Every Day I'm Jugglin'...

When I first thought of the name "The Hiker's Home Office" it was because it was just so descriptive of the role. You really are the person who manages home and everything related, serves as the headquarters for the hiker, and provides some necessary encouragement and support when your hiker is challenged.

All the things that keep your house, home, and family going need to keep going when you're down to one! On the way to the airport, Jamie actually said "Oh, I forgot to tell you how to start the lawn mower." Lol. Trust me. Starting a lawn mower wasn't something I was going to be prioritizing. I mean, when the lawn needs to be mowed, you call your lawn guy!

This week has been crazy. Since we just got back from our big winter vacation, there were a lot of things to catch up on around the house. Between HVAC appointments, getting my car in for service, dealing with our taxes and some headache paper work and the like, I barely had time to create a blog, shop for and make 40 days worth of hiker food, pack up the resupplies, and get them shipped out!

Of course, when the hiker is on the trail and needs something, they call the home office. Now, we're pretty early in this trail adventure, so one would think this wouldn't be a big issue quite yet. But unfortunately, Jamie is dealing with some foot issues. And as you might imagine, foot issues are a terrible, horrible, awful, no good thing to deal with on the trail. I think there were likely a few contributors to the problem. It could be that his feet had already taken a lot of abuse during ski season, with a destroyed big toenail. It could be that he changed his hiking shoe for a slightly different model. It could be that he forgot the toll the first few days can take. In any event, the call went out and the Home Office was charged with figuring out how to get a new pair of shoes to him ASAP.

This was not quite as easy as optimistic hikers might think it should be! You see, New Mexico is a very remote place. There are a grand total of 2 REIs in the whole state, and I can assure you they are not in the southwestern corner. And while you might think you could get them shipped quickly, there are actually very limited means to get packages expedited there. So while both REI and lasportivausa.com had the shoes we needed, they wouldn't be there for about a week. At this point, some might say that was a sign and a blessing because bloody, blistered, toenail-less feet need a break! But A WHOLE WEEK?!? Wow. So now we're getting Jeff Bezos involved in this.

I will grudgingly give Amazon credit for cutting the shipping time slightly, but the real heroes of the story are the guys who work at and run Gila Hike & Bike in Silver City, NM. I tracked them down earlier when I was trying to figure out where to send a resupply box, and they were kind enough to let us ship the shoes to them to hold for Jamie, in addition to his resupply. Just really great people. Love that.

And because a little rest can do a hiker a lot of good, and the Home Office is taking care of business, Pork Rind is getting what he needs to keep on going! Huzzah!