Date: 2008-10-13
From: James River

To: Zero Day in Buena Vista
Miles today: 0.0

My Mexican neighbors were very nicely neighborly last night and the music stoppped by about 9:30. Thank you.Today is a lazy zero day. Oh, I have done a few chores but this afternoon has been lazy.In the morning I had a Burger King breakfast. The only stores in this end of town are a Subway, a Burger King and a gas station convenience store. I have no access to internet this stop so I cannot check email either.A funny joke on me is that I found my knife. When I started this trip and got my pack out of the duffelbag I could not find my knife. I searched the duffelbag, even made Linda drive back after we had started toward Bland and search the dufflebag again. I assumed it must be in the pack but when I hauled everything out at that first stop at Helvey's Mill, no knife was found.I could only guess that the airlines had done a search on my checked dufflebag (not an unsusual thing as pack contents look different on x-ray and therefore suspicious) removed the knife and extra nail clippers I had in a plastic bag and forgot to get that little plastic bag back in.So, for 18 days I have been cutting my cheese with the nail file I have on my nail clippers I had in my ditty bag and spreading my peanut butter with my spoon handle. I even looked at knives at the outfitter in Daleville but they just seemed to expensive to buy. The file on the nail clippers and my spoon handle seemed to work so I just continued using them.Well, the pocket on my pack that holds my camelback waater bag had ripped out on one side and as I inspected that more closely, guess what? The knife and extra nailclippers were in their little plastic baggie tucked in that pouch all along. I was happy to find my knife which I had carried for 18 days without knowing it. Silly me.So I repaired the pack with duct tape, repaired a loop on the tent for a guy line that had pulled out using the neat little sewing kit hikers were given at the PCT kickoff, scrubbed my camelback and my cup and pot and have everything pretty well in order to go tomorrow. I still have to clean the water filtr again. There is a lot of silt in the scarce water here this time of year. So far though, cleaning it out at town stops seems to be extending the life of the filter just fine.I have picked up my food box and that is all packed too. I have made a few phone calls on my ailing phone. Its battery just will not hold a charge anymore. My son says I can replace the battery if I ever gt to a store that carries that line of phone but the convenience store, the Subway and the Burger King are not going to be helpful for that. I think there is more town somewhere else but when one is on foot a sprad out town makes life difficult. So my cell phone is only good right now when I can have it plugged into a wall socket. Oh well.I may walk down to a Hardys a few blocks away to have some different fast food. Tomorrow I will be hiking again. I had to replan the next three days as the book I had at home again had some mileage wrong and I had planned too much for the third day anyway. Three days of 12-13.5 miles or so should work, although that is a little more than I have been doing.My knee should be happy with the zero day and I know the rest of my body is not as tired as it was on the first stretch of 12 days before my first zero. I will be ready to go tomorrow.I did go down to the Hardys for a burger for dinner and thy had milkshakes so I satisfied my ice cream craving. I took another shower just because I could. And now I am ready for sleep.