Date: 2004-05-15
From: Interim Update

To: Damascus, VA (Trail Days)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Hello. 6:30 AM, Why am I greeting you? Oh yes, because I¢m a fool (and a wet one at that). I just arrived back at my tent after chilling with hikers to find a swamp with my belongings floating in it¢¦ugh. Since I am exhausted, I am now floating in this tent swamp on my sleeping pad. My precious flower book is ruined L, as is my pad of paper and other belongings. My down sleeping bag is soaked as well, yet still my day has been quite nice.I awoke at 11:00 AM, just in time to miss the post office¢¦D¢OH! I was out of it for my first 2 hours as I ate lunch and ambled about. I read my Bible over lunch and it was truly refreshing. Then another hiker (name?) joined me and we talked about girls¢¦At that moment I saw a very attractive girl outside with a buzzed haircut. It was Skippy. I ran out and said hello. Apparently she could wait no longer and had buzzed her hair last night. She apologized to me for not waiting to do it with me, but I shrugged it off. To be honest, I don¢t think my tips would have been near as good waiting tablets with a shaved head. I usually do not love short hair on girls, but Skippy looked cute. At that point I also met Matt, Skippy¢s boyfriend. He arrived today to visit, and he seemed like a very nice guy. Still half in my own world, I finished lunch and went to the parade.The parade was at 2 PM and it rocked!!! Every hiker in town, past and present, walks down Main Street. To add to the festivities, both the hikers and town folk on the side of the street come prepared for a water attack. As we congregated for the parade, I saw all kinds of my hiking friends, including Happy, Dutch and the Roman Noodles. It was so nice to catch up with them. I miss all of them so much. As the parade started, water buckets, water balloons, slingshots, SuperSoakers, and more appeared from nowhere¢¦the war was on. As we walked, balloons flew like confetti, as hikers attacked each other and town folk. One balloon shot high in the air, hit a man and a woman in their convertible. They were delighted, and by that I mean pissed as all hell. Seconds later I saw Miss Janet soaked by a bucket of water, then Gordy as well. As we walked down the street, it was like a gauntlet of water¢¦I was drenched. I can¢t begin to describe the immense amount of water or fun¢¦but the parade rocked!At 3 PM, still out of it, I headed toward the outfitter to kill an hour before work. There, I met ¢Coyote¢ and ¢Bow-legged Gorilla.¢ Coyote is actually at the same point as me on the trail (she¢s a girl) and Bow-legged Gorilla is actually from Pasadena, MD - 10 minutes from where I live at home.We started beat boxing. Before long, it was a full-on concert with numerous hikers looking on. Bow-legged Gorilla is the best rapper I have heard in a long time¢¦I never meet people I can really flow with. It rocked! We sat and made music for almost an hour in front of the store. I was totally lost when I realized it was time for work.I could fill an entire journal up just with my time at the Mill. To keep it short, it rocked! The day started slowly with a few sweet tables, then I was sat with a 22-top of hikers from 1994. I had another 4-top at that moment (26 total guests). Both tables were great. I joked with my huge table, who were thrilled to have a hiker as a server. I used all the help I could; A) I had a blast. B) I nailed both tables¢ orders perfect. C) There was always a manager or busser to help out. By the end of the night I had 4 great tables, salvaged one pissy table, and made over 200 dollars. I also had another table of 2003 thru-hikers who were great guys who I rapped for JBefore leaving tonight, I helped Stu clear the bar-side guests as midnight approached. ¢Drink your beer¢¦6 minutes.¢ It was 12:30 before everything had died down. All told, the Mill was the best-structured restaurant I have worked for. Stu, Melissa, and Michelle were wonderful! We all talked in the office. We all exchanged thank yous like 12 times. Apparently I received 10 or so compliments in 3 nights. They told me I could come back whenever I want and even invited me to ¢train¢ their servers. Michelle just begged ¢Don¢t leave.¢ While I will leave Monday, I can¢t say enough about what a blessing ¢The Old Mill¢ was to me. It actually was hard to say goodbye. One thing is for sure, whenever I am in Damascus again I will eat at the Mill. It was 1 AM when I said my final goodbyes and escaped the Old Mill¢s beautiful doors.While it was near 1 AM, I needed to decompress, so I found my chill hangout - Sidetracks Caf©. There I talked to Nuffy and a kilted Boo-boo (hilarious.) After a Pepsi L and a sandwich I zoned off making cartoons on napkins. Two hours and 8 cartoons later I was done. They actually put my silly cartoons on display under the glass of the table. I felt special as I left at 3:30 and said goodbye to Nuffy and Boo-boo. On to Miss Janet¢s tent area.I arrived just in time to say goodbye to Miss Janet¢¦After she went to bed I sat sober and watched drunks¢¦Woo-hoo! I met 2 crazy guys, Crash and Wicked. Gordy and Squirrel were there too. Crash and Wicked were funny, though at one point Crash bit Wicked¢s nipple¢¦Yuck. Then a drunk redneck girl came over and sat next to Gordie. She quickly explained she was a carpet cleaner (job) and a lesbian¢¦go figure. She looked mildly scary and was missing teeth. ¢Has anyone told you you¢re gorgeous?¢ she asked Gordy. Gordy moved away, apparently uninterested in some good redneck woman love. When I thought it could get no better (worse) one of the redneck girl¢s friends came over. She looked almost cut until she smiled (4 teeth missing, at least). As the one girl mentioned liking women, she said: ¢Well, I love to **** men.¢ She then recounted her 6 months in prison to us and why she needed ¢ lovin¢ .¢ I started talking to Squirrel when I looked up to see the second redneck with her shirt off, displaying her piercing. Then she asked me to slide out of her light. How rude of me to block light when she¢¦had no shirt! (Ugh.) I thank God that at that moment their dog ran away and they had to leave to find it.I chilled with Wicked, Crash, Gordy, and Squirrel until almost 3:00. Squirrel is practicing to be a masseuse and gave me a massage. I returned the favor. I was near asleep when one of the redneck girls wandered back to ask for beer. We said ¢no¢ and I took it as my cue to go to sleep. That is when, as dawn approached, I found my sleeping pad turned into a raft in a swamp, and half of my things ruined. Oh, well. It¢s past 7, the sun is up, and I am going to sleep in a flow of water. Still, Trail Days is wonderful.Good morning JBeatbox