Date: 2019-05-18
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0

Today I got up earlier. I wanted to enjoy more of Trail Days. I walked to the Post Office to get my mail drop and brought it to my Inn to store until tomorrow night, when I treat myself to the damn hotel! I also wanted to get my new shoes out of the box so I could walk around in them. I did that and then ran into Mama Bird (Mountain Laurel) and Balto (Chad)!! Ahh I missed them so much. Fave couple, they¢re the best!! They invited me to breakfast at the diner. I had gone with Prometheus the other day and it was great, but today it was a bit lacking. I know they were probably overwhelmed, but my bacon was burned black and my eggs were dry. They also served biscuits and gravy and grits and I was not about it. Discovered I don¢t really like that, but I¢m not from the south so I don¢t need to haha. We were sitting with two other girls, Keebler and another who I¢m blanking on. They were awesome and we had a really nice time. It was funny because as soon as the food came, the table was completely silent and we were all digging in. Hikers! I¢m going to have to re-train myself to eat like a normal human again. Napkin in lap, slow bites, dab of the napkin on the chin, head up, shoulders straight, bend and snap. But seriously apologies in advance for my downward trend on the matter. Pooping in the woods, bending over my food plate, I¢m losing it folks. Next we went to the thrift shop and yes we popped tags and I only have $20 in my pocket. I don¢t think I¢ve ever been to one before actually. We were going to get outfits for the hiker parade and hiker prom!! I found a pink dress that I loved immediately and it was my size, ya gotta love when that happens. Prometheus texted me and came to meet me. He got a ridiculous outfit with some 80s flower-vest and a black blazer and a clip-on tie, paired with ¢chick-magnet¢ socks and his short-shorts. It was so great. I paired my pink dress with a cheetah-print blazer, which I¢ve never worn in my life, but it was amazing. I got black platform flip flops too, which are actually really comfortable. It all cost me 8 bucks and it was quite the outfit. I think I¢m wearing it all to prom, and for the parade I¢m wearing my tie-dye shirt and getting some things to accessorize. We went to Dollar General next, where I got beads and a bow and glitter hairspray and my amazing koozie that says ¢I pooped today¢. I was being unapologetically myself today and having a blast. We walked to the park with the vendors again and I sprayed glitter on his beard. I¢m pretty sure I got it all in his mouth and eyes too, but it was hard to contain the glitter! It was a pretty great glitter beard, I must say. We walked through and I grabbed free sunglasses from REI and lay on their huge inflatable unicorn floatie. I pulled my shirt up a bit because it was ridiculously hot today. I was sweating buckets. And because I felt confident and good about my body. We walked around more and Prometheus sweet-talked all the vendors, no surprise there. I was hurrying his butt because we were going to be late for the parade. We got there and I separated from him because I knew he was going to find Hot Sauce and I¢m completely done with her. I went to Wobbles and Thunder Buddy and that whole crowd. It was quite the scene. I guess the tradition is for men to wear dresses and women to wear blazers, but I mean wow. The men went all out. Most of the girls were in normal clothes. These are the most straight-arrow men I¢ve met and they were all in dresses, with one even having mangoes in his dress as boobs. The freaking mangoes were bigger than my real boobs, but I¢m not bitter about it. I was cracking up. Some of them had water guns and were squirting each other, but the real fun will come when the townspeople spray us all. Prometheus came over and sprayed my hair with glitter for me. He went back to Hot Sauce and I stayed with my crew. Hermione got her hair died purple and I actually saw several girls do that! I was debating it, but wasn¢t sure how the dye would come out and how it would affect the current dye I have in my hair. We all lined up and started walking! Everyone was screaming and it was awesome! The firetruck leading the parade was spraying water everywhere and then the townspeople were going crazy too. It was on the sides mainly though, so Thunder Buddy and Quick bear and I were running back and forth to get sprayed. I got totally soaked and was loving it on this hot day. This one absolutely adorable little kid got me right in the face as I was talking a video. It was amazing. His sneaky little face omg he was precious. He got me good. Right in the face lol. It was so great to see all these people out here to support the hikers and all these hikers in ridiculous outfits having a blast and being themselves. I don¢t think there¢s a better crew out there than hikers. I mean you have some asses here, but for the most part everyone is so genuine and open and fun to be around. I felt like I really found my place and was just walking with my people. It felt so good. We ended the parade at Odie¢s bus (the Hiker Yearbook guy). He was on top of the bus giving a speech about how amazing hikers are and listing the policies for having a good hike and respecting nature too. He also cheered for Stronghold and we all shouted AT Strong. I¢ve been wearing two ribbons for Stronghold on my shirt all day and intend to put them on my pack too. What an amazing community coming together like this. The President of the ATC climbed up on the bus as well and chatted with us all. They were throwing out candy and bracelets too. They ended their speeches and we all dispersed. I had left my belongings all the way across town at the Outfitter so they wouldn¢t get wet, so I trekked back over there to get them. I went into the gas station too and got some water and Gatorade. I walked back over to the park after (it was actually a lot of walking haha getting my miles in!) and went to the Visitor¢s Center to charge my phone. I met a few folks charging their phones as well and one man offered me a ride to Hiker Prom tonight. His name was Man Dude. Prometheus showed up and sat with me for a bit. We ate pop tarts and chatted. He left to go jump in the river. It sounded tempting, but I had run my phone down to 1%, so I was waiting a bit for it to charge. After it was charged, I walked to Tent City. I wanted to get a video of this place in daylight so I could show people what it was like! I then took a shower in this random shower bus that the church has sponsored. It was a good shower, but the bus was shaking and it was an interesting experience haha. And right after I got out it started raining! I walked in the rain almost all the way back to my hostel, before Man Dude found me and picked me up. I changed into my pink dress and blazer and we headed to the Brewery. Man Dude did not stay long, it was not very exciting at first. But Wobbles and Manager were there, and pretty soon the whole crew showed up. I got a chocolate beer, which was pretty good!! Thunder Buddy walked all the way to the Brewery and we walked over to Food City together to get something to eat. I got some snacks and he got a sandwich and we went back to the Brewery. I met the nicest two men who lived in the area and were interested in my hike and they bought me a beer!! It was so nice of them!! I got a beer with CBD in it and it was relaxing and quite tasty. I listened to the band for a bit and they were actually quite good!! A lot of classic rock music, which is my fave. Naners, Chug, Thunder Buddy, and I decided to walk back. We tried to get a hitch, but were unsuccessful. We walked all the way back to Tent City. I dropped my snacks off in Thunder Buddy¢s tent and we walked to the Drum Circle. This was my first time and it was very interesting. It was so loud. They were all drumming and screaming and there were flamethrowers as well. It was packed with people. We stayed for a bit and then walked back through. I found the random pasta lady again (omg two nights in a row, have a I joined the cult yet) and definitely got myself a bowl or two. With less bourbon in me I was able to sense a bit of a weirder vibe surrounding the random pasta lady in the woods, so Thunder Buddy and I peaced and went back to the crew. They were keeping it low-key tonight and we hung for a bit and then I decided to head home. I was pretty tired and it was a long day. I passed out quickly, but realized I sunburned my tummy (ugh I know I should¢ve expected it) so that was a little uncomfortable to sleep on. What a day. Little Debbie