Date: 2004-04-15
From: Kincora Hostel

To: Pond Flats
Miles today: 5.7

Day 46Happy Birthday Dad!!Start: Kincora HostelDest.: Pond FlatsMile.: 5.7Total: 414.9Dances refuses to journal tonight, being a pphead, but I was wolfing down the 'ol cookies earlier today! Were able to send journal entries and recieve messages from everyone, yippee! Loved hearing from everyone, but where was my mother and why didn't the Bear send hugs and kisses like everyone else?? Hee hee, although we got so may we're almost xo'd out.The hostel was pretty good, best damn shower on the whole trail, complete with heater and hairdryer. Rode into town with owner's wife (Pat), Willow, & Sweet Cheeks. My rainpants wore a hole, managed to get the outfitter to replace, tried on new rain jacket cuz ours are no longer water proof and weigh a ton when wet. My new boots arrived from LlBean, might be half size too big but will wait out the next 45 miles with them, also carrying old boots and 2 pairs of insoles. Feet were not "instantly better" as I'd hoped they'd be but felt better towards the end of the 5 miles. Decided not to go to shelter 10 miles out because we left at 2:45 and the tent was still wet so Tom thought it would be good to stop with sunlight left.Finally convinced Tom to allow kielbasa for dinner, grilled it over the fire on a "forked" stick, and had cool ranch doritos, with chocolate donuts for dessert. It took a while to get the fire going but it was well worth it. The stray dog with the boo boo found a home today with another hiker back in Michigan. I'm jealous...As far as maildrops go, the next place would be Pearisburg, VA, on or around May 1. We are sending stuff to ourselves at Paul & Glenda Washburn's, a couple that worked with Tom in Blacksburg. This might seem far off but as I write this it's 4/15, Thursday, and this won't post til Sun or Mon, the 18th or 19th, and by the time y'all get it/read it, we'll be headed to Pearisburg. We are currently 2 days behind schedule so we won't be there until May 3rd, unless we can move faster. I don't remember their address but I'll post it after we talk with Gary next. As for what we're craving, you'll regret asking...Nestle Tollhouse choc chip cookies, brownies, real rice crispy treats, scotcharoos, beer bread, choc pudding tubes [made by Hunts], koolaid in the pouches [grape, lemonade, fruit punch, all presweetened with sugar], jolly ranchers candy, pineapple tango [dried pineapple made to look like mango pieces]. Basically, if you can't think of anything, go to your convenience store's snack aisle. Please remember that we have to carry what you send so small portions/containers are best and if you put them in quart sized freezer ziplocks, that would be most helpful. Also, please don't get us the bags of mixed dried fruit, we discovered we aren't tht fond of it [sorry]. It might be a good idea to coordinate mail drops with others so that we don't end up with 10 boxes! Ok, lastly, I just want to say how nice it was to be alone with my hubby today. We saw only 1 other person today and camped alone. It isn't often that we've had quality time together in the last few weeks because you're always with someone, waiting for someone, listening to snoring, etc. It's nice being able to discuss something besides how much the hike sucked today or how badly we look and smell. It's also wonderful to be able to share a kiss or hug without being told to "get a room"! Ok, that's it. I love this pocketmail even though it's slow. P.S. Ghardetto's snack mix is an excellent mail drop idea. Also, please don't feel obligated to send us anything, we just like getting things and hearing from our family and friends, it makes us feel good.