Date: 2006-04-08
From: Trimpi Shelter

To: Best Western
Miles today: 10.7

Last night the lightning was spectacular. It wasn't much of a thunderstorm, anything back home would have kicked its butt, but the flashes of pure while were nonetheless enjoyable. So today began my second leg of finding Dad. I'm really quite baffled of where he is. I mean the most he had been able to do was 9 miles, I don't know, maybe he was feeling good. So I took off as soon as the rained calmed a bit. I was huffin' it. I did a bit over 6 miles in 2 hours. Finally I started seeing some of his tracks so I knew I was getting close, and then there he was, chatting with a group of section hikers. Turns out that Dad 14 miles yesterday. Where did that come from?Amiba, a lady who was hiking that section that morning and also gave me some trail magic of ginger ale, a banana, and an apple, showed up and told us she could give us a ride into Marion once we got the Partnership shelter. We accepted.Dad was feeling ok minus the last mile. He must have really pushed it yesterday. I'm very surprised he's gone this far, distance wise. So we got to Partnership shelter, walked to the visitor's center and piled in to Amiba's PT cruiser. We decided that a hotel tonight would be cool and Dad treated us to that as well as dinner. If generousity cab be defined then it was my Dad today.It was just nice to be able to relax and be clean, out of that freezing rain. After dinner we all went to the laundry mat, Braveheart and I hitched there with an older man who was on his way to see his girlfriend for the first time in 3 years - because he slept with her 18 year old daughter, but "It wasn't his fault, she got him drunk and took advantage of him". He offered us weed and mushrooms - yes, a very interesting guy, also gernerous but we declined, and Dad went to CVS and joined us at the mat.We had called Alec to see if she would meet up with us at Macado's to hang out but, though seeming excited to hear from us, stood us up when she said she would come. Dad went back to the hotel and we went to Macado's and just hunt out. The bar tender liked us because she kept giving us free shots, about 5 total between the two of us, which isn't much for 2 people but each one is 4 dollars a pop, which I can't believe people would even pay. It didn't taste very good and you could spend that kind of cash on a lot better things, but whatever, it was free.We also met a couple of guys there that gave us a ride back to the hotel in very interesting fashion. You see, it was very cold out and we were going to be sitting the back of a flat bed truck and we would freeze but that's the price you pay instead of walking. Well, Braveheart gets the "genius" idea of just keeping the bed cover on and us lay in the darkness, down on the bed the whole way to the hotel. Though it was warm, I had the constant paranoid feeling that the 5 minute ride was taking way too long and that I was going to die. Near the end of the ride we were on the verge of trying to escape when we finally arrived at the hotel and were let out. Whew! After calling Keri I went to bed.cinnamin and spice oatmeal with gorp---enchaladas supremas, dos xx - Mexican restaurant---nacho grande, 32 oz Killian, 2.5 shots - Macado's