Date: 2004-04-04
From: Abington Gap SHelter

To: Damascus - The Place
Miles today: 10.0

The sunrise this morning was beautiful, one of the nicest of the trail so far. I rolled over in my sleeping bag and was astounded at the good work God, who created this earth does.It was marred only slightly by the tired haze that fell over me because of the time change and the battle with the mice last night. Actually I think it more like one mouse in particular who ran back and forth between Red Beard and I. We could see him in the eerie moonlight.My 4th state: Virginia! Then 500 miles more of Virginia to go. I think I liked the crossing of state lines every week or two.Damascus is a sweet trail town. How tempted I am to stay for days. Some people have been here a week waiting out the weather. I think I will resist the temptation and hike out tomorrow. Plus the hostel doesn¢t have any heat or TV, so that makes my decision a bit easier. I¢ve done laundry, ate lunch at Dot¢s, snacked at the Side Track Caf©, hung out and talked, organized my food for the next section and now I¢m ready for bed. Oh yeah, I also hiked an easy 10 miles this morning, mostly flat and downhill.Everyone is here: Pilgrim Soul, Lulu, Red Beard, Sunshine, Hustler, Waterfall, Walks Alone, Healer, Capt Hook, Moon Pie, Gapper, Brair Rabbit and a few others I can¢t remember. It is out of control. I can only imagine the crowds that will be here in a month or so. The more the merrier I guess but for now I have my own room so that makes me happy.Just a random fact: Did you know that people down south are obsessed with Nascar? Obsessed! How bizarre. Half the town was at the local greasy spoon watching it.I almost forgot about the Laundromat. There was an old lady there grooving along to the jukebox making the circle around the machines. It was really cool. Red Beard also got a few laughs at my expense. I feel like somewhat of a normal person on the trail but I feel kind of crazy in towns. Red Beard went across the street to get some smaller bills to put into the change machine at the Laundromat. I didn¢t know what he was doing so I put in all I had, which was a $10 bill. He came back with all these $1.00 bills to see my pile of quarters on the machine. Then I had to pick the one machine in the whole place that didn¢t work, but I was determined to make it work because I had already put in the detergent. We ended up scooping the detergent out with our hands. For the finale, I was taking the laundry out of the dryer when I saw a nickel. I was like ¢sweet a nickel¢ and I picked it up. It was so hot I burnt my hand and threw it on the floor. Red Beard couldn¢t stop laughing and said it was the funniest thing seen since he started his hike.Good news from the real world. I have a place to live in Vancouver for September when I go to school. Now there is no rush to finish my hike by late July or early August. My new finish date goal is August 15th¢20th. In celebration of this I plan to take a zero day. Plus the Side Track Caf© is cooking up a roast beef dinner tonight. Who would miss that? I also haven¢t taken a zero since Fontana and my body would be happy with a rest. I¢ve started having minor pain in my left knee and hip and I don¢t want it to become a major thing.JB ¢ ¢Tell It Like It Is¢¢¦