Date: 2005-06-15
From: Harpers Ferry, WV (Hilltop House Hotel)

To: Harpers Ferry, WV (Hilltop House Hotel)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

DAY 96I was able to get an appointment at a local doctor¢s office this morning. Unfortunately, the office is quite a walk from our hotel. However,the doctor¢s office was very efficient. I was soon examined by a female doctor that I feel very confident about. She tried to drain the fluid from my knee, but there was no fluid to drain. There was no real diagnosis of the problem, and I was given instructions to get an x-ray at a hospital in Charles Town, West Virginia. I was also given a prescription for an anti-inflammatory drug. The problem was that the hospital was four miles away. How do we get there? We walked back to the ATC office to try to find out how to get to the hospital. While at the ATC office I picked up a better knee support from the hiker box. There was also a Trail Angel at the ATC office who was looking for hikers to take to lunch and otherwise help. We needed help today, to say the least. He took us to his house and fed us a very nice lunch. Then he did our laundry for us. And if that wasn¢t enough he drove us to the hospital with a stop along the way at a Wal-Mart¢s so that I could pick up the medicine the doctor prescribed. The hospital, also, was quite efficient, and the x-ray of my knee was done quickly. A report will be sent to the doctor I had seen this morning in Harpers Ferry. Then we had the problem of getting back to Harpers Ferry. There is a bus that left the court house, about half a mile from the hospital. We walked to the court house. All this walking is not helping my knee. Just as we got close to the bus stop, the last bus of the day pulled away. How frustrating! Now we were stranded with nothing but the clothes on our backs. However, Rocky is always resourceful. She went up to a woman on the street and asked to borrow her cell phone. Rocky called our Trail Angel, who had helped us earlier today and asked him to pick us up and return us to Harpers Ferry. I didn¢t know what I would do without Rocky. I am very reluctant to ask perfect strangers for help. However, she has no hesitation to ask anyone for help, and they usually respond favorably to her. The Trail Angel agreed to come back to Charles Town and delivered us and our clean laundry back to our Hotel. This man was an absolute saint to us. The unfortunate thing is that we never got his name or address. It would be very appropriate to send him a thank you note or letter. But we needed help so badly, that courtesy on our part has been lost in the shuffle today. Rocky wanted to do something different for tonight¢s dinner as the Hotel buffet didn¢t do much for her last night. Instead we went to the Secret Six restaurant for a burger dinner. We ate on the restaurant¢s outdoor deck. Rocky overheard the couple at an adjacent table talking and determined that the man was a thru hiker. Rocky horned in on the conversation and we joined them for dinner. They became our instant Friends of the Trail. Rocky in action again!The man was ¢Blooey¢, an Australian thru hiker. His female companion was his fiancee Audrey. Audrey lives and works in Washington DC. She had come out to Harpers Ferry to meet Blooey as he passed through on his thru hike. Audrey offered to take us into Washington tomorrow morning so we could see some of the sights. Rocky thought this was a great idea, but I was a little leary. I didn¢t think that all the walking would be the best thing for my knee. But later I thought it woud be a great way to spend a Zero Day and a lot of fun to spend the day with Rocky in DC. So I agreed. There is a commuter train from Washington to Harpers Ferry that will get us back tomorrow afternoon. It never ceases to amaze what unexpected things can happen on the Trail. And what great people you can meet.