Date: 2005-06-30
From: Boiling Springs, PA

To: Boiling Springs?
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

1,105.9m   [Would it be over-dramatic to start this scene in the emergency room?] Scene: Emergency Room. Kitty-corner to the raging drunk and just across from the kid who has blown up three cars and was currently bleeding from a motorcycle wreck. Situation: Sunshine. Yes, that's the real Sunshine, 'Sunshine on a cloudy day...' It was in fact raining cats and dogs and other large household pets outside, a convienient time to be exhibiting signs of a heart attack and scaring your hiking parters to death. See, I'm sure Sunshine thought all this out and coordinated our trip to town with a bit of drama to spice things up. Blah, blah, blah... the story starts with a bee. The bee, knowing a nicely shaped ankle when he sees one, takes a closer look and doesn't notice his jealous, spindly-legged girlfriend, who in a fit of rage and malice, stings Sunshine's ankle. Sunshine, not knowing the soap opera drama of the amorous bee and his jealous girlfriend just reacts to the sting normally. ('normal' for me would entail singing loud angry songs about 'making love not war' and bashing my afflicted limb upon trees and rocks. For her, it probably ammounted to a sincere "Grrrr!!!") Anyways, she then proceeded to have all these weird things happen to her body; incredible headache, itchyness and hives all over, swelling ankle and of course, a few triffling 'insignficant' things like not being able to breathe, numbness in her left arm and deafening heart beats. Ummm, yeah, nice little peace-loving apple juice drinking buzzy-bee.   By the way, I'd like to take this moment to say that Sunshine has a ridiculously low ammount of 'hits' on her journal. Please let us not resort to ER drama in order to attract a reading audience. Check out her site and drop a line in her guest book. (sign ours too!!!!)   Long story short; there was the hitchhike, the laundrymat, the RACE ACROSS AMERICA cyclists going by, the Post Office that mailed home my sleeping bag, little cooking pot, umbrella and any superfluous book or clothing that has crept into my pack, the GOODWILL where I bought a cotton sheet to sleep in, food at the grocery, chocolate milk and HEET at the gas station.... the day kept rolling on. Sunshine was feeling better but her physicians assistant friend back home told her what to look for and not to leave town without a epipen. The doctor's office said that they "weren't equiped to deal with beestings"- -Whatever! All she needed was a perscription for a epipen. Good grief! Even the emergency room was no help if we weren't willing to shell out big bucks. I had had it! Aaurrgh!!! I'm not charmed by the medical set-up of my beloved USA. In fact, after yesterday; I'm downright exasperated with it!    Well, a doctor called in the perscription just in the nick of time, we bought the perscription, hitched back to Touk, Apple Pie and Stilts and then caught a round about way type of hitch back to the trail.    "Nine twenty." Stilts said, "lovely time to start a hiking day!" And it was. Night-hiked to the shelter and slept like a pile of logs. Tried out the new $2.00 sleeping unit and found it adequate for now, a little chilly but you gotta love those retro plaid stripes. Once again, a shout out to Goodwill! Woke up to find that Sunshine was still alive. As Bassline would say: "It is all good!"