Andrew Baird August 6, 1998
General Delivery
Port Clinton, PA 19549
AT hiker

Dear Andrew:

Keep the pictures and notes comming and date everything. Makes your trip more interesting.The Kelty Pack that I sent to Mt. Washington made it back here a couple of days after you mailed it! Really fast.

What are all these vacation days on the AT? Enclosed is an article by a couple of guys out west who did the same kind of trip but the west coast equivalent. You will recognize certain experiences I bet. Also, we hear that the man who first did the AT from start to finish is on his way from the south to do it again. If you meet him take a picture! Get in it yourself. He is 70-something I think I read.

I am sending some more dehydrated food as emergency supplies, or just a break from the routine of your booring, planned diet. Of course, taking these trips off the AT and getting to small towns to the P.O. helps. Let me know if you would like me to send your "light" boots, and anything else.

So, you are "ten days behind." Two legitimate and six illegitimate! Pizza on the AT? The Fourth at Mt. Desert Island! A trip to Boiling Springs, Pa. Sounds pretty relaxing. You probably deserve it after all that misery in Maine.Pizza yet!

This is quite an experience. I never took such a long hike in my youth. Longest was probably two weeks and that was one summer! Good luck.

I worked like hell as Chairman of the Faculty and so I get a little money for the effort it turns out. Has to be spent on academic related stuff and so I am going to get one of the latest Mac notebook computers. I have enjoyed the IBM that is supposed to be in the lab of the environmental course. I like to take it to coffee and write stories and even letters like this.

This summer my tennis league at Brown has been going strong. There are about 38 on my list, but only about 10 diehards. We play Tue, Wed; Thur and I play at Belcher's Saturday morning. Belcher strained a muscle in his back, but he won't let up and so it does not heal. He has not played tennis Saturday mornings for three weeks.

I was planning to do my environmental course, Chem 12, in summer school, but only one signed up and it was canceled. However, I ran it on the Internet for this studentñfor free! Saved her $3,000 I think. The student's name is Liz Kelly. Liz and her mother came by at the beginning of the summer and I gave her a textbook. The text and the material on my web page form the course. There are readings that she downloads from the course web page and then I set up an IRC (Internet Relay Chat) and we have an online discussion of the material at certain times. Liz is in the Washington, D.C. area. A fellow from the Chicago area and another from Wheeling West Virginia joined her. These chat conversations are saved and the transcript of our discussions I place on the web page along with comments I make later and links I make to related stuff. So it has been an interesting experience.

Keep hiking,
Love,

Dad

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