upcoming thru-hike. That's right, we're thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail! We chose March 8, 2009 as the official start date and should finish sometime in July. If you don't know, the trail is a grueling 2,175 miles long and runs through 14 states from Georgia to Maine! I'm not going to give you a history lesson, just a few significant numbers related to it such as Maine and the final 100 miles, a.k.a."Hundred Mile wilderness" have a total elevation change of over 100,000 feet, which is equal to 3 Mount Everest's.

Let the misery begin......

Mark and I will be doing a couple overnight hikes when we get back to "test drive" all of our new gear. Seeing as how this stuff will become an extension of us for awhile, we'd like to break it in a bit so there are no surprises when we hit the real trail. As well as make sure we have everything we need, something a few overnighters might shed some light on. So far we purchased our pack, sleeping bag, and shelter. Those are really the biggest "make or break" items so to speak, often referred to as the "big four" in trail language. I don't want to steal too much of Marks glory on this, after months of research, we've opted to go with hammocks as our shelter of choice. I'll let him fascinate you with that in an upcoming post.

This wasn't quite as informative as I's hoped but it feels good to see something finally posted! Mark and I will continue to keep this thing updated (even if it's completely random) until further notice....enjoy!

Ryan