Success! From Beginning to End

Harley and I completed our 31.5 mile trek yesterday from morning until evening within our estimated time.

It was great! Although it was a dense foggy all morning and did not burn off until 1 pm, it worked out well as that was during the time Jake hiked with me. He ate all of his snacks and drank all of his water and some of mine too! However, he was able to keep cooler for the 17 + miles without the hot sun beating down on us. He did wonderful!

The remainder of the day was sunny and beautiful! I took lots of photos I will share later.

Thanks to Harley for accompanying me on this entire journey. You are absolutely amazing and I am so extremely lucky to have the good fortune to be blessed with someone so loving and supportive! Thank you also to my parents, my sister, and my friend Jane (and of course Jake and my sister's dog Spud) for joining us and keeping company on various legs of the hike. You made the day very enjoyable and memorable! We greatly appreciate your participation, help with coordination, and your cheers!

Finally, thank you to all my supporters both in contributions to NF2 research and encouragement. You helped keep me motivated which not only was meaningful as far as raising funding and awareness for NF2, but also helped keep me healthy, in shape, and positive for the surgery ahead. I definitely feel a lot stronger going in this year than I did last year. I have not spent my entire summer fretting and being fearful. Of course, as medical reality draws closer, I do have thoughts and anxiety about the unknown and what possibilities exist. However, I am much more content. I spend more time being happy and savoring life than I do crying about it. I don't know if you are able to fully grasp what that is like...to have life hanging in the balance but to find ways to go on and get what there is out of life. It is an extraordinary gift which you have helped me to discover.

There will be more to come throughout the week about this journey. Like I said, I took lots of photos and for those who know me well, I can tend to get carried away. ;o) Keep checking back this week for when I post more. For those of you on my email list, I will be sending you out an email with links and pictures.

Thanks again for making this possible and helping me to believe in myself!