Book Review #5: THE LONG WAY HOME by Dan Healy, Bob Fromhartz

Sorry for the lapse. Bruce and I were on a little Appalachian Trail vacation for 10 days then came back to all the fun that is involved with getting back from being away. It's hard to go on vacation. Sometimes I don't know why we don't spend more time at home. After all, we live where people spend big bucks to visit. Maybe we should rent it. Now that's a thought! Then we could spend more time with those white blazes.

Bruce and I met Dan and Bob at Trail Days back in May. They were there promoting their book also. It was fun watching these two senior best friends banter back and forth for the weekend. You could really tell they had each other's six. At 73 years old, Dan hiked the trail and Bob supported Dan in various ways throughout his journey.

Bruce and I enjoyed our daily reading time together as we followed Dan up the trail, then down the trail as he needed to do a flip-flop in order to complete his hike within a 12-month period. He began his hike at Springer Mountain in Georgia with the intention of summiting Katahdin as his grand finale. But due to never-ending bouts of challenges, time was not his friend forcing him to bounce up to Katahdin before it closed in October then finish his hike going south.

Some of his challenges made us laugh while others made us squirm. Our mantra before reading each evening would be, "Let's see what mess Dan gets into today." We only jest, since we knew he survived and lived to tell his story.

Its stories like his that makes me love the Appalachian Trail so much. It really is something for everyone. The trail does not discriminate. It calls the young, old, and in between. It beckons the rich and poor. It pulls the believer and nonbeliever. It unites the lefties and righties. It heals the broken and humbles the healthy. Sure, I do wonder why we don't spend more time enjoying the blessings of our home, but there is just something about the trail that keeps me going back as often as I can.

We love to read about the trail, but once Bruce and I get through the titles we collected from Trail Days we should broaden our literary scope. If there is a book you'd like us to read and review please send us an email telling us about it. Or better yet, gift us a copy.

Steve Adams, a fellow author we also met at Trail Days and successful podcaster of Might Blue on the Appalachian Trail has inspired me to consider doing audio readings of books. First up, would be HAPPY HIKING my memoire and BLACK BEAR'S ADVENTURE my children's book, then followed by my soon - new release - AS FRESH AS DAISIES. But right now that is just a project I need to figure out. It involves technology and if you've been around my blog long, you'll realize me and tech do not play well together. I wouldn't mind any advice on that also.

If you'd like to check out Dan's story you can contact him at Healydanny@att.net to order a book.

Happy Hiking,

Emily

Post Script Notes: Up next for book review will be the second half of Mighty Blues Appalachian Trail adventure. A Ziggy Tales episode is in the works as well. He has been a challenge lately limiting my free time to write as well as other things.