Date: 2005-04-06
From: Catawba

To: Holland
Miles today: 0.0

Although I haven't really been hiking I thought you might like to know what I've been up to. Okay, I'm just doing it for my hit counter ; )March 26th I left Kincora and started my east coast tour. A 24 hour Greyhound adventure ended at Boston's South station. It's always fun to spend the night on a bus and to add to the adventure I also got to spend a couple of hours in the middle of the night in the New York station. So now I can say that I've been in the Big Apple, just have no clue what it looks like. Safely in Boston I waited outside for Squanto (AT99) to pick me up. Of course he was waiting for me inside... One of these days I'll get it right. Having learnt from the last time this happened I decided to call him on his cell and despite my sudden strong Dutch accent (cell phones make me nervous) we were able to locate each other.After seeing his young niece and nephew running around looking for easter eggs in the yard we enjoyed a marvelous easter dinner with his family. It was a lot of fun and good food but the best was still to come. We were headed for New Hampshire!!! Squanto's uncle owns a beautiful house up in the mountains near the Whites and we were allowed to stay there! It offered a view of Mount Washington and was simply awesome. Soon we were scheming on how to get rid of the uncle and take over the house ; )We would install a nice bath tub, a tempting hot tob, a fire ring and.... Isn't dreaming fun?The next morning we woke up to snow falling. Big flakes. It was only supposed to rain! However gorgeous it looked outside we did have a little problem. We hadn't done any grocery shopping... Squanto's car wasn't really ready for the snow but at some point we decided to go for it and leave our safe haven. If this doesn't sound very smart that is because it wasn't very smart ; ) We had just made it out of the drive way when a sudden burst of brain activity led Squanto to turn uphill to see how the car was handling the road. Well, the car wasn't handling the road at all and we decided to turn around and go right back to the drive way. Good decision but badly executed... While turning, Squanto managed to park the car in a small snowbank and we got stuck. Big oops!!! Since I don't know how to drive let alone drive stick I ended up being the one to push the car out. After numerous attempts we had finally amassed enough sticks, branches and dirt for the wheels to grab on to and I was able to push it out. I thought I was being an awfully good sport about it seeing that I was on my knees in the snow wearing my mini skirt and high heels... oh wait, that's my non existent Barbie alter ego... Anyway, I thought it was very funny and since we had gotten it safely back to the driveway we both laughed hard about it. At least we had gotten some physical activity out of it which was good because our hiking plans obviously weren't gonna happen. Watching movies and lazying around aren't a bad way to spend time either though. The next day we had a great clear view of Mt Washington and were able to venture out. We drove to Pinkham Notch and looked around in the visitor center. The trail was all wet and slushy and I wimped out of the hiking activity (shame on me!). Instead we drove on to Gorham for another preview of the AT experience. A lunch break at the all you can eat Chinese restaurant. Yum!Later that day Squanto had a good friend drop by and they gave a great drumming performance. By the way, if anyway is interested in buying a cool african drum Squanto sells them. He'll be at Trail Days this year (yes, this is shameless plug; ).The next day Squanto drove me down to visit MAD Mike. He's a section hiker I met while I hiked the PCT and we had a great time reminiscing. He also did some repairs on my pack which I greatly appreciate. Getting back to Boston in the morning was very interesting. This is what I wrote while I was on the ferry."Talk about feeling out of place. I'm on a commuter boat to Boston right now. People in suits and city wear sipping their morning coffee on their way to work... and here I am still in hiker clothes with my backpack next to me. I'm only typing this entry on my Pocketmail so I feel like I fit in more ; ) "Now I was on my way to meet 4Winds who did a southbound hike on the AT last year and met Burrito (my friend who also hiked last year). We talked a mile a minute and it was clear that we both love the long distance hiking experience. My stay was short here but I'm looking forward to meeting him again when I get to Connecticut later this year. Soon I was on my way to Roanoke. Another night bus experience, yippee ; )I was picked up by Mandy, the fiance of Briarpatch (AT01) and we drove to their house near Catawba. On the way there we crossed paths with the AT and they live only a couple miles from it. Very cool!!!I arrived just in time for his 30th birthday party and met up with Squirrel (AT03?sobo) who I had met last year at Elmer's. Small world.I had a lot of fun and the next morning even got to set foot on the AT!!! We drove up a dirt road and walked about half a mile to the Audi (sp?) Murphy Memorial on the AT. We had an awesome view over the valley.The rest of the weekend was pretty mellow since we were all very tired. The night busses and late nights had definitely taken their toll on me. I guess I'm getting old...Monday was flying day but in the morning Mandy and I still had time to do a little shopping. She led me to this horrible store with lots of beautiful hemp necklaces and original handbags. I have to admit it, I was weak. I rationalized that I really needed to say goodbye to my Yellowstone 'Total Babe' necklace so found a justification to buy a new one. Yippee!!! I thought I could resist the bags but again I was weak. And really I couldn't use my stuff sack as a carry-on bag now could I? Toting my new beautiful bag I boarded the plane and landed safely in Holland (or the Netherlands if you prefer). Today I tried to find a summer skirt and/or pants (since nothing fits me anymore) and came to the conclusion that my awesome strong hiker body is considered too large according to contemporary fashion. Big legs and a round butt don't do well these days...It's funny how it affected my mood. Yesterday I felt great about my body and was happy that I fit into one of my post PCT pants again without showing my butt crack, now I felt fat and frustrated. Ughh! Bottom line is I am strong and healthy and I DO look great ; )And you know what? I'm going to Jordan tomorrow!!! To see my good friend Rooske and ride camels and walk in the desert and float in the dead sea.... I'm so excited!!! (and a little freaked out).