Date: 2015-06-07
From: Caledonia State Park

To: Home
Miles today: 0.0

Hooray for today! A wonderful, amazing day though it wasn't spent on the trail. Also hooray for a real computer, so I can type super-fast. SO EFFICIENT!I didn't sleep well since my head was spinning with thoughts of errands and chores to be done the next day. I had to spray my clothes and tent with permethrin (but first I needed to go and buy more permethrin). I had run my hiking clothes through the washing machine TWICE in order to try to get some of the stink out. There's no hope getting all of the stink out, though... it is just permanently part of those clothes now. They will smell damp and sweaty and gross forever. Hopefully I will not. Unless I decide to hike forever. I might. Actually, I don't think I could take it. I love showers too much.I got up "early" (that is, later than five). Everyone was tired... Mom and Dan had gotten up at 3 a.m. yesterday to pick up Candace and Taiki at the airport, and of course Candace and Taiki were tired from traveling all the way from Japan. I was tired from waking up at 5, hiking 13.6 miles, and then sitting in the car for 6 more hours. Still, we didn't sleep that late. SO MANY THINGS TO DO.I had told everyone that I wanted to get up early to head to Wal-Mart and get permethrin to spray all my gear and junk before the big WELCOME HOME CANDACE AND TAIKI picnic was to begin. Candace had said, "Can I go with you?". So I waited for her and Taiki to be ready. This gave me time to neurotically go through some of my food (I have so much food), pick out what I wanted to eat for the rest of the week, and generally be a basket case about my errands. Candace and Taiki had another request: to go to Dunkin Donuts. So off we went, to Dunkin Donuts and Wal-Mart. Such an exciting trip! But I was happy to be with them, happy to blast music in my car stereo. The radio sucks and I forgot my iPod so we had to listen to Jim's random old CDs. Some interesting nostalgia there.And the day was a long day. With lots of eating. I stepped on the scale this morning... remember how I told you that my thighs were chafing? I don't even want to admit how much weight I've gained. I don't want to think about it. Suffice it to say that Red Panda needs to cut down her consumption of M&M trail mix, or else she won't fit in her bridesmaid dress for Jeralyn's wedding in July. I'm in hot water, now. I put on a dress to wear for the picnic this morning and then looked at myself in the mirror. Dad was right, I am bulky! I cried sadly to my mom, "I look like Xena!" I miss the days when my thighs didn't chafe! I am the fat twin again, gaining all the weight that Candace lost in Japan.Of course, it didn't help that I was given FOUR EXTRA EXTRA LARGE BAGS of M&Ms this weekend, plus an EXTRA LARGE bag of dark chocolate covered cranberries from my pizza fairy. Plus lots of Japan snacks. And did I mention that we had a picnic today? That meant burgers, pulled pork, chips, cookies (Fran and Bonnie even brought M&M cookies. I ate about 8.), brownies, Ann's blueberry buckle, Auntie Chris's congo bars... I made a fruit salad and ate about half of the watermelon while I was chopping it up. So good. Red Panda stuffed herself. And stuffed herself again. And stuffed herself again. And had to excuse herself to the bathroom a couple of times. More food, more poop. A frustrating fact of my life.Despite having to waddle around the house due to a full stomach, I got a lot of chores done. Gear and clothes? Sprayed. Fleece liner and sleeping bag? Aired out. ThermaRest? Dried and repacked. Gertrude? Emptied and sorted. Odds and ends? Repackaged in ZIPLOC BRAND bags. That's right. I sprung for the name brand this time. I don't think they are much better than the cheap ones that I got at ALDI. Lesson learned.It was so nice to see my family (so much family!) and friends and catch up on everything I have missed in the last two months. People seem to think that being on the trail means I have free time. I think they picture me sitting around at night, after the hike, relaxing at the picnic table, stoking a campfire, lazing about in my camp shoes.In reality, that is NOT the case. I get to camp, and it's CHORE TIME. ALWAYS CHORE TIME. Bathe, change, get water, cook dinner, clean up after dinner, pitch tent, spend an hour throwing a rock tied to a rope at trees in an attempt to hang a bear bag, brush teeth, and maybe chat a little with other hikers before passing out cold from exhaustion. And then there is the journaling. Journaling takes SO MUCH TIME. But I try to do it faithfully every night. I want to be able to remember. I have to record! But it takes a long time to awkwardly type on my little phone. Especially since my body never functions right after hours of hiking. It's tired. It just wants to sleep. Plus my brain is extra slow. I think I get a little stupider every day. Maybe it's all the exposure to toxic chemicals... HEET fuel for my stove, DEET slathered on my legs, permethrin soaked into every bit of fabric. Maybe that's why I'm so much happier on the trail. All my brain cells are slowly dying off.The day was spent with friends and family. Lots of friends and family. Wonderful amounts of friends and family. And I got a chance to talk to almost everyone. Poor Taiki was probably overwhelmed by all of the names and faces. He's such a nice guy. Everyone loved him. We also watched an old home movie (probably the only one we have), of when Candace and I were just over a year old. It was weird. But cute! It was strange to look at the faces on the TV, then the faces in the living room. It's amazing how much people change but stay the same through time. I can't believe how much I have changed even in the last two months. I'm not the same person I was. I also got to talk a lot about the trail today. Lots of friends and family have been reading my journal and asked questions. I do like sharing the adventure. Plus everyone knows that I don't write EVERYTHING here. It's impossible to remember everything that happens in a day, let alone write about all of it. Plus, I have to be careful what I write, because ANYONE can read this thing. Plus, there are just personal things that need to be kept personal. At least for now. Maybe someday I will go back and fill in the gaps.Things I love about home include: Family. Hugs. My bed. My electric toothbrush. Showers. Food (unfortunately this also leads to regret, but... hopefully I'll be sweating off some of my recent pounds with the heat of summer). Driving in my car with music playing. Familiar faces and familiar places. It has been so nice to spend time with my sister. Can you imagine having a twin? I bet it's hard if you don't have one. Imagine the bond that you form after being together for your whole lives. And then, she moves to Japan. And she falls in love. And she gets engaged. And you are all alone in America, a destitute vagabond wandering the woods with a pack named Bertha and a sick tummy full of candy. It's a hard life.Not really. But it's sad to be away from my twin. I miss her. I am happy to carry her with me in my name, my stamp, my red panda socks, my bandana... and IN MY HEART (awwww).I am looking forward to spending the entire day with her and Taiki (and breakfast with dad, and then the afternoon with mom, too!). We are going to go SHOPPING. I have a whole thrilling list of things to do, including: try to find a gasket for my stove, see if I can find new trail runners (mine already have lost ALL traction, which I need for those Pennsylvania rocks. Can you believe it's already been 500 miles in those shoes?!), buy new underwear for hiking (I think I left a pair in the Waynesboro YMCA. I washed a pair in the shower there and hung them up to dry... and forgot them... I am SO SORRY for whoever had to clean that up...), call about health insurance, buy more wet wipes... It's just like a normal zero day, chores chores chores. Are you sick of reading about my chores yet? Because I sure am sick of doing chores. At least I will have excellent company for chore time tomorrow.It will be sad to go back to the trail on Tuesday. I'll miss Candace and Taiki. Who knows when I'll see them again. I was definitely in need of some time to rest. My feet are aching. My body is tired. I told my mom I was going to go to bed 45 minutes ago but I got sucked into journaling and tomorrow night she will have to listen to me complain about how sick I am of eating while I shove M&Ms in my face and how tired I am while I play on the computer instead of going to bed (did I mention that she's the best mom ever?).So I guess that I should go. And sleep. So that I can wake up in the morning and go through my food bag again, and realize I have too many snacks. I think part of my eating problem might be that I feel so compelled to eat just because there is always SO MUCH FOOD, and it's like... I CAN'T LET IT GO TO WASTE! GUESS I BETTER CHOW DOWN SOME MORE. Seriously, have to keep that dress in mind, though. I can't afford to buy another one. I am SO happy for everyone I got to see today, for all of their support and encouragement, and for the fact that they love my poop stories instead of saying... "TMI, RED PANDA, STOP SHARING YOU DISGUSTING DIRTY STORIES WITH US." I am thankful for gifts of M&Ms, but mostly for the support, and the hugs, and the love. I am so lucky that I have a home to come to, and such a community of people around me. Thanks, everyone! I love you! I promise that I will keep sharing all of my embarrassing and uncomfortable adventures!