Date: 2004-05-31
From: Waynesboro, VA

To: Calf Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 2.3
Weather: light rain

Wow! So much has happened over the last couple of days. The update on my Dad, Pencil, is that he did make it home to Kansas City. The part for the air conditioner on the van never arrived, so he decided it would be best not to wait any longer. I¢m sure his days of being a hiker groupie are not over.Saturday morning we call the Post Office and asked if the package from my Mom had arrived. They said no, but we decided to go to the P.O. anyway. Good thing we did because it was there and it had our summer sleeping bags and other essentials we needed. And since it was Memorial weekend, we didn¢t want to have to wait until Tuesday to get it. So we shipped our winter bags home and our packs are a few pounds lighter¢¦.yeah!My cousin Michele arrived Saturday morning, so we gathered all our stuff and went to Weasie¢s Kitchen to have breakfast. Me and My cousin haven¢t seen each other in 4 years so it was nice to catch up. With her it¢s always like no time has passed and we pick up right where we left off. We spend part of the day driving through the Shenandoah¢s. Then that evening we go to a local hostel that caters primarily to cyclists. This hostel is a 100 year old brick home that has wall to wall postcards and memorabilia covering every square inch of the place. You could literally spend hours looking at everything. There¢s also 30 years worth of picture albums that have pictures of all the people who have stayed there. It was a trip!We had one cyclist stay there and it was interesting to see the difference between biking and hiking. Her name was Kirstin and she was from Eugene, Oregon. She was traveling on the Trans-American bike route. She had a mini-trailer attached to her bike, so she could cart a lot. She had life sized shampoo and conditioner bottles! That¢s something a hiker would never carry. Heck we rarely carry the travel sized ones. She also told us that she averages 50 ¢ 75 miles a day! A hiker could never do that much in one day. It was very interesting to talk to her. The four of us drove into Waynesboro Saturday night and ate at the Chinese buffet. It was good, especially since I felt starved. On Sunday, Me, Wrong Way Brown, and my cousin drove to Charlottesville to re-supply and eat yummy Mexican food. It was a great place called Amigo¢s near the University of Virginia. Then we returned back to the hostel and took a much needed nap for 3 hours! Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that my cousin made us eggs, bacon, and French toast for breakfast. We loved it!So today was such a cool, synchronistic day! We got back on the trail about noon and we¢re scootin¢ along. Wrong Way Brown had used some Capisizan on her lower back because it had been hurting yesterday. Well she was wearing the same shirt and as we were hiking it began to re-absorb into her skin, which created a burning sensation. We stopped a few times and I tried to wash it off her back and she switched shirts. But to no avail; her back was bright red and causing terrible discomfort. She said it felt like she was getting burned. So the situation needed a town visit for a shower and laundry. We called my cousin and luckily she was still in the area and could lend a hand. She met us at the entrance and we headed back to Waynesboro. We headed to the YMCA because you can take a shower there for $2.00. Unfortunately, when we arrived there they were closed due to Memorial Day. So I suggested we go back to the Quality Inn and see if we could find some hikers there and ask them if we could use their shower. Right away we see some tents drying on a balcony, so we go up to that room and knock on the door. I explained the situation to the three hikers in the room (Garcia, Hydro-Horse, and Cenzea) and they happily allow us to use their shower. It was trail magic at it¢s finest! It was such a cool feeling to be able to knock on a random hikers room and receive such compassion and understanding. It was yet another lesson the trail has taught me. To be kind, open, and understanding to what others are experiencing. And to know that one good deed pays another. It was so awesome! Those hikers rock! Thank you, thank you!So after we shower it¢s off to the Laundromat. As our clothes are washing, we ate some hamburgers and fries. Then it¢s back to the trail and before we know it we are at the shelter. It was a crazy, wonderful day. One that appears so random, yet this girl knows there is a method to the madness in this spectacular universe we live in.