Date: 2008-05-17
From: Damascus

To: Damascus
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

6:30am, I finally HAD to get up. I had heard talking close by. They finally stopped talking before I got up. I was surprised by the number of tents next to mine. I counted 7 new tents in the area You Go Girl and I tented. No peeing in the woods here. I'll have to go down the dirt road to where the porta-potties are located.Afterwards I went back to sleep until You Go Girl called me reminding me about the Post Office being opened. We started walking toward town when we saw a pancake breakfast in the ball field. Stopped for that. I saw Peacock and Crispy Critter again there.We went by the ATC tent again looking for Bob Peoples and found him and his Hard Core sign up. You Go Girl is so excited to be doing this.We caught the Trolly back to Tent City. Dropped off my mail boxes. Visited with CeeCee as she French braided my hair into two braids. This is now a tradition. She also braided my hair the same way in 2004. You Go Girl and I wanted to get something to eat before the Hiker Parade. We headed to Dot's which was packed. I ran into Bama with her husband, Bill. They let me finish off their pitcher of Amber Bock and gave us their seats at the counter when they left. You Go Girl and I ordered cheesburgers and onion rings. They were so good.I finally saw Pirate, a hiking buddy of mine in 2004. You Go Girl had met him at Neels Gap. We took pictures of hikers in clever and outlandish outfits while we were still in Dot's. Baltimore Jack wore a t-shirt that said, "Bill Bryson is a candyass." Bill Bryson is the author of "A Walk in the Woods," and lives in the same town as Baltimore Jack in New Hampshire. Bill Bryson did not hike the entire trail.The Hiker Parade is so much fun. We saw Peacock dressed in a short black sequined dress. He looked so hot. His father, Daddy-O, kept saying how proud he was. They couldn't wait for Mommy-O to see him. It was fun seeing people I knew in the parade or on the sidelines watching the parade. Some year I'm going to just watch. This is the 3rd hiker parade I've been in. What makes this parade special is the waterguns and water balloons that the hikers and the bystanders are armed with. Since I wasn't armed, I didn't get too wet. Occasionlly a stray incoming water balloon would splash close to me. Later I took my Leki poles to the Leki tent at Tent City to have them cleaned and checked over. I learned that Leki is pronounced "lake-ee." The guy said that I needed new tips. When I came back to pick my poles up, the guy told me in a very serious tone that I have poor pole hygiene. He showed me how to take them apart to keep them clean. They now have brand new tips. Leki does this all for free.That evening while we were drinking dragonflies at CeeCee's tent, Elgixin came by with his wife to say good-bye. He was getting off the trail. We are truely sorry to see him go. Lucky for me, he doesn't live far from my house. I'll be able to visit him.When is was time for bed, our quiet area wasn't anymore. Next to our tents was a loud party. They were singing and playing their guitars by beating on them. Oh well, lucky for me that I can sleep through anything.