Date: 2015-07-10
To: Port Clinton
Miles today: 14.4

Had a ride set up back to the trail around noon, waiting to switch into a non smoking room, but we were able to do that before 9 , so we got a ride earlier. The sun was out, it was a beautiful day! Up on the trail however, evidence of the torrential downpour and winds were evident in the form of mud and a few blowdowns off the trail. Again today, the plants were growing into the trail and our newly dried shoes became soaking wet again pretty quickly. The walk was kind of ho-hum, more of the same from yesterday. We crossed a few "Boulder vomit" areas -as our new friend Jane calls them. Ha! That makes us laugh! There is one spot- on the descent into town that is almost a vertical drop. I found it very challenging. My shoes could not get traction and the little pebbles made me slide. I sat down and slid on my bottom for part of it, getting my skirt messed up. It's ok- that skirt is falling off of me at this point and I plan to hit up Cabellas or Walmart for shorts this afternoon. We made it to the bottom, thrilled that we did not fall. I wonder how hard it would have been with our packs. We walked a ways past the fire station and immediately were offered a ride. We all piled in and stunk up Linda's car. Thank you Linda!Back in our room, we washed our packs and quickly did our town chores. I sat at Pappys, the bar/restaurant in the hotel while I dried our packs and my tent right outside their door. I was sitting there, reading my book, when a woman walked in and looked around the bar. She spotted me and walked over. "Is that your hiking gear outside?" she asked me. I said yes- told her sorry! I'll move it right away! No no she said- I just love hikers and wanted to talk to you. So we sat and chatted and I learned she is a physical therapist. She told me about the various injuries she had treated for hikers and she asked how I was. I told her about the fall I had last week, the sprained ankle, hand puncture and arm bruises, and how I had healed well. She thought the hand and arm looked good but was concerned about my ankle. It is still a little swollen and has a limited range of motion. She told me she was going to drive back to her office and get some special tape. Ok! When she came back, she taped me up. I texted D.No and he came down with C.Shell and they got various things taped up too. How lucky is that? Thank you Donna- your kindness is much appreciated by these three slightly battered hikers!I had been communicating with a woman named JoAnn for some time and she lives in this area. Today she was picking us up for pizza. She arrived at 5 and we all piled into her car and drove about 30 minutes to Tamaqua. We were promised that this was the most delicious pizza around. Tamaqua is a beautiful little city, complete with a quaint downtown, a flat iron building, and the backdrop is beautiful mountains. JoAnn's husband, Neil, joined us at the restaurant, a big handsome guy in a cool motorcycle jacket, looking very rugged, A little old lady stopped by our table and flirted with him shamelessly and then chastised JoAnn for hanging her purse on her chair. Anyone could take it! It was priceless! The pizza was as promised- delicious! After pizza we drove to a place called Heislers- a dairy farm that had an ice cream. Shop. Wow. That ice cream was fantastic- and I own an ice cream shop so I think I'm a good critic! It was so creamy. JoAnn then drove us to Cabelas- the largest in the world- across from our hotel. We didn't buy anything but we were blown away by the immense mega store. Very cool!JoAnn is picking us up in the morning for a day of slack packing. We are excited to give our feet a break- these rocks are beating us up. Great day- and we have been triple blessed today with the kindness of strangers. Have I mentioned how restorative the interactions with people on this journey are? Ended the night at Pappys listening to a rock and roll band of guys our age playing music we love!