Back in Boston, for a spell

I'm amazed that I was able to get back to Boston so quickly, but I had an interesting day of travel yesterday. At 6:30 AM I was on the AT, hiking away. I hiked about 3 miles when I realized my knee was not going to get any better this way and I was risking making it worse. So I hiked out (partially on road) a couple of miles and hitched to Hampton, TN. There, I hit the internet cafe to check flights from the Tri-Cities airport near Johnson City. Much, much cheaper then expected, so I arranged a shuttle at a local Bike Shop (Thanks Hampton Trails!) and purchased tickets from a friend of the shop who works at the airport. Picked up some BBQ from Quarterbacks then I talked to Sutton at the grocery store, who set me up with a shower at Braemer Castle. I went back to the bike shop, got a ride to the airport where we received a call in car that I had my flight changed. So we hustled, I with my bad knee. Everyone at the airport knew me when I came in (What's your name? This is the guy!) Finally, I flew home and had some nice chats with folks on the way.

I weighed myself in the AM and I'm down to 145, from a starting weight of 158. I'm amazed by this, and probably a bit dehydrated, so I've got to get my weight back up. This is normal for thru-hikers to lose over 10 pounds right off the bat, so I'm not overly surprised, but I've got to get some food immediately!

I'll call the doc shortly and get an appt for this knee. If everything checks out, I may be back in Roanoke in 2.5 weeks.

--Matt