Date: 2005-07-29
From: Vernon, NJ

To: Warwick, NY
Miles today: 18.0

29 JulyApparently, the hostel/church caretaker had offered to slack pack the guys out to NJ17 today, so we were up and packed early. OJ and coffee cake for breakfast, courtesy of Hopeful, and then we all ran around like kids, spanking each other and hooting, cleaning up, and being wild and free. No caretaker. Eventually, Hopeful convinced an old lady to slack-pack all of us; she took me 4 mi back to make up the miles I missed yesterday, and the rest of the guys went north from Vernon. Moonshine and Timshel left snacks and love-notes for Starchy all along the 15 mile trek. A couple of miles in, Dandy, who left by himself, was stung by 2 hornets. He is allergic, and was afraid he¢d have a reaction. I found him about 20 minutes after he got stung, and since he felt and looked fine, we moved on together. A couple of hours later I heard him yelling for me, panicked. His body broke out in itchy hives in all the sweat spots, and around the second sting, and we were still over 5 mi from the nearest road crossing! Epi-pen handy, we proceeded a slow, paced walk, worked on deep, soothing breathing, and chatted of things other than Dandy blowing up like a puff ball and dying out here in the woods. Starchy was a hero that day ¢ he carried Dandy¢s pack (Dandy chose not to slack-pack with us), and almost stepped on a copperhead! And Hopeful almost wound up with an Epi-pen in his eyeball, for the inappropriate comments of ¢Oh, Dandy, those hives look pretty bad. I bet they¢re itchy. Wow, you¢re swelling up all over. Geez, how red they are!¢ I mean, there are just some things you don¢t say to someone that is about to hyperventilate his throat shut already, and we aren¢t anywhere near a road or any kind of help. We did make it out of there, and Dandy seemed to be doing better psychologically, although the hives didn¢t cease. We decided to hitch back to the hostel in Vernon, NJ, so that we¢d spend the night near civilization, in case Dandy did need to go to the hospital. Hitched a ride from and ice cream farm, and got dropped off at a cemetery. ¢You can hitch the rest of the way from here. It¢s better hitching here, too, because there¢s more traffic.¢ Yes, this traffic sped by us for the next half and hour or so. A group of high school kids waved to us, turned around and came back, waved again, turned around and asked us if we needed a ride and to where, and the moment we were ready to get into the car, they laughed manically and sped off. We watched the sun set, and weren¢t sure what to do ¢ hardly anyone would pick us up in the dark. Then, a car pulled over, and a nice blonde lady told us to climb in, without even questioning where we¢re headed. I carefully moved the half drunk bottle of vodka from the back seat as I climbed in. The lady chatted and laughed, and sometimes ran over the double yellow line, so I wasn¢t sure if she has been drinking, and I couldn¢t tell her age. She was so giddy and full of life; she could have been 26 or 46. We told her of our adventures that day, and that we wanted to stay in town, and she invited us over to her place. ¢Y¢all can stay at my house, and I live right next to a river, so you can wash yourselves in the river ¢ that¢s what I always do.¢ I thought we¢d be heading to some trailer home, where the only running water is the river, and the same chaos rules as in her car. Instead, we arrived at a beautiful, hand-built, passive solar home, on a property full of trees and good vibes. Betsy is an elementary school art teacher, and her house is creatively and lovingly designed. She is an amazing woman, having adopted and raised 8 kids; the freest spirit I¢ve ever met! Her presence is cozy, stimulating and relaxing at once. She quickly organized us with towels and shuttled us to the river, where she has build a little pool and keeps her soap and shampoo on a table. She showed us her studio, and the weeping willow she planted 22 years ago. Once washed, she called us to dinner, opened a bottle of wine, and entertained us with piano playing and stories. She cracked our backs and necks of us, saying ¢You should never let a stranger crack your neck ¢ they could kill you.¢ We each got our own bedroom and a bed to sleep in!! It¢s still shocking to me that people do this ¢ take in stinky, tired strangers, wine and dine them, let them stay in their homes, seeking nothing in return!