Day #45 - Zero de Mayo

Miles: 0

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Of course, the only Mexican restaurant in town is closed today. Go figure. Today may have been a zero but we were busy all day, as tends to be the case.

I slept so well in the bed at the hostel. I put my Buff (headband) over my eyes to keep the light out. It worked! I ended up getting out of bed at 7:30. I worked on my journal, then we walked towards Mojoe's to find some breakfast. We got sidetracked by a sign on the side of the Dairy King that advertised the best breakfast in town. We looked at the menu and Wing It and I decided to stop. We were the only out-of-towners there. A guy patted Wing It on the shoulder on the way out and said, "Welcome to Damascus."

A bunch of hikers rolled into town around 9:00 p.m. last night. Some of them pulled a 33 mile day to get there! That's beyond insane. They said the last 10 miles were really rough. They were too tired to even set up their tents so they just rolled out their sleeping bags on the grass and cowboy camped by the river.

We stopped by Sun Dog Outfitter after breakfast. I looked at the insoles but they didn't have many brands other than Super Feet, and none my size. Struck out again. The staff was pretty inattentive so Sprinkle Burst, a thru-hiker that used to work at REI, gave Wing It the ins and outs of the shoes Sun Dog offered. When Wing It finally received help from an actual employee, he chose to by some Salomon trail runners to replace his boots. I bought a little red zip pouch to replace my beat up orange "purse" I bought at Neel Gap. The zipper should allow me access to my "camera" much more quickly. I'm sending the orange pouch home along with 1.2 lbs of other stuff I don't anymore.

Before lunch we ran into Kickapoo. She switched her GoLite pack for a ULA Catalyst pack. I'm jealous! I've been wanting to check out the Catalyst since my Circuit is too small. I'm curious to see how she likes it.

On the way to lunch we passed Wiki coming into town. He said he left the rest of the group behind in Hampton, TN. We gave him pointers on the hostels in town. He picked Crazy Larry's on the far side of town. He later met up with us at Blue Blaze for lunch. Our third time there and the service is still SUPER SLOW. The servers are nice but overworked. Considering its pretty much the only restaurant in town that's open, they should hire more staff.

Hit up the post office to pick up my bounce box. I sat out front refilling my sunscreen, lotion, etc. and ending up passing out Q-tips to hikers that passed by. Then I walked my bounce box across the street to the Old Mill Inn so that I could pick it up when I stay there with Mom and Dad during Trail Days in a few weeks. No point spending $12.35 to mail my box literally across the street.

After the P.O. it was off to the post office to update my blog for two hours. I had exactly enough time to type up nine blogs! Now I can send my first journal home and not carry two around. I also emailed Leki about my broken pole and Mountain Hardwear about some shorts I ordered but never received. I love checking things off the list!

We walked around town looking for a new dinner location to no avail. Everything is closed. During our search we walked down the Creeper Trail, a famous bike trail that passes through town, and ran into Stealth! We also saw a bunch of hikers down at the swimming hole under the bridge. I ended up just eating lunch leftovers for dinner. Then Wing It, Bluebird, and I piled into the queen bed at the hostel and propped Bluebird's iPhone on my feet while we watched Sleepless in Seattle on a VERY tiny screen. Checked another Tom Hanks flick off the list.

Life after the trail is going to seem so boring! I told Wing It last night at the bar that I plan to try to get speaking engagements at REI, the Capital Area Master Naturalists (CAMN), etc when I get back to Austin to hold me over until I find a new job. I'd love to share my experience with others and hopefully inspire them to pursue their dreams as well. I attended a talk at REI two years ago by a girl that attempted the trail and she inspired me to dive into this.

Best Thing: Getting my blog updated an using a computer with a real keyboard! It's like hiking compared to driving! So fast!
Looking Forward To: Getting back on the trail and making progress toward Katahdin.