Date: 2004-05-27
From: Troutville, VA

To: Troutville, VA
Miles today: 0.0

Zero day #23...yippee! Comfort Inn is charging us 38 dollars for 4 people in a room...it rocks! I was planning on a zero today...everyone else saw the horrible weather forecast and stayed. It was gorgeous and sunny all day. Last night was fun, but fairly timid on the whole. I could not sleep and ended up on the floor where I awoke around 10 AM. I spent 4 hours talking with the front desk. They were hilarious. One girl there was Anna, a gorgeous blonde with a very "high-maintenance" aura about her. The other 2 were managers: Christina and Karen. Here is some of what I gathered from our conversation on hikers: All hikers smell and many don't shower, even in town. Girl hikers are "nasty", why don't they shave? Hikers' bodies not only reek, but also every piece of gear they own. All hikers must be insane. Apparently every male hiker stares Anna down...maybe it's her lack of leg hair. As we talked, I rolled in laughter. To hear 3 hotel workers' perspectives and stories on hikers was great. I even ate a fajita lunch with Anna before finally returning to my hotel room around 2:00 p.m. I returned to the room just in time to see the "Apple Bottom Jeans" contest. The TV show was about a clothing company's "talent contest" where rap star Nelly helped pick finalists to be a model for Apple Bottoms. Apple Bottoms is a new line of clothing for girls with ghetto booty...I really don't miss TV much. After re-waking my brain from a TV coma, I called home. I talked to my Dad about home and he told me how Mom went to a cool church retreat that touched her. I was really happy to hear them, and I could see how God is answering my prayers for home. At night, Rooster and I played video golf. Because I did not know who would stay, I am in a room with Quest and Rooster tonight. Quest is a cool vegetarian veterinarian who helped me sew my patches on my pack today. Speaking of Quest, Beartracks put his leg is his mouth twice today. Beartracks did not know Quest was a vet and made a comment to him about healthcare: "I can't believe we give animals all this medicine when humans have no health coverage." (Ha!) Later he went up to a woman with very short hair and said "Excuse me sir..." It was hilarious!The hotel is quiet tonight and Boo-boo has joined the room. We talked a lot tonight about God, about girls, and about "future plans." We sat in the lobby until 3 AM talking like best friends. We joked with the receptionist and I rapped for her. It was relaxed and cool. Salt Lick dropped by too (Coyote and Salt Lick arrived today.) I really enjoyed talking with Booboo and I feel like he has become far more relaxed and easy to talk to over the last 2 months. I would love to talk with him more in the future about his beliefs and plans. Through our conversation, I was reminded of 2 big things: God has my future and God will handle my desire for female companionship. God's cool! So is this hike. I needed my zero today and enjoyed it. The "fuddy-duddy" experience is fading. Now I will close with some final thoughts:- Krispy hates rain...because of this he missed a perfect day today ?- The desk girls claimed Boo-boo accidentally exposed himself with the kilt (ha, ha)- I love truckstops...is that weird?- My cigar yesterday rocked!- I need to use e-mail before I leave tomorrow.- I will hitch 5 miles - yay!- I feel like the creative part of my brain is dead right now...ugh! I'm spent.Goodnight,BeatBox