Date: 2004-06-30
From: Caledonia State Park

To: Quarry Gap Shelters
Miles today: 2.6
Weather: scattered clouds

For the first time in 3 nights I¢m going to bed prior to 1 a.m. I only traveled 3 miles, but my day was quite nice. I left you yesterday camping under power lines by a road I did not figure to be in use. This morning I awoke to a truck whizzing by 6 inches from my head. It was quite a surprise to say the least. Despite the truck incident I fell asleep for 3 more hours and finally woke at 9:30 a.m. still unscathed from trucks.        After walking for 5 minutes I arrived at the Caledonia State Park pool. I stopped and waited at some picnic tables amidst a enormous group of girl scouts. There must have been 100 of them easy. It was strange to see so many little girls so close to the trail. It was cool too, I love kids. Slowly Booboo, Gaia, Skibum, DiegoDave, and Sunshine joined me, K-less, and Rooster. Time to swim! For 3 dollars we each would receive a shower and pool usage¢¦YIPPPEE!         At the pool I swam around like a 12-year-old. As I dove in I pushed away my hiking concerns as quickly as the water I displaced. All at once I was a middle-schooler enjoying his favorite summer venue. There water was brisk, the water was cold; the water was perfect. After an hour romp I joined Rooster to play cards in the grass¢¦Ahhh.        After a rousing game of ¢Tonk¢ I crawled over to my pack which was nestled in the Girl Scout area. I laid back and read my Bible for a while. Afterwards I said hello to the beautiful 23-year-old next to me, Erica. Don¢t worry, I know it¢s fruitless to attempt to pick up beautiful women when you¢re a smelly hiker, but I talked to her none-the-less. Erica seemed sweet and told me how she works with mentally retarded people. As I told her about my time teaching, a cute little 7-year-old approached: Her daughter Brittany. Before long I was enveloped in conversation, and soon I was proceeding to do a show and tell about hiking with Brittany.         Brittany was adorable and I gave her a postcard with a map of the trail. I told her about my tent and she described her rainbow tent to me in detail. It did not take long before we were playing a game of checkers using my chess board bandana and my mini-playing cards. Brittany did not know the rules, but she learned as we played. Soon 3 other 7-year-old girls arrived as spectators and advice-givers. Versus their combined knowledge I was hopeless. With a smile on my facet Brittany crushed me in checkers :-). Soon I let the other girls take over. The other thru-hikers were laughing quietly as I returned to the pool. Booboo then said ¢He¢s yogied himself a family¢¦again.¢ It was not true of course, but I did have a blast with the ladies.        By 4 p.m. the girl scouts had departed :-( and I figured 5 hours of pool time was enough. I went to have a granola bar when a piece of my tooth fell into my left hand¢¦YIKES! It was fairly bad and I tried to find a dentist but no one had appointments. I was afraid I would never eat solid food again when a lady who heard me on the phone told me about ¢DenTek tooth putty¢. My friends went to hike, but I hitched to locate the DenTek. Three hitches later I arrived pack at the pool at 7 p.m. with half of a large pizza and a DenTek-filled right molar. I really enjoy the word ¢DenTek¢¢¦he, he.        The pizza I had found was 6 dollars and could have fed 3 thru-hikers. I had managed to eat 4 of 8 pieces but was determined not to waste. As I began to hike at 7 p.m., I held a pizza balanced on my left palm with my water and my hiking pole in my right. I hiked 3 fun uphill miles appearing to be a pizza delivery man turned hiker. Then I reached the shelter to find ¢Rally¢, ¢BabyBlue¢, and a large group of teenage males. To my shock no one would eat the pizza.         ¢Rally¢ and BabyBlue¢ seemed really cool and I chatted with them and 2 leaders of the teen group, Nate & Doug. The group is a program for troubled teens throughout Pennsylvania to develop leadership. Within 5 minutes of talking I found myself rapping for the large group. It was way fun and the guys loved it. Soon I heard questions like: ¢How did you do that noise with your lips, Sir?¢ It was weird to be called ¢Sir¢, but it was part of their program. After the mini-concert, Rally, BabyBlue, and I went and set up camp laughing.         We set up camp and hung our bear bags. Then I ate another piece of pizza and convinced Rally to do the same. I finally gave in and chucked the other 2 pieces far into the woods. After we burned the cardboard, the 3 of us hung around and talked about hiking, trail-romance, books, and all kinds of crazy stuff. It was really nice and we did not head to our tents until after 10 p.m. Rally and Baby Blue rock! I was about to go to sleep when Doug and Nate came up (the counselors of the group). We talked about the trail and working with youth. In addition, they enjoyed the opportunity to smoke away from the boys. Before they left at 11 p.m. they invited me to join them on Friday when their trip will be over. A free bed, sweet!        All told, I got to chill with kids today. I love kids! I can¢t express how cool both the checkers and rapping were. In addition, it was awesome to meed Erica, Rally, Baby Blue, Doug, and Nate. I feel so blessed! It¢s late and I¢m exhausted though, so to all of my friends:Goodnight,BEATBOX   ttt