Adjustment - Part 1

We successfully caught a ride from our friend Tom down to PA where Lauren's dad picked us up and brought us to their home in New Jersey. During the 8 hour ride we discovered that if we banged on our knees with empty glass bottles it relieved the aching, and provided amusement for Tom.

Somehow summer still lingers here in NJ. Seems like the same story everywhere... what's going on? The late finishing thru-hikers must be enjoying some favorable October conditions.

I feel exhausted. Each morning I want to sleep in, by the afternoon I want to take a nap, and at 9pm each night I'm ready to turn in for bed. Walking and being active seems to help, though.

We've been taking daily walks through the farm country of southern NJ and even took an afternoon hike on Saturday with Lauren's parents. Four to eight miles per day is what we've been averaging. This morning I did some yoga stretching and took a nap in the sun.

Lauren's blood sugar levels have been far too high, waking up each morning above 400 and rarely coming down below 200 (normal levels are 70-120). We changed out her insulin yesterday, hoping to see improvement, but sometimes her body takes over a full week to adjust to new diet and activity levels. Her birthday is tomorrow and we have not figured out how we will celebrate.

Our boxes are piled in the spare bedroom. Backpacking gear, unused trail food, stacks of letters and bills, town clothes and other miscellaneous items need our attention for sorting. I feel a bit overwhelmed by the task, but expect to start tomorrow.

Right now I'm uploading photos from the final leg of our trip and hope to comment about them on the blog this week, as I have internet access.