Date: 2006-06-09
From: PA 850 (1124.2 miles)

To: PA 850 (1124.2 miles)
Miles today: 0.0

Another zero day of hiking. I'm enjoying the day with my wife Sue.We spent last night at the Holiday Inn Express in Harrisburg, PA. The hotel is fully booked tonight due to a Hot Rod show in town this weekend, so we moved to a small motel in the Duncannon area for the next two nights. This place is an old motel probably built in the early 1960s - small rooms, one floor, and right along the road. Well I made a big change in my look today - I found a barber shop and got a haircut. With the shave, haircut, blue jeans, and cotton T-shirt, I'm don't look like a thru-hiker right now.After the haircut I bought new shoe inserts and a lightweigt swimsuit. No not a speedo, although I think I would look good in it right now. We also chased around town to find a new fanny/lumbar pack. The one I've been carrying since Springer is now falling apart and needs to be retired. As we were driving away from the store where I bought the pack, I saw a Rita's Italian Ice stand and I had to stop. Rita's is a PA chain that I've heard has good Italian Ice, I had to try it. I'll admit it was good, and I did enjoy it, however, it wasn't exactly the same as Ralph's of Staten Island. Don't get me wrong I would buy Rita's again - it was good.We then Drove to Duncannon and settled into the new room. I started a gear inventory, and also started to make changes with gear I had asked Sue to bring. I'm swapping my rain gear to a lighter one I used years ago. I'm doing the same with my fleece sweater and pack rain cover. I'm also sending my emergency blanket home and taking back my Tyvek ground sheet. I'm hoping these steps will make a big weight savings - I'd like to get the pack weight down. This evening we met Cayotebec, Gumby, Tinkerbell, Conductor, and Just Gene for dinner at Sorrento's Italian Restaurant. We all had something different, and everyone said their food was good. I had a Stromboli which was very big, I ended up sharing it with the others.The last chore for the day was getting the laundry done. We finished off the evening by sitting in the laundromat. I can't say this was the highlight of our day, but it had to be done. All in all Sue enjoyed meeting more hikers I've been hiking with and the day was a success. Old Goat Normal Clothes, checking supplies - Click picture to see full sizeJust Gene, Old Goat, Conductor, Coyotebec, Gumby, Tinkerbell - Click picture to see full sizePretty Mural in Duncannon, PA - Click picture to see full size Sue's Note: I was so happy to meet the group Old Goat has been hiking with for a while now. They all are very nice and I enjoyed the time listening to AT talk. The only complaint I would have about dinner is that the restaurant is next to railroad tracks and many long and noisy trains passed by while we were there. Each time a train would roll by, conversations stopped because it was so noisy (we were on the deck outside the back of the restaurant). (It's probably much quieter inside, and there are plenty of tables inside so you don't have to sit on the deck.)I like to ask people how they get their trail names when I meet them. I didn't ask Coyotebec about her name because Old Goat had told me she got that name when she was at a religious retreat weekend. Her husband, Gumby got his name because he happens to have a lot of green clothing. They have a Trail Journal site (www.trailjounals.com/johnbecky). Coyotebec and Gumby talked about the first time they did part of the AT. They hiked from Springer Mountain to Erwin, TN, with their 3-year old son. They put him in one of the jogging strollers and carried the stroller when they couldn't roll it. When they decided to not continue that way, they then bicycled from Erwin, TN, to Maine (still with their son). They only rode about 3 hours a day so their son wasn't in the stroller for so long each day. I admire their gusto and courage! (By the way, that son got married last August.)Tinkerbell's name was given to him from a bear bell he used to keep on the outside of his pack (the bell rings and keeps bears away). Conductor (he has a Trail Journal, too) explained to me that he hates spider webs, so while he's hiking he holds a long, twig/branch in his fingers in such a way that while his arm moves to move his walking stick, the twig moves aound and breaks any spider webs in his path and looks somewhat like he's conducting music. (I completely understand - I hate them, too, so I either break them with a stick or ask Old Goat to go ahead of me...he's such a good guy like that!) :-)Just Gene was with us for dinner, and Free Bird joined the table later. Old Goat mentions how he might look in a Speedo right now. I brought our bathroom scales again - he weighed in at 170 pounds. And, yes, I feel he would look good in a Speedo now. He's so fit and trim. They talked about some of the people they've met. All of them had met Matt Hazley (spelling?) - he has a web site (www.matthazley.com - try two zs if that doesn't work - I didn't check before I started typing this) - a guy who hiked all three US trails in one year!! (Appalachian Trail, Pacific Trail, and Continental Trail.) His goal this year is to hike the entire AT in 40 days! He plans to start the AT mid-June. They met him at the Blackburn Center where he was doing a training hike to be ready for the AT. One thing he does is to do training hikes to get his body in tip-top shape so he can start at full speed from the very first day.At one point during dinner, someone mentioned the crocs (the "dorky baby blue crocs" Old Goat referred to a couple days ago). I looked under the table and they all had them on except for Old Goat - he was in "civilian" clothes (jeans, sneakers, cotton shirt) because he asked me to bring them down for him to wear for a change of pace while he wasn't on the trail.