Date: 2004-07-10
From: Milford Plaza, Manhattan

To: Graymoor Friary
Miles today: 0.0

Sleeping in the heart of Manhattan was different. There was the flashing light of neon signs coming in through the window and the sound of the city never stopped. On top of that was the debate of an open window on this still hot night with even more noise or the roar of the air conditioner. Sleep is never great in town but that was OK this time. It wasn't exactly an early start to the day. I took another shower just because I could. I checked the phone book for the nearest Eastern Mountain Sports store. I put on my still damp but cleaner clothes. Yup, the same blue shorts and poly-pro t-shirt. Then it was time to greet this sunny city day with a multi faceted mission.With my pack on my back I headed to Duffy Square (the north end of Times Square) to the TKTS Boot and got a ticket to "Aida". Then I stopped in at the Times Square Visitors center across the 7th avenue. I was just standing there staring at the Yahoo computers wondering what to do next. A woman walked up to me and asked where I had been hiking. It was cool. She was a hiker too and here, amidst this mass of industrialized civilization, she got it. I was almost giddy about being here and it surely showed. She asked if I was waiting to email my picture from the Yahoo computer there. It's set up with a camera so anyone can email a photo from Times Square. I said I didn't really know. She stepped up like she was going to send her picture and at the last minute she pulled me in front of the camera. I emailed it to myself so that later I could send it to everyone on my list. It was fun and I was grateful to her. We talked for a while as we walked south along Broadway among the throngs of people. She was headed to some strange street performance down in the Village. I got the impression she may have thought I was going to follow her but that wasn't the case. My search was for someplace to download my camera to CDs and mail them home. At the south end of Times Square parted company at 42nd Street.So there was this Internet cafe on 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. Who knew. The place was huge. There were easily 200 work stations in banks of 6. There was a line of folks waiting to buy time at an ATM type vending machine. There was even a snack bar in the place. What caught my eye was a sign hanging from a balcony that said ¢Copy & Print Center¢. Up the stairs to the loft and over to the counter I went. There were 2 guys. I asked if they could put my photos on a CD and they said sure. They took my 2 SD cards, stuck them in the computer and just copied everything to a CD. They charged me something like $6 and I didn't have to fiddle with anything and it only took about 10 minutes. This was great. It was so much better than my WalMart experience back in Virginia. I thanked them profusely and headed out in search of a Kinkos or UPS store to mail the CD. This experience wasn't quite as nice. I had to buy a package of mailers. After using one I gave the rest back to the folks behind the counter because they certainly weren't going into my pack. These folks didn't quite get it but they took them anyway.Some where in there I had lunch but now it was time to go to the show. Ushers took my ticket and then the house manager asked about my pack. I asked if it could be put someplace and she had me put it in a little supply closet. That was great. It was no big deal. The show was outstanding and the music by Elton John just made it perfect. The tech was amazing too. It was all the show this AT Thru-hiker could have asked for. After the show my pack was found waiting quietly in the closet for me. The House Manager made sure we were reunited.The street scene after the show was amazing but my feet were looking for new boots. EMS was located about 12 blocks uptown on 60th Street just west of Central Park. It was a nice walk. The boots were downstairs below street level. A young woman offered to help me as my pack landed on the floor. I asked her for something lightweight with a stiff Vibram sole in size 12. I also let her know I was hiking the AT. She brought boots out from the back room and I tried them on. I would climb and run up and down the little ramp along with standing on the corners of the benches and the edges of the ramp. She was very helpful but she didn't try to tell me what to do. She said it was obvious I knew what I was up to and she was right. I get pretty intent and carried away when it comes to trying on boots. These boots needed to go another 800 miles and many of those miles would be the most rugged and rocky of the entire trail. Upstairs at the checkout I asked if they could ship my old boots back home. They said sure, did some trickery with the register computer and all was set. I asked if my water bottle could get filled for the AT and they invited me into their break room. They let me top off my water bottle and shared their snacks with me. We talked a bit. It turned out their boss was hiking the AT but was off the trail temporarily with an injury. People can be so good, New Yorkers too.I had some dinner and headed back to Grand Central Station. The train got me to Garrison after dark. A taxi delivered me to the Friary for a fee. I pitched my tent in a field. The ground was hard as nails which made staking tough. It was a 0 mile day but a good one none the less.