Date: 2007-10-20
From: Front Royale, VA

To: Front Royale, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Oh man do I feel like I¢ve been run over by a train! LOL Gee¢¦why Certain, couldn¢t be because you decided to go for a record breaking (basically just short of) 60 miles in 3 days! What WAS I thinking? I didn¢t let the light of day touch my face till after noon today. Incessant had brought breakfast stuff so we didn¢t need to go out for food. I desperately needed to wash my clothes though. So this afternoon, we headed out, ate a late lunch @ a local restaurant and then walked across the street and down to find the laundry place. I offered to give Incessant the honor of loading all of my dirty clothes (including my ¢soaked from the rain because it was hanging on a branch over nite¢ pee rag) into the washer, but she seemed less than thrilled with that offer. Can¢t imagine why. So as the washer was doing its thing it was off to play a serious game of International Rummy, our favorite card game. I think we figured up that in the last 25 games we¢ve played, she¢s only beaten me like 7 times, which of course cracks me up to no end. This game was no different unfortunately for her. Even in my exhausted food-deprived, blister-ridden, probably way dehydrated state, I won the game. I can¢t do any more for her. LOLI now have the opinion that the washer and dryer are perhaps the single most amazing invention of all time. The fact that in about a hour, my clothing can go from sweat-filled, dirty, so stinky even a skunk runs away from me condition to my being able to actually consider wearing them again is almost a miracle in my book. I even washed my gaitors which were covered with mud.Then it was off to the Rite-Aid where I loaded up on neosporin, special blister band-aides, peroxide, cotton balls, oh yes¢¦and some chocolate. Gotta have that right? We get back to the room and I treat the blister. I know some people say don¢t break the skin, but there is definitely no way I¢ll be hiking tomorrow if I don¢t drain it, so drain it I did. YOW-ZUH!! Seriously folks, the only time I¢ve ever had a bigger or worse blister was in Marine bootcamp and those suckers were the size of Texas¢¦this one was only the size of Manhattan. Now I¢m getting pissy about the situation though. Is it SO MUCH to ask to just get to Harper¢s Ferry this year? I openly admit, my journey was never meant to be typical (whatever that is). The things in life I learn the most from never are, and I am at peace with all of that, but c¢mon, just 52 more miles, my goal is reached, I go home with my chest pumped out proudly because I hiked over 1000 miles this year and I start working on how I¢ll get back out next year, oh yes¢¦and maybe find a damn job. It¢s that old dialogue of gut versus brain. My brain says, ¢Geez Certain, don¢t be a wimp, it¢s only 3 12 more days of hiking,¢ and my gut already tells me this evening, ¢Um yeah Certain, you¢re only inflicting these guidelines on YOURSELF, nobody else is and do you want even 52 miles of this journey to be miserable just so you can say you did it?¢ Well, tomorrow will tell. I¢m getting up, getting dressed, treating my foot the way I would out there, throwing on my pack and will walk around go up some hills here in the parking lot of the Scottish Inn and see how it feels. My benchmark will be this¢¦.if I can¢t take a step on an up hill, down hill, or flat ground that is not painful due to this blister, then I¢ll take a week off let it heal and come back and finish. If I can walk with pain in only 1 of those scenarios, then I¢ll hike. There¢¦it¢s settled, and now I must kick Incessant¢s butt in another game of International Rummy and pack my pack back up. Suspense¢¦suspense¢¦.~Certain