I'M BACK!!!! First, let me say, I'll reply to your replies on my mid week blog later (when time permits). But I don't want to wait to post about my trip too long--I might forget what happened! It will be difficult to summarize 10 days in a single post.

Let me say I'd give the total experience a B grade. I'll give an A for the food, prepared by the leader's wife. She never went out to work like the rest of us. She made pies, cobblers, entrees, soups, etc. that were spectacular! I gained 5 lbs, according to my scales. That and "road food" added weight to my thin frame. No big deal, but it's back to fruits and veggies.

I'll give an A to the accommodations--a "dorm" facility with real beds (although I had a cot), kitchen, meeting rooms, showers, etc. Of the 20 or so trips I've done, this is the first non-tenting experience! The worse part was the snoring of 3 of the 4 bunkmates. It was awful, earplugs and all. I'm not used to any sort of noise, so they kept me awake much of the time. I kicked them, hollered at them, shown a flashlight in their faces, etc., all to no avail. I even took my "bed" out of the room. Aggravating.

Overall, the fellow volunteers were good. I knew one from last April's trip to Utah--great guy. But there's always one in the group that's a "pill". And we had one. Grade: B overall.

The work was mostly trail maintainence--Appal. trail, primarily. Our "guides" were paid volunteers for the trail--"kids" in their twenties. With all the rains, there was a lot to do--trail washouts, etc. Hard work with lots of walking--in the mud. We all got very dirty. Hurray for showers.
I'll give a C+ for work satisfaction and worthiness. Hikers will appreciate the results.

I made a couple of stops on the way home, mostly for "stretching" my legs with short hikes. I was tempted to take a glide ride at the soaring school near Corning NY. But I would have had to wait 2 hours. I did stop to see Jon(dude) in Tiffin, OH! I got to meet Hobbes and 6 other cats who have run of the house. We had a nice chat for about an hour, and Jon gave me a couple of jars of canned "sauces", homemade, of course! Can't wait to sample them! Thanks, Jon!! By the way, Jon is exactly the way I expected him to be. No surprises.

I got home before dark, despite several unexpected detours.
Otherwise, the trip home was uneventful.
I'm hitting the golf course now, yard work be damned! The weather is great, so I must take advantage.
Catch you all later.