Date: 2012-05-12
From: Dalesville

To: Cove Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 25.0
Weather: overcast clouds

12 May.  Dalesville, VA to Cove Mountain Shelter.  25 miles.             5/12/12  "Today we walked 25 miles. And they BLEW by. We slept in(because of our early rising). The bed was INCREDIBLE!!!!!! Dad and I both had our own Queen sized bed. We spread out and it was great. At 7:00 we packed up and then we ate breakfast. I LOVED it!!!!!!!! There was Cinnamon Rolls and Scrambled eggs!!!!!!!!!!   Then we walked a long time and ran into Ellen. She is INCREDIBLY fast. So I gave her the trail name of Zippy. And she excepted it. So we talked a lot and found out she lives in Boston. Also there are many CRAZY bugs out here."                 ¢Sunshine:-)Crickett and Sweat Hog had no idea how much they really helped us!  We have been running hard and fast for over a week now and were starting to wear down a bit.  Their love and kindness really rejuvenated us mentally not to mention what sleeping in those queen sized beds did for us physically. We got the best rest ever and we even slept in till 7:00 am.  We recharged there over night as well as a we would have on a zero day. Thank you both of you!   I have finally finished my Backpacking Light article!  I know everyone enjoyed reading Sunshines prospective and she did a great job taking over while I was busy.  Last year I wrote BPL articles on zero days. There just isn't much time to wright before bed.  Sunshine aspires to be a writer someday, so this is good experience for her.  In my efforts to bring you a sincere reality of our journey, some have miss understood me to be a complainer (according to the all knowing Internet).  I apologize, that was not my intent.  For every one negative experience out here, we have had 100 amazingly wonderful experiences.  We are having a great adventure and there is no place we would rather be at this time.  So in this light I jest in the following manor not to be taken seriously.  Instead of reality, I thought maybe some would prefer this approach to my writhing:  so close your eyes and try to imagine me as a TV news anchorman.  Trust me this will be good!  No, no, wait, wait, wait, stop, wait! Open, open. Open your eyes!  Sorry, I forgot you still have to read this (ha,ha).  So picture me with a dapper suit and tie, a Donald Trump hair piece, and Tom Brokaw reading glasses more handsome than ever behind an enormous desk saying "Good evening.  Breaking news tonight... the worlds terrorists and dictators have signed a peace agreement and are now holding hands and singing Cumm-by- ya on the White House lawn.  Congress today has made unanimous decisions to stop wasting the tax payers dollars and to stop lying about one another on campaign commercials.  After a short session, they too joined hands in mellifluous harmony on the White House lawn.  A 15 year old Kansas boy who had been paralyzed since birth miraculously began walking today.  While walking home from fetching groceries for an elderly neighbor, he found a lottery ticket worth some 500 brazilian (ha, ha, get it?) US dollars.  With this money he plans to save all the lost puppies of the world and pay off the US deficit.  For CBS evening news I'm Fullof Poppycock.  Stay classy San Diego, goodnight".   Oh, come on that was funny, right?  But seriously, I know my regular readers want to hear the truth, so I will continue to be forth coming, but promise to be inspiring instead of a "poopy pants" (come on, this is comedy gold here, ha, ha).  We had a great day and made great time.  The weather was sunny, but not too hot, perfect.  We are excited about spending extra time soon in DC learning lots of US history. Oh, we are 1/3rd of the way into this trail already.  We hope to be participating in the half gallon (of ice cream) challenge by the end of the month after our DC expedition.  This proud hiker tradition transpires in PA at the halfway point.  Frankly, I'm excited about eating a  half gallon of ice cream to celebrate this accomplishment.  That's way better than the PCT's pancake challenge.