Sunday, May 31--mile 1023.7
I spent most of the day in DC with my brother, eating and doing laundry (my two favorite zero day activities). With my hunger quelled (for the next five minutes) and my clothes smelling (mostly) better, I got on the train back to Harpers Ferry to meet up with the rest of the group. We were staying at this ballin' hostel that provided us with beds, dinner, breakfast, and snacks throughout the night for only $20. It's almost like food is the way to my heart or something. We all ate to our hearts' content and played some intense games of cornhole until it was time to go to sleep.
Monday, June 1--mile 1038.8
In the morning, some people had to shuttle back into Harpers Ferry to walk the miles between the town and the hostel, but since I had walked those the previous day, I took it a bit easier in the morning and headed out pretty late. I had just crossed over some train tracks and was getting ready to go back into the woods when I got a text from Hip: "Did you just walk over the train tracks?" Thinking that I had maybe caught up to him and had just missed seeing him somewhere, I stopped on the side of the road to confirm his sighting. His next response, however, was to instruct me to look back over where I had just come from and straight up the mountain. Much to my dismay, I saw a tiny little dot that was Hip standing at an overlook way up at the very top. "Are you kidding me? I have to climb that?!" I finally met him at the top after the long climb, about five pounds lighter from how much sweat I lost on the way up. The view was really great and I guess maybe worth the climb. We soaked in the sights for awhile and then headed on.
The trail went straight through a state park that afternoon, and we stopped for a long, leisurely lunch while the sun was shining. Unfortunately, the sun disappeared early that evening, and the rains moved in. I managed to pick up my pace enough to make it to the shelter before the downpour began, but it was definitely not a nice night out. We all slept in the shelter that night--something I always avoid if I have the chance, but the storm was so intense that I really didn't want to set my tent up in it. Thankfully, the shelter was new enough that there were no mice running around my face, so it was a slightly more comfortable night than it could have been.
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| Don't mind me, just napping on top of a cliff |
Tuesday, June 2--mile 1064.4
Over breakfast this morning, I was looking at the guidebook and debating what mileage I wanted to push for over the course of the day. After a bit of examination, I decided to do something crazy. "Hip....do you wanna go to Pennsylvania today?" And just like that, we began our marathon day to make it over the Mason/Dixon. It was probably the least pleasant day to attempt this; it rained all day long and was actually pretty chilly. Anyone who has hiked with me for any amount of time knows that I am basically a cat. If I get wet or cold, the claws come out and I become quite unhappy. However, somehow Hip does an excellent job of dealing with grumpy cat and he managed to keep morale pretty high all day long.
We made pretty good time throughout the day, but as soon as we reached the sign that marked the Mason/Dixon line, I stopped short. Sure, crossing into Pennsylvania would be a huge accomplishment and something that I should be very proud of, but the thought of officially leaving the south threw me off for a minute. "I'm just gonna turn around and walk back to Georgia now," I declared. After a few more minutes of me hemming and hawing and Hip threatening to just pick me up and haul me over the line, I took a deep breath and stepped into the North. The ground didn't immediately turn to lava and I didn't get struck down by a bolt of northern lightning, so I waved goodbye to my homeland and headed on. Since we had achieved our goal of making it to Pennsylvania that day and had endured about twelve straight hours of rain, Hip and I decided to treat ourselves to a night indoors in nearby Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. The road we came to was not well-traveled at all, and catching a hitch was not happening. As we started walking towards town, we saw a man pulling into his driveway and hopping out to check the mail. I scurried over and attempted to look as pathetic as possible (as if I needed any help with that) while asking him how far away town was. "It's about two miles down the road there." I made a sad face at Hip before looking back at the man with my best doe eyes and telling him thank you for the directions. My attempt at looking disheartened and helpless (again, not like this was difficult to portray) must have worked, because the man then said, "Let me unload the back of the car and I can run you guys into town." It was a nice first experience with the North and made me feel a bit more comfortable being there.
So thanks to the kindness of the man who gave us a ride to town, we enjoyed warm showers, delivery pizza, and comfy beds. And even though Hip thought it was really funny to throw pillows from his bed at my face during the night, I still managed to get a very solid night's sleep. Operation Pennsylvania was a success.
Wednesday, June 3--mile 1084.8
The two of us got to enjoy the free breakfast at the hotel in the morning before heading back to the trail, and a very nice man outside of the hotel immediately offered us a ride back! Anytime I don't have to hitch is a good time in my book. Our chauffeur also gave me some good tips on the way back on how to quickly kill a man with my knife if I got attacked. Gotta love unsolicited, terrifying advice from strangers. We got a good 20 miles in for the day and set up our tents at a shelter for the night.
Thursday, June 4--mile 1104.4
Today was exciting because we passed the official halfway point of the AT! I actually almost blew right past it because the sign that marked it was so nondescript and blended in with the surrounding trees. I was paying approximately zero attention to my surroundings and was about a foot away from the line when Hip yells from behind me, "What are you doing?!" Once I realized where we were, we stopped to celebrate for a minute before heading on while singing Bon Jovi at the top of our lungs. It's safe to say this was the biggest milestone we've hit so far, and it felt pretty dang good.
Pretty shortly after the midway point, you hit Pine Grove Furnace State Park, otherwise known as the home of the half-gallon challenge. This is where a convenience store right along the trail sells half gallons of ice cream for thru-hikers to attempt to shovel away. I was never planning on attempting this challenge, because to put it politely, I did not want to experience the aftereffects of consuming that much dairy at once. I decided to order a hot ham and cheese sandwich instead, which was about the best idea ever, since it was freezing outside anyways. I was the only person out of our 7 person group who didn't down the completely absurd amount of ice cream, and I was definitely the happiest out of everyone for it. Everyone else was participating in a chorus of "This sucks!" "Why am I doing this?" "This is completely disgusting." and "I have regrets," while I chowed down on my warm, tasty sandwich.
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| Twiggy hating her life |
Friday, June 5--mile 1121.3
The hiking today was pretty typical; it was what happened at the end of the day that made it incredibly unique. Squabbler's dad has a friend who lives about 30 minutes outside of Boiling Springs, and he and his wife were kind enough to take the group of us in for the night. We all got picked up from Boiling Springs when we got there in the afternoon and headed to Lee and Marcie's house. The amazing thing about this setup was that their house was actually a beautiful converted barn on a parcel of land that overlooked the mountains, with a huge backyard with goats and chickens in it, too. Marcie cooked the largest amount of spaghetti I've ever seen, and we ate and drank and laughed and had a generally awesome time. It's always wonderful to be included in the hospitality that strangers extend to AT hikers.
We all decided the previous night that we were not going to try for an early start in the morning. Sleeping in and eating breakfast was higher up on the list than big miles. Eventually, we made it back to the trail and began the day. Only a couple of miles had gone by before I finally caught up to Kylie! After a joyous reunion, we all hiked off together. Since we didn't get onto the trail until after 3:00 pm, we ended up having to night hike despite only hiking 15 miles that day. It was a late night and we all passed out promptly upon arrival to camp.
Sunday, June 7--mile 1151.2
Hip and I hiked out from camp first thing, unfortunately leaving Kylie behind again because the rest of the group that she had been hiking with was not about an early start that morning. This meant that after trying so hard to catch up to her for the past week, I had somehow managed to pass her in mileage. The trail works in funny ways. The trail passed straight through the town of Duncannon that day, so we stopped in at the Doyle Hotel for a snack and a few beers before continuing on with our day. It was a nice little break in the middle of the day. Fun fact: Duncannon, Pennsylvania is a super classy (please pick up on my sarcasm here) place. How do I know this? Because there is a strip club ON TRAIL. Seriously. You would not even have to divert away from the AT in order to throw some ones in Candy's direction. Needless to say, I was eager to book it out of there and back into the woods. So that's exactly what we did.
Monday, June 8--mile 1175.9
This will be referred to as the day that mistakes were made. The hike for most of the day was fine and uneventful, but mid-afternoon, some serious thunderstorms rolled in. At 4:00 pm, the skies went basically black and a torrential downpour began and did not end for hours. We learned the following day that in addition to the incredible amount of thunder and lightning that we heard and saw, there were actually tornadoes in the area, too. Oh hell no, I did not leave Oklahoma for this. For most of the storm, I was actually doing a pretty good job of staying chipper. Usually I can't handle getting soaked on the trail, but I was doing what I could to make the best of the less than ideal situation (otherwise known as "embracing the suck"). For a good hour or so, Hip and I were making our way down the completely flooded trail singing one ridiculous song after another at the top of our lungs. I especially enjoyed the ironic moment where "Walking on Sunshine" was the song of choice. It was definitely the most fun I've had in the rain on trail....until I got to camp, set up my tent, and realized that the pocket that I believed to be waterproof was....not. My phone was completely and totally dead. I was definitely pissed at myself for letting this happen, but I was still aware that in the big scheme of things, it really didn't matter at all. Hip even provided me with a beer that he had packed out a few days before in order to cheer me up. As I phrased it while eating another terrible trail dinner from inside of my tent that evening, "My phone may be dead and everything I own may be wet, but at least I have shitty lentil soup and an Old Milwaukee." When living in the woods for months at a time, sometimes that's the best you can hope for.
Tuesday, June 9--mile 1196.5
Hip and I decided to go into a nearby town for a quick resupply and lunch late in the morning. It wasn't the easiest place to catch a hitch in and out of, but thankfully a couple of people extended some kindness in our direction and got us to and from town. Pennsylvania is the land of road crossings; half of the time it doesn't feel like we're in the woods at all because you can hear the sound of traffic from all around. We did get to go over a pretty cool bridge at one of these crossings, though, so I got some enjoyment out of that. During the last part of the day, I had to switch over to hiking in my Tevas because I had some seriously terrible blisters all over my feet. It was a really rough night, but thankfully Hip is super encouraging and patient and helped me through the rest of the hike. We came up short of the mileage that we were hoping for, but I got to the point where I just couldn't go any further, so setting up camp early had to happen. Again...Hip is the most accommodating co-hiker and never even came close to giving me a hard time about not being able to push any further. You da best, Hipster.
Wednesday, June 10--mile 1217.5
Well...this was the day that I almost quit the AT. My blisters were not doing any better after the night, and from the very beginning of the day, every single step was agony. I'm generally able to push through a lot of pain pretty adequately, but I finally felt like I had reached my limit. I probably would have just sat down on the trail and given up if it weren't for Hip. He did an awesome job of cheering me on and helping me make it through the day and I could not be more grateful for that.
The final descent into Port Clinton was one of the hardest things I've ever done. Downhills are already more difficult for me than uphills due to my bad knees, and add the pain that I was already in on top of that, and I just about lost it. I don't know what sadist decided it would be a good idea to completely ignore that switchbacks exist and give us a practically vertical descent into town, but I hope that I meet them someday so I can punch them in the nuts.
Angela, my best friend from Clemson, has an aunt who lives near Port Clinton who graciously invited us to come stay the night with her. Once making it down the hill from hell, Valetta came and picked us up and brought us back to her home. She fed us an amazing, nutritious dinner (including the largest pieces of angel food cake that I've ever seen) and provided us with showers and laundry. It was the most wonderful and relaxing evening after having such a difficult and trying day.
Thursday, June 11--mile 1232.3
In the morning, Valetta cooked us about a pound of bacon each and a bunch of eggs and toast, as well. As always, I was overwhelmed by the generosity of a person who had absolutely no reason to help us out but showed us such kindness! After breakfast, she drove us to town to resupply food for the week and to find a new phone for me. I did manage to get my hands on a phone that will hold me for the rest of the time until my contract is up, so that was a relief to know that if something happened to me while I was on my own, I would actually be able to contact the outside world. I also purchased some new shoes that I hoped would be easier on the current blisters I had and prevent too many new ones from forming. Feeling much better than the day before and optimistic about my physical condition, I headed back to the trail that afternoon! We had some good views and a good hike, and I was relieved that I was actually able to walk without too much pain.
Friday, June 12--mile 1249.7
Apparently this was a generally uneventful day, because I had nothing to say in my journal except that one of the ridges we went over was completely terrifying. It was called Knife's Edge and there were huge dropoffs on either side, which was not ideal for my fear of heights. This guy named Angel coming through and declaring "What if all of these rocks just went tumbling down? What's stopping them?" didn't help either. Other than that, it was a pretty normal day of hiking.
Saturday, June 13--mile 1267.2
This morning was one of my favorites of the entire trail. The weather was perfect, the scenery was beautiful, and I actually felt physically okay. I even jogged about three of the miles that I did in the morning. After passing over the Palmerton road crossing, we ascended straight up about a million rocks through a Superfund site--not something that happens every day. Usually I hate anything that involves going over rocks, but for some reason, this was an absolute blast. It was super challenging and super fun(d).
Sunday, June 14--mile 1290.9
Squabbler's friend Trace decided not to hike in the morning and to just meet up with him at a road crossing about 10 miles down the trail. With him already taking the morning off, I decided that yellow blazing that morning might be the best call for me, since my feet were still suffering like crazy. At this point, I had to make it to a certain mileage by a certain date because the cutoff date for my trip was approaching and I had bought my plane ticket home. This meant that I had to make it to mile 1400 by June 20, but I felt like I was physically deteriorating very quickly, so I decided to skip those 10 miles and give myself the morning off to hopefully get some recovery time in. Trace and I went to a nearby diner and enjoyed a leisurely and large breakfast while the boys hiked away.
Trace and I met back up with the guys at the next road crossing and brought everyone into town for lunch before heading back to the trail. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Hip and I ate dinner at the shelter closest to town and decided to push on towards town afterwards, despite the rain that was beginning to fall. As we were walking along, a bear appeared down the trail, walking straight towards us. We started making noise with trekking poles and water bottles, and then Hip decided to start singing "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You" to him. The bear wanted nothing to do with this serenade and headed off trail. Shortly afterwards, the rain started coming down more heavily, so we stopped about two miles short of town and set up camp.
Monday, June 15--mile 1309
We got an early start out of camp this morning and headed into town for breakfast. We went to a bakery, where we ran into Papalu and a few other girls we had been running into lately. After breakfast sandwiches, pastries, and fresh strawberries, Papalu invited us to his hotel room to shower before heading back out on trail. While we were there, I got the bright idea to use the hotel hair dryer to dry out my wet shoes and socks. Turns out that this was the most disgusting thing I've ever done. I have never smelled anything worse in my life, and Papalu and Hip let me know many times over that they felt the same way. Oops. Sorry, gentlemen.
The most exciting event that happened that day was GETTING THE HELL OUT OF PENNSYLVANIA. Everyone had really come to loathe the state by the end of it, due to the endless supply of painful rocks and lack of scenery. Halfway over the Delaware River Bridge, we crossed into New Jersey! Next, we passed the Kittatinny Visitor Center, which Hip was unreasonably excited about literally just because he thought it was fun to say. We're all children here.
Tuesday, June 16--mile 1323.7
This was by far my favorite day on the trail that I have had. Waking up with Hip and Kylie at the same campsite as me was super awesome, and it was the first day that I've hiked all day with both of them at the same time. I got to listen to them getting to know each other and also fight over who was better friends with me, soooo basically it was the most entertaining thing ever. In the afternoon, it got really hot and humid and there wasn't much water around, so I got dehydrated and lightheaded. We passed a road crossing and thought that we saw a gas station, so we headed that way in order to pump me full of Gatorade. However, it was just an auto repair shop, so we went a bit further up the street until we found a tavern on the lake. They were incredibly hiker friendly and gave us a place to set our packs and charge our phones, and we settled in for oh, the next five hours. I pounded Gatorade while Kylie and Hip enjoyed a few beers and prepared for the ultimate friendship showdown. I made a 15-question quiz of trivia about myself in order to determine who would claim the title of TR's Best Friend. I don't think that I stopped laughing for about two hours. I don't know if y'all have ever been fought over before (I sure haven't), but these two made it the funniest thing I've ever witnessed. There are so many reasons why I love these two so dang much, and spending such a fun afternoon with them made me so incredibly happy.
We eventually made it back to the trail and got a few more miles in that evening. The sun was beginning to set as we started up the mountain, and we kept taking breaks to soak in the view. We came across a fire tower on the trail and climbed up to check out the sunset from up there. At this point, we decided to forget about getting miles in and just enjoy the night. Hip brought up the three beers that he had packed out from the tavern, and we hung out at the top of the tower, drank our beers, watched the sunset, and jammed out to T-Swift until it was truly nighttime. Rarely in my life have I been that overwhelmed with joy and love and contentedness with where I was right in that moment. I literally do not think that I could have been one ounce happier. I mean, c'mon, can you imagine anything better than being serenaded by your two best friends with "Stay Stay Stay" while one of the most beautiful sights you've ever set your eyes on is going on right behind them? I definitely can't.
Wednesday, June 17--mile 1350.2
In order to make up for the lack of miles that we did the day before, we made today a marathon. First, we watched the sunrise from the top of the tower we had camped underneath the night before. Then we made good time during the first part of the day and treated ourselves with a stop at High Point State Park for burgers and funnel cake. I got a pretty good look at the weirdness that is New Jersey, between old men wearing lots of bling and 6 year olds dropping the f-bomb. It was still a worthwhile stop.
The rest of the day was pretty flat and completely beautiful--quite the welcome combination. There was a long portion of the hike that took place on a boardwalk surrounded by beautiful marsh areas. It was at this point that New Jersey began to sneak its way into first place for my favorite state on the AT, a very unexpected occurrence.
Thursday, June 18--mile 1368.8
The three of us got up early and booked it towards the road into Vernon, with bagels on the brain. We had decided the night before to resupply here and take advantage of the breakfast available right beside the grocery store. Upon getting to the road crossing, the very first truck that passed us picked us up and took us into town. It was by far the easiest hitch that any of us had ever caught, and it just reaffirmed our decision to go into town at this time. The man who brought us there asked where we had started, and when we said Georgia, he mentioned that he was there just the day before. I let him know that he took a lot less time to get to New Jersey than we did, and then we headed towards food. We went to "Lox of Bagels" (hahahahaha) and had two sandwiches each. We had so many pleasant encounters with people while we were sitting there, and it completely changed my views towards the North. I apologize to all y'all Yankees who I misjudged--y'all ain't bad at all. Talking to such a variety of people who were so friendly and interested in what we were doing solidified New Jersey as my favorite state on the AT. Again, as a born-and-raised-and-until-I-die Southern girl, this was something that I never expected to happen, but I'm not mad about it.
After resupplying, a nice lady offered us a ride back to the trail. We had a lovely chat with her about being out on the trail, and she had such a pleasant outlook on hiking and life that I just wanted to hang out with her all afternoon. She said she used to do the hike that we were about to do about three times a week as a stress reliever. This particular climb is known as the "Stairway to Heaven," and it has some really great views from the top. She said that for her, getting to the top and looking out over the world helped her realize that she was a little part of the world that we live in and that her problems couldn't be too large when everything spread out beneath her was so much larger. Her thoughts perfectly reflected what I've come to realize while being on the AT. All of the little things that we worry about day to day really don't matter that much in the big scheme of things, and it is so much more important to focus on what makes us happy rather than investing unnecessary amounts of stress on trivial stuff. While in the car with her, we also saw a mama bear with three cubs run across the road, so that added to my enjoyment of the ride!
That afternoon ended up being the day of the bear. The three of us saw another one while we were hiking together, and then I came across two more a bit later while I had hiked ahead by myself. One of these two did not want to leave the vicinity, no matter how much noise I made with my trekking poles. I was getting real tired of his shit, so in a new approach, I just started yelling at him. Add that to the list of things I didn't expect to happen on the AT. I guess I had some aggression to get out of my system, but I spent a good five minutes just yelling at this bear until he finally turned away and headed off of the trail. I obviously did not intimidate him at all; he probably just got sick of that annoying scrawny human making noise in his direction. That did make it seven bears that I had seen in one day, and it brought the total number I've seen up to eleven, so I was pretty excited about that!
After my bear encounter, the three of us made it to the New York border! Kylie and I were upset about leaving New Jersey, but since Hip is from New York, he was more pleased to be there. I was sad to see my favorite state in the rearview mirror, but it's always cool to get another state crossed off of the list. Hiking on, Kylie and I immediately decided that we hated NY due to the amount of slippery rocks that we had to walk on and rock faces that we had to scale. Kylie slipped and fell a number of times, and the only reason that I didn't join those ranks was thanks to my trekking poles. I'm all about a good challenge, but anytime that I feel like there is a high chance of me getting injured due to an unnecessary routing of the trail through rocky areas, I get unhappy. We stopped a bit short that night because none of us wanted to night hike on this already dangerous terrain, and we actually made a fire for the first time in ages and ate dinner by it.
Friday, June 19--mile 1393.4
Some of the hike this day was pleasant, some not so much. There were a couple of really difficult portions going straight up or down rocks that made me pretty nervous, but all in all, it was ok. There was one spot where we had to actually take our packs off and hoist them up the rock before following after them. We set our sights on a shelter that would give us 25 miles for the day, which was really a lot for how the terrain was for the entire day. The saddest part of this was knowing that I was about to spend my last night on the trail for awhile, something that I couldn't quite wrap my head around.
Now, if y'all remember, Kylie and I started our hike off with a few other guys: Wookie, Uphill, and Tom (Uphill's brother who was just out for the first week). In what was the weirdest and best coincidence to happen on the entire trail, we were now within just a few miles of Wookie and Uphill, and Tom was coming back out to join his brother for another weekend on the trail. Knowing that I was getting off of the trail soon and being fully aware that I might not get to see these guys again, I had been in regular correspondence with them over the last few days, trying to work out a plan to meet up. Unfortunately, Uphill was off trail for a few days after contracting Lymes Disease from a stupid jerk of a deer tick. He was on the road to recovery at this point and was ready to head back out to the trail, so his aunt that he had been staying with was dropping him back off that afternoon. Because he is super considerate and accommodating, he actually backtracked miles that he had already done in order to end up at the same shelter that we were staying at that night. Wookie was already in the next town, but he super graciously said that he would zero so that I could see him the next day when I made it there. So, Kylie and Hip and I put on our party hats that we had bought to make my last day on the trail a bit more fun and headed to the shelter to meet up with Uphill. It was so exciting to see him again, and the four of us spent a fun night together!
Saturday, June 20--mile 1404.1
Kylie had a mail drop in town that she had to get to before the post office closed at noon, so by the time the other three of us woke up, she had already headed out. Uphill, Hip and I began our hike and met up with Tom just a couple of miles in! I was so excited to see another person that I had begun my hike with on my last day of hiking; everything felt like it was coming full circle. As an added bonus, Tom brought us coffee and breakfast sandwiches! In a moment where I realized that I was absolutely not ready to go back to the real world, I took a large sip of coffee and immediately spit it out onto the ground because it was so hot. Pointing out that I don't know how to function like a real human anymore, Tom said "Huh...you handled that well..." There is going to be an adjustment period back to real life for sure. The four of us hiked on, and made it to the Bear Mountain Recreation Area, where Kylie had met up with Wookie, AND she found Ox, another one of our friends from the beginning, whom I haven't seen since the Smokies! Suddenly all of my favorite people from the trail were in one place, wearing party hats and making me feel like the happiest and luckiest girl in the entire world. I can't even begin to explain how much it meant to me that everyone there had altered their plans and schedules in order to be able to see me before I left. Every single person I've met on the trail has had some sort of impact on me (which I will go into greater detail about in a later post--this one is far too long already...obviously), and having these most important people go out of their way to make me happy just meant the world to me.
We all hiked out together, still wearing our party hats. This solicited many stares from strangers, honks from people driving on the bridge we had to cross, and "Happy Birthday"s from people passing by that we didn't bother to correct. I actually just started telling people that it was my 25th birthday, because why not? When we got across the bridge, there were a bunch of cars parked along either side of the road from day hikers, and Hip and I started trying to bum a ride to the train station down the road, where we were going to head to his home from. A nice couple said they would take us down the road, and while I was incredibly grateful for this, it also forced me into a very quick goodbye to everyone. I had held it together pretty well for the rest of the day, but as soon as I realized it was time to go, I basically lost my shit. Saying goodbye for I don't know how long to all of these people whom I had come to love so much was probably the most difficult thing I've ever done. Kylie and I especially couldn't handle the moment, but after a couple minutes of teary goodbyes, I got into the car with Hip and headed away from the trail.
In what was probably the most abrupt culture shock of my life, Hip and I took the train straight into New York City. I was already an emotional wreck from leaving the trail and the rest of my friends, and now I was being plunged into this mass of humanity that would overwhelm regular, not-straight-out-of-three-months-in-the-woods Lara. Thankfully, all I had to do was follow Hip around, rather than having to do any thinking on my own.
Sunday, June 21--no miles :(
To celebrate our last day together, Hip and I decided to make Sunday the BEST DAY EVER. We went out for a large, tasty breakfast at a diner, where I got a second, free waffle because our waitress thought my first one was too well-done (it wasn't). We went to the mall so I could buy real-people clothes to wear on the plane on Monday (J. Crew...duh). We went to the beach and walked around (what zero day?). We went to a restaurant and ate fresh oysters and fish and chips and lobster rolls. We went to an Italian bakery so I could try out the rainbow cookies that Hip has been talking about for as long as I've known him (they're cakes). We got back to the house and did laundry and gave my feet an ice bath and I took a nap. I woke up, we watched Parks and Rec until it was time to go to sleep again. Operation Best Day Ever: definitely a success. In all seriousness, it was really really nice to have this sort of transition day where I was off the trail but still with one of my trail friends. Leaving the trail is difficult enough already, so being able to ease myself into real life with this buffer day was very helpful.
The next morning, Hip and I went and had another diner breakfast before driving to the airport. There was a fair amount of traffic on the way there, which made me happy because it meant that I got to spend more time with Hip before being forced to depart. Unfortunately, we did eventually make it to the airport and I had to endure another stupid, painful goodbye. Sure, we've only known each other for a bit more than a month, but keep in mind that during that entire month, we have probably spent less than 12 hours apart. It's pretty easy to become attached to a person when you are literally spending 24 hours, 7 days a week together. So naturally, it was super difficult to say goodbye. The good thing is that with all of these people whom I have become so close to on the trail, I feel positive that I'll be able to see them again, whether it's further down the trail this summer or on a regular visit once real life begins for all of us again.
Now I'm back in South Carolina at my mom's house, getting ready to attend two different family functions over the next couple of weeks. I'm planning on getting back to the trail once these things are taken care of, so hopefully I'll be able to see some of my friends again down the way. Until then, I'll be wearing makeup and eating with a fork, wearing a napkin in my lap like a real girl. Probably.
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