Date: 2005-06-15
From: Bear's Den Hostel

To: Bear's Den Hostel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Happy Anniversary today to Brian and Laura Matchett! (my brother and sister-in-law) Your card will be late, but we're thinking of you. I (Hopeful) am writing today since the events seemed to center on my case of poison ivy. The plan was to head out to Harper's Ferry after taking our day off yesterday. Hairball even was willing to switch and wear my shorts so that I could wear his hiking skirt and not agitate the poison ivy more than necessary. I never imagined that I'd borrow a skirt from a guy-- only on the trail! There are actually more guys in hiking skirts than women in them out here. They do officially call them "kilts" or "man skirts", however, if it makes any difference. But, alas, the saga of the poison ivy continued and worsened. I had hardly slept at all as I tried to fight "the itch". By morning it was obvious that we needed to see a doctor. Hairball was a little disappointed when I gave him back his skirt because he was really enjoying my baby blue shorts!! Red Wing wants it to be said that he thought that I should have seen a doctor the day we arrived at Bear's Den, but I tend to be a bad patient, and I really did believe that traditional, over-the-counter, type treatment might work. The hospital nearby in Leesburg, Virginia would accept our insurance, so Lori let us borrow her truck and we headed to the emergency room at the Loudoun hospital. Thankfully, it was not at all busy and we got in right away to see Dr. Thomas. The bummer of the poison ivy was offset by our cool doctor. First she was patient and thorough as she explained all my new drugs (a steroid cadded pregnazone sp?, an antibiotic to fight infection, an antihistamine to help stop the itching). And she was really interested in what we were up to on the AT. We discovered that she shares our faith in Jesus Christ and we felt so encouraged and supported by her in ways beyond my medical needs. We also got to learn about her little daughter who has Retts syndrome. Now we have a card with little Alyssa's picture on it as our bookmark to remind us to pray for her. There are always unexpected blessings that come out of trying times and this hospital visit turned out to be one of them. Thanks, Dr. Thomas! The rest of my day went by fast since I took 3 naps (the Benadryl knocked me out) in Lori's cozy bed. I woke up to a VERY full castle (23 people plus 19 Boy Scouts camping outside) and the savory smell of dinner preparations. Tonight's menu was pork loin, pototo pancakes, stir fried veggies, salad with homemade croutons, beans and rice, fried plantain, green beans... My job was to cut veggies and help Guideless with the potato pancakes. It felt great to be in a real kitchen cooking! I miss that. Today we were able to catch up with Sam I Am & Origami, Guideless, Patch, Mr. Sweepers, Thunder, Ox, Pixie & Pinedragon as well as meet a few new o nes like T Bone and Steady On. Plus there were a handful of section hikers around. Like I said yesterday, it was another feast in the castle with the Queen. Hopefully, with meds, I'll sleep better tonight and we can give hiking another try. One thing is noteworthy-- we feel much less stressed about taking a 2nd day off than we would have been earlier in the hike. We've become more relaxed and realized that it all works out in the end, and in fact, often God does really cool things when our own plans are turned upside down.