Date: 2003-05-15
From: Elmer's Sunnybank Inn

To: TRAIL DAYS
Miles today: 0.0

Today, we set off for Damascus, VA, for Trail Days 2003!We ended up taking a shuttle....myself, Moss, Magic Rat, Nova (and Bosco), Tito, Seth, and Candace. We almost had CloudWalker talked into it, but he decided to stay behind and wait for a friend from home.So, off we were...of course a few of us picked up a pint of Ben and Jerry's before the 2 hour road trip. This being the first long car trip we've had in a while...not the SMARTEST move, by any means. Nonetheless...after inhaling the ice cream, we were off. Then, about half an hour into the trip, we were all green - - green with nausea. First off, we were not used to the speed of the highway, and were really not used to being looped around curvy mountain roads at the speed we were going. I had a constant deathgrip on one of the handles in the van, which at first made a few people laugh, but eventually made these few people jealous of the fact that I actually had something to hold onto. This, of course, did little to stop the pint of ice cream from being tossed and slushed around in my stomach. Soon after the nausea came a small bit of depression. We were driving through towns for the first time. Large towns, metropolitan towns, at times, and I started thinking, 'we're going to have to go back to this at some point; much sooner than expected for a lot of us.' I have been out for only a month, and still have quite a way to go before the end, but I just couldn't shake the sad feeling I got when we were passing through these populated areas. So, I sat, and thought deeply of what I really want to take away from this. I already had gained a solid group of friends out here, who I have barely known for weeks, but feel as if I've known them for years. If I take nothing else from this, I have that. But, I know I will take much more from it, as well. These thoughts and worries soon ended, and were replaced with anticipation and excitement as soon as we pulled into Damascus. Hikers were everywhere! It was overwhelming for us, as well (I am sure) as the city itself. We caught up with the people we knew, met a few more that we didn't, and walked to the campground to set up camp. Trail Days at Damascus was a veritable Hiker Heaven. Manufacturers of all types were there, selling gear, introducing new lines, repairing the gear we had; it was definitely sensory overload. After carousing the campsites, we opted for food. The Side Track Cafe was packed, so we moseyed on over to Cicily's for some Italian. BIG MISTAKE. We waited for hours, stuffed into a back room with other hikers, while the food we ordered was brought out in piecemeal. After about half of the hikers got their food, the waitresses came out and asked, "does everyone have their food that they ordered?" Basically, they had forgotten to ring half of it up. It was amazing. This town has Trail Days every year, yet these people were freaking out as if this were the first time people had even been to their restaurant. We vowed not to come back to Cicily's.After the whole food ordeal, we stopped at the Side Track Cafe, where a few people were playing some music. It was packed. We grabbed some beers, and eventually found a place to sit down, as the cafe soon cleared out. We hung out for a bit, having a few rounds, and calming down for the day, until we saw a group of people hanging out on the street. Well, a few of us were curious, and walked outside...only to see that the sky was beautifully clear, and the lunar eclipse was upon us! So, we left the Side Track, and went out to enjoy one of nature's great shows. What a nice finale for the day!