Date: 2015-05-22
From: Marion

To: Davis Hollow
Miles today: 13.2

Yesterday before making it to the shelter I felt a slight pain in my ankle like I might have twisted it a bit. As the night went on I rested/elevated it, but it was definitely something that was creeping into my concerns. Well as I walked the two blocks to Walmart in the morning to resupply it was becoming a bigger concern. It seemed to low in the leg to be shin splints, and it hurt when I bent my foot, not when I put pressure on my leg. I still wanted to get down to Atkins for my mail, but wasn't too sure about how much I'd be walking in the next few days.I did manage to catch the Marion bus (for 50¢) to the nail salon and get a pedicure. I got one foot grey for rocks and the other brown for trees, and added white blazes to each of the big toes.Since we missed the 11am bus back to the trailhead, we took the local bus (again 50¢) into town and got lunch at Wolfe's bbq. It was fantastic. I wish we would have gone there for dinner last night. I didn't get one but the beer selection they had was sooo much better than Macados (which was listed for its beer and wings). While we were waiting for a bus back to the trailhead, a car pulled up and Jim offered us a ride up.My ankle/shin was hurting bad as I started the hike. I'm pretty sure I probably shouldn't have been walking at all, but after about thirty minutes I started going uphill and it didn't feel too bad. And after another two hours the downhills were becoming more tolerable. I started listening to music to help take the mind of it, which was nice but not really effective.With about four miles left, I began listening to my birthday messages. Galia had reached out to all the friends and family she had contact with (made easier and more difficult because I'm not on Facebook) requesting them to record a personal birthday greeting. When I first learned this I thought "oh, that's nice", but once I started listening I realized how amazing of a gift it was. There's about 25 messages and I didn't make it through half of em. I found myself walking through tears of happiness. I'm going to listen to a few more tomorrow, but try to save some for later on the trail when things get more difficult.I made it to the Barn Restaurant where my mail was sent before they closed. When I learned there was a $2.50 fee for mail I thought, sure no problem. Until she charged me $10 for four packages. WTF. Well instead of buying a full cake to go, I only took a slice with me. I stopped at the gas station across the street for some cheap beer and walked a mile into the woods. There were a bunch of people at the campsite I didn't know, but I went around handing out beer. After I set up tent I came back to the fire and regaled them with stories. The first was about my greatest birthday present ever (formerly rabbit ears in Arizona to watch the Simpsons, currently Galia's organisation of recorded messages), then tales about South Africa, and hitchhiking. After it got dark Wildcat and Bear Bell arrived and provided me with an oatmeal pie with matchsticks instead of candles. Soon after the dynamic around the fire shifted and it was time for bed.Fitbit-------------Miles: 16.8Calories: 4500Stairs: 262