Date: 2007-07-23
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

It's a cold, cold rainy day is the great state of PA. We got a ride into Palmerton to get out of this craziness. Tonight we're going to stay at the free "jailhouse" hostel and do a longer day tomorrow to make up for "lost time"...time, I wish we had more of that.Last night we camped outside of this bed and breakfast along the trail...there we found a little tiger kitten (she looked just like our tiger kitty at home). We decided that it would be a great idea to bring the kitten into our tent for the night...around 4am: "Hey Andrew, is it raining?" Our sleeping bags and mats now have the sweet, sweet scent of cat pee. Moral of the story, never trust an adorably darling painfully precious kitten, it will pee on your stuff, take your wallet and drive away to Mexico. Kittens, can't trust 'em.But yeah...time. When we actually have the opportunity to use a computer, it's so rare that we have the time to sit down and write something worth reading. There are so many things we would like say, things we would like to attempt to explain, but it's really not that simple. And trying to translate "trail talk" into a format that makes us seem less crazy...this is task that takes much preparation and articulation; after getting 6 hours of sleep, walking 20 miles over jagged rocks, eating nothing but ramon noodles and snickers...the ol' brain is just slightly opposed to functioning.Truth of the matter is, some of my favorite trail experiences so far don't involve breathe taking views, waterfalls, sunsets, fields of majestic ponies, etc etc...they've been within conversation, within this almost instinctual comradery that is formed out here. And Don't get me wrong, every day is still an adventure, is something new, the vistas are still overwhelming...but there are some days, most days, actually, where you're spending the majority of your time looking 3 feet in front of you, seeing nothing but rocks and dirt...locked in a complete trance. The meditations you catch yourself in are the real mind blowing things...Last Thursday I think it was, we did a 25 mile day in which I was trapped in a daydream the entire time...my feet were moving, but my mind was somewhere between chicago and the clouds. And without my daydreaming, without the ability to see past a five mile stretch of boulders, I don't think I would have made those 25 miles. It's funny, so many people come out here to escape the facade, the turmoil of everyday life...but some days, the bad days, the best place to put your thoughts is back into that trivial chaos. And no, that last statement was not a compromise...I choose my platypus and water filter to a 2 dollar bottle of water any day!And since I'm kind of on the subject of escapes from the escape...we made time to hitch hike to the Yuengling Brewery on Friday. We took the free tour of the factory and got to taste test 2 beers at the end, I recommend the black and tan, myself. That day was so crazy...we hitched a total of 7 times in 8 hours. It took 4 separate hitches to get to Pottsville, 1 to get into Port Clinton, 1 to get to the grocery in Hamburg and 1 to get back to Port Clinton. Crazy. Oh, and if you're ever driving down highway 61 and make a stop at the Port Clinton Hotel, get the french fries...I kid you not, 3 pounds of french fries for 3 dollars, and that's just the small! I ordered them...twice.and speaking of time once more, mine is up.We love you, Brother T!Take care, everyone.