Date: 2008-06-12
From: Highland Falls, NY

To: Highland Falls, NY
Miles today: 0.0

Well despite the fact I could sleep as late as I wanted, I STILL heard birds @ 5:30 this morning. I tried going back to sleep, but I couldn't.I did just lay around and enjoy being able to do that. Many mornings out there, I wish I could just lay around and lounge, but you can't get anywhere if you do that right?I did get my laundry back last nite, so I put my clothes back into their stuff sack, washed my cookware, and made my resupply list for the next leg. I swear, I shouldn't carry so much food since people have been giving me so much out there.Karen is driving up today, so I'm sure you all can imagine how excited I am. This is our last visit until I get to Maine, so it's bitter-sweet. I'll know (God willing) the next time I see her will be when I reach Monson, ME, so that's cool, but I still feel SO far away from there too.I know the toughest hiking is ahead of me, and it's weird. I've hiked so far already, but I still get this feeling of doom sometimes like I have yet to be faced with the "really hard" stuff, almost like I'm afraid I'll be confronted with something so hard, that I can't hike it....isn't that ridiculous? LOL Then I realize, as long as I keep putting my left foot in front of the right, even if it's only a few inches at a time, that's a few inches closer to Mt. Katahdin. It's all about my immense respect for this trail...that's all.I decided to walk the 1 mile down to the market and resupply. Nice day today, and it was a nice walk. I'm literally a few miles from Westpoint, which I didn't realize was here. I got to Keys Market, which was small, but adequate enough for me. I also picked up some fruit and stuff for sandwiches so we'd have something to eat in the room.I also bought a tiny cake and candle to surprise Karen when she gets here...for her birthday. I talked to her and she's hittig traffic in D.C. and probably will hit it for NYC as well, which is only 35 miles or so away.So my grocery bags were heavy (should have brought my pack huh?) and I thought I'd try hitching...just to see what would happen. I mean people, I'm wearing shorts and a tank top and crocs. I have 3 bags of groceries..do you really think I'm a weirdo? (ok..don't answer that one)Nobody bit, so I started walking back. I did stop and talk to some construction guys (who were gawking at me when I passed them earlier), so I decided to talk to them and "help" them realize that no, I'm not just your object to stare at, I'm also a real person. They were nice men, and you see, instead of getting pissed off, I like the idea of opening communication with people. It's hard to see anyone as an object when you get to know just a little of what they're about you know?I kept walking ad about half way back, I passed a residential road with tons of cars pulling out. I turned around and stuck my thumb out and someone bit! I got in on nice leather seats, and it was a gentleman named Javier, who worked @ the Holiday Inn Express. He goes, "It's too hot to be out walking in this stuff." He was very nice and I thanked him.I got back to the room and got my food all ready, except for the peas Karen is bringing up for me that I've been craving. They are those green Wasabi peas, minus the wasabi (I don't like anything hot or spicy). I have some wasabi peas in my trail mix, and it's pretty hot to my overly sensitive mouth. I've been craving these green peas for 2 weeks now..can't wait to munch on them!I got bitten by something about 7 days ago. It looked like a black fly bite on my upper right arm, so I didn't think anything of it. However, I've noticed there's a large red splotch, and it doesn't hurt, doesn't itch, ad there's no bullseye, but I think even a spider bite should have gone away by now. So I asked Cathy @ the desk if there are any clinics or VA hospitals around. She said Keller Army Hospital is a few miles down the road, so I called them. I explained I am traveling, am a veteran, have my VA card and wondered if I could come into the walk-in urgent care\er to have this looked at. The guy said yes, that it is best around 8:00 a.m., and after being processed, they'd see me. Since I'm a veteran, this is at no cost to me, but I pay a small fee for prescriptions.I told Karen about it, so we're going to go there tomorrow a.m. so I can get some peace of mind or medication if it is Lyme (which I don't think it is, I never found a tick here).So again folks, what are the chances the heatwave would come through, slow me down, I'd end up in a town with a military hospital (I thought I'd be in Pawling by now), and seeing that I've not had health insurace since 2004, I can actually utilize 1 of the benefits I earned by serving in the Marine Corps exactly when I feel like I should see a doc and not have to pay $100's to get care?I'm almost getting freaked out by all of these seemingly random events. I mean, it really makes me think about how I live my life (and people in general). We are in this very structured and sometimes rigid environment where due to time, and the feeling that there's not enough of it, we have to try to plan every minute of the day. Out here, there's a "plan" but it is so NOT rigid and you can not count on anything happening the way you planned them..like back in the real world.It is when I stop thinking any further ahead than right now that the most amazing things happen. I wonder what would happen if you could carry this back to the real world? The problem is that it's like my all time favorite movie The Matrix. As long as people are still blindly "plugged in" to the world of schedules, and deadlines, this living in the moment concept will be hard to do around and within their context.I feel that every single person who has randomly helped me out has had a certain amount of enlightenment and perspective pertaining to real life.In other words, they weren't totally lost in the real world, and somehow managed to keep some perspective about the most precious asset we have on the Earth..each other.I assume every hiker has these things happen too, but I wonder if they recognize the wonderment of it all when it happens. I'm still feeling residual blown away-ness from my meeting\ride with Rick yesterday.Anyway, I'm hungry...AGAIN, but I'm really trying to eat healthy in towns, so I've got peaches, plums, and bananas to snack on...mmmmmm. I watched waaaaay too many episodes of the old Incredible Hulk today too. Why don't we realize the acting is so bad whe we're making these shows? Will we look back @ our current shows in 20 years and think the same thing? Probably so...but in my book, the best and worst old show is Wonder Woman. It makes me laugh so hard now.Karen should be here in about 2 more hours, so I'm going to watch the Dog Whisperer in about 15 minutes, and then take a shower (I LOVE SHOWERS!). Life is good you know?~Certain