Date: 2015-05-02
From: The Place

To: The Place
Miles today: 0.0

Guess who was the first customer of the day at Pizza Plus in Damascus?That's right, it was this girl.For once, the snoring kept me awake last night. Usually I manage to sleep right through it. But not last night. This guy was LOUD. I wore ear plugs. I put in my headphones and listened to music, which was very enjoyable and calmed me down. I haven't even listened to much music in the last month, though, so it was kind if like auditory overload and I still couldn't sleep. Then I was awake so long I started to get hungry. I ate a handful of pretzels, drank some water, took ibuprofen and sleeping pills. Nothing helped.At 2:30, I limped stiffly down the stairs to the common room and curled up in an armchair for an uncomfortable few hours until other people started stirring.Of course, my highest mile day, I was super exhausted, and I couldn't sleep. Oh well.I went to the pharmacy for advice but they seemed unsure that my affliction is even poison ivy. It started with just one blister but has spread over the backs of my hands. I hope that it will run its course and clear up soon.After the pharmacy and pizza, I wandered around town, inquiring about packages at the outfitter (there are two more I am waiting for and may have to leave behind ).I ate some pizza and want to take a nap but when I returned to the hostel, it was closed for cleaning. I am also very thirsty and need to take another dose of Benadryl, so I hope that Bayou, the caretaker, finishes up soon. It is a beautiful sunny day, but for once I am not itching for the hike. I am just tired.I would love to just sleep in the grass under the warm sun but then I really would be a RED, sunburned Red Panda.There are lots of hiker faces around town that are unfamiliar. I haven't passed many of them on the trail before, or at least don't remember them. For a while I thought that the crowd had really thinned out, but now I am thinking otherwise. There are lots of people around.Today feels a bit wasted as I sit waiting to head in. I could probably sleep all afternoon and all night at this point.Evening update:I took a semi-successful nap and woke to find my hiking clothes in front of me on my bunk. Five and Just Doug (brothers and retired police officers from Cleveland), who were in the same bunk room with me last night at the place, let me throw them in with theirs so I didn't have to do a whole load for one outfit. They dropped my clean clothes off while I was asleep.But my socks were missing! My Darn Tough, expensive hiking socks. So I checked upstairs and found that all of their stuff was GONE. Bayou told me that they had moved to another hostel. I wasn't surprised as they had said many times yesterday that they wanted to sleep on real mattresses.So the wild sock hunt began! I walked and walked and walked to the Woodchuck hostel but no one there knew the names Doug or Five. Luckily I mentioned that they were brothers, and one hiker cried, "OH, THE BROTHERS! I know them!" They had gone to the pizza buffet. I asked the hiker to deliver my lost sock message, but then ANOTHER guy dug through a clothes bin and I saw MY SOCKS! We are now happily reunited. I also wandered the town for WiFi. I realized I was missing my next set of guidebook pages and remembered I had mom send them separately. So I went back to the outfitter for the third time and asked if they had an envelope with my name on it. No luck.So I sat outside to use Subway's WiFi and figure out when the library would open the next day so I could print the pages. Then a different employee peeked out the door. "What was the name again?"And he found them! Two happy stories. Unfortunately two other pieces of mail have not arrived in time I took a delightful shower. It was EXTRA delightful because I found a clearance travel-sized bottle of Herbal Essences conditioner while I wandered around Food City while I waited for my pizza this morning. Usually I just use whatever other people leave behind or what the hostel provides. It is usually the cheapest crap possible. Conditioner is very rare.So now my hair is clean and pretty and won't take three hours to comb in the morning.My hands are not better and I am not pleased.The nap ate up a lot of the day so I wasn't as productive as I hoped. I did spray my tent with the permethrin I have been carrying since BonBon gave it to me at Fontana Dam. I haven't had the time or dry enough weather until today.I have to start planning where to meet Mom and Dan, which is hard because I never know how far I am going to go in a day.I am thankful for ice cream and that my hand hasn't fallen off yet.