San Diego

The morning of my departure from Portland my sister picked me up for brunch. As we were making our way through NE looking for a quaint place to eat I got a message from grandma. Something about a box I left. At first I thought she was referring to the box I left for Xena. Then it hit me. Oh no, I left the food box!  Tiffany might have been slightly disappointed if I didn't show up with our first five days of food. So Colleen pulled the U turn and we went back to grab it. Thank you grandma!
The worst part about backtracking was having to say goodbye to Xena for the second time. I think it's hardest with animals. You cannot explain to them why you are leaving and that you will be back. Instead they stare out the window as you leave and wonder how you could have forgot to put them in the car. After all, you took your backpack and trail shoes, which usually means they get to go.
Despite almost leaving the start food behind and, yes I hate to admit, an emotional goodbye to my dog Portland gave us a great send off. The weather was bright and sunny when we boarded our train. Thanks to Colleen and Echo for the ride and company to the train station.
The one piece of gear I was disappointed not to pull together before I left was a set of flashcards. However, Mom surprised me in her "open on train" card with a set to start with. Megan will have to sympathize with Tiffany as she got the presidential and state fact flash cards on the Colorado trail.
The train ride was fairly uneventful. We did have someone snore through the night and got the majority of our sleep on the floor of the observation car.
In San Diego we were lucky enough to have Tom pick us up from the train station at 1am in the morning. After some much needed sleep we were also lucky enough to have our friend Mollie fly in to spend a day around town and send us off. We were even able to sneak in a brewery!
A big thanks to Tom and Molly who have let us use their home as a starting base in San Diego, taken us to dinner to make sure we are well fed before we hit the trail, and who will be giving us our ride to the start.
Tomorrow we start walking!
Trail Statistics
Mile: 0
Days: 0
Body Type: Desk Jockey
Weight: 135
Candy Bars: 0
Bags of Chips: 0
Jars of Peanut Butter: 0
Showers: clean at start