Date: 2004-08-20
From: Dalton

To: Dalton
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

What a night! Today was my second zero and I relaxed all day. I visited the library for the second day in a row, I watched the Olympics, and I met new hikers. The Blues Brothers, London Len, Sparrow, and Hutch, and Publix all arrived today. It¢s 3 a.m., my foot still hurts, and I¢m ready for bed, but first about my night. In the morning Rob had to work at the Shell Station he manages. Since he could not run slacks, he had me drive the van. I drove all over Western Massachusetts :-) . I dropped a girl off at the bus station in Pittsfield, I dropped hikers off at Mt. Greylock (bye Chicago Rob!), and I headed south to Great Barrington. Gorbachev had joined me for the ride and Hemmingway was the final hiker I needed to drop off. By the time we reached Great Barrington it was noon. We ate at McDonalds :-) and then finally said goodbye to Hemmingway. We were going to go to the library too, when Rob called and told us to pick him up. It was great to drive again and all the way home we listened to oldies. What a relaxing way to spend the day¢¦if only the night could have been the same. After a relaxing zero (#46) we all (Blues Brothers, Publix, myself, Dig-Dug, and Backdraft all hopped into the mini-van to go to one of Rob¢s shows. Rob sings and plays guitar in a classic rock band. I actually met Rob at Trail Days singing with him (see 5/12). On the way we all joked and I beatboxed for the ¢Blues Brothers¢ on their video camera. We drove an hour through pouring rain and a massive lightning storm. Around 9 p.m. we all poured into a small local bar. I did not want to spend a bunch of money so I went to the touch screen video games. There I met an attractive girl, Jolynn, who invited me to play with her. As we began to talk she was completely concerned with one thing: herself. I tried to be nice and enjoy her company when she invited me to play pool. As she stood up I was shocked to see she was wearing an outfit, previously covered by her coat, that looked as though it belonged to a Playboy model. At least I would like playing pool, I thought. As we played I ran 5 balls to run the table and win our doubles match. She had missed it busy flirting with the bartender. Trying desperately to talk to her about something , I asked what she did for a living. She immediately became offended and said ¢What did you think I was, a dancer? Well, I used to be one, but I¢m not now.¢ Though I never said anything like it, she became offended at what she thought I meant. When she suggested we play singles I happily obliged. I won 3 straight games before sinking the 8-ball on accident verse a drunk London Len. I guess it was not my night. Rob¢s band was good, but it was hard to be in a bar with little social interaction. Most of the other hikers were occupied elsewhere, but at least I was away from Jolynn. The highlight of the evening came when a past thru-hiker visited and bought pizza. After pizza I just focused on the band, which was truly good until about midnight. At that point I snuck into the van and crashed on the floor. I had one drink all night.I was finally roused as everyone piled in around 2 a.m. Though everyone but Rob had drunk, Publix was particularly ¢fun¢. Where earlier he had been quiet and subdued, he was now quite alive. He argued with London Len, pretended to beatbox, shared his ¢opinions¢ on a number of topics, and would not be quiet. I and one of the Blues Bro¢s were ready to kill him after 30 minutes of ranting. Then, I got an idea! I suggested we play the ¢quiet game¢. First one to talk loses! (and gets beat up). To my shock it worked, and we drove home in peace. After a self-involved ¢dancer¢, a drunk young hiker, and being up until 3 a.m., I¢m ready for bed!Goodnight!BEATBOX   ttt