Date: 2007-05-19
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Well, we were up and off to Trail Days at 9:30 a.m. with Gadget,Scribe andScribe's parents.I decided to call my life-long friend, Cindy, who lives in Charlottesville tosee how far away she is. I talk to her and of course I'm calling when she's gottons of company due to a family member's graduation tomorrow. But friends likeher are the kind that always come through no matter what. I explained mydillema with my foot\shot and we sorted out the best way to deal with it. Shesaid it was no problem to put me up, I could see a doctor where she works andget the shot there (so I could try to get a ride on Sunday, which would beeasier than Monday), but she's 4 hrs away, so we both agreed to work on it fromour end and see what we could figure out.She calls me at 10:00 a.m. and goes, "I'm coming to get you now." I, knowingfull well she had a house full of people, asked that she give me 2 hrs to see ifI could find a ride to a nearby exit to save her the drive.Well all of this is taking place while we're riding to Trail Days with Scribe'sparents, who live in PA. *Ding* lightbulb goes off. I asked them if they wentstraight up I-81 to get home and they said yes, I knew they were leaving tomorow(Sunday). They said they'd have no problem dropping me off at an exit!! CANYOU BELIEVE THAT!! THANKS SCOTT AND EILEEN!!So I call Cindy back and she tells me the exit # to get off at tomorrow. and shewill only have to drive bout 1 hour instead of 4 to retrieve me! So, what does this mean for the "Certain and Persistent Show"? Sadly, we willbe splitting up for now. Worst case scenario is I'll be 6 days behind her when Iget back on in Damascus, so it is not out of the question for me to catch upagain, but I just have to worry about my well-being first. More on this later. We got to Trail Days, and my gosh, TONS more people were here today (Saturday),and a lot of local folks too.I saw or talked to The Colonel (last saw in Franklin), Bama (Class of 2006),Frolicking Dinosaurs, Talkerman, FAL & Hercules (our trail magicers 2 days outof Hot Springs), Hammock Engineer, He-Man and She-Ra, Earthquake, Shalome (lastsaw in Franklin) and probably 50 more people I just can't remember.Today was funny because we had a handful of local people (non-hikers) recogizeus and tell us how they read our journals everyday. It's so nice to know thatpeople really do enjoy all the jibber jabber I type out (for hours sometimes)everyday. I also ran into Leonard (gave us a ride to Damascus for my Dr.appointment) and he just wanted to make sure we had found a ride back toAbingdon last nite! Geez, how nice!!I had my pack with some stuff in it today that I wanted to talk to vendorsabout. First was back to JRB. Part of the seam on my pack cover that holds theshock cord in came undone. Well, I'm about as good at sewing as I am cooking,and I didn't know if I could just sew into Silnylon with my dental floss, so Ithought I'd ask them. Jack looks at it and first starts to walk over to a ladythat can repair it, and then he stops and says, "Oh, never mind, this will beeasier," and he just hands me a new one from the shelf!! He said he just wants happy customers. I thanked him a million times.I was going to try to get the hole in my pack hipbelt pocket repaired (chlorinefrom cracked aqua mira bottle ate a hole), but the gear repair booth was prettyoverwhelmed.I also wanted to buy a dry bag pack liner and one for my sleeping bag, but Mt.Roger's Outfitters was pretty wiped out. No luck. After all the walking around, the hiker parade was starting soon. Persistentand I weren't going to be in it at first, but we changed our minds. We went tothe Dollar store to arm ourselves with water guns, and I also bought a foamsword to use as a shield. We walked to the staging area, and man was thishilarious.Hikers from all years were there, a band, horses, the whoe deal. The thing withthis parade is the spectators and hikers in the parade drench each other withwater guns and water balloons. Guys were wearing dresses with water balloon"boobs", people were cheering, some guys had a water balloon slingshot ad wereshooting them off, it was just insane!And best of all, I found Kokopelli! I hadn't seen her since that painful dayhiking to Hogback Ridge Shelter. She made it to the Grayson Highlands (her goalto see the wild ponies), but also found out someone stole her identity anddrained her bank account! She has to go home and deal with that, but she's sortof thinking about coming back (I knew she'd want to) and maybe hooking up withme! I WOULD LOVE THAT!!So we got drenched, John and his students from Alma College were totallyprepared, throwing water balloons @ us all from on top of the RV! I also heardmy name (real name that is) yelled, and it was Just Jeff in the audience! Heshowed me how to hang my hammock the first time. I tried tracking him down therest of the day, with no luck. Bummer. If you're reading this, sorry I missedyou man. So the parade is over, and we're standing around talking when this guy walks upto me ad introduces himself as Matt. He said he bought a Hennesy because of myjournal (just try to imagine Persistent at this point LOL)What a nice guy. He wanted to thru this year, but couldn't so he's doingsections. He tried to get Tom Henessy to give me $10.00 for promoting hisproducts! LOL Have fun hanging Matt. It was a real pleasure meeting you!There was a talent contest I tried to enter, but they were already full. Lotsof guitar\singer types, but I just know my "a capella" version of the alphabetsong that I can sing backwards would have been a huge hit. Oh well, maybe nextyear.After a bit Persistent, Fuzzy Monkey and I wanted to get back to the motel. Persistent still needed to resupply. So we had our first succesful hitch hikingexperience. 2 local girls, Amy and Kayla picked us 3 up ad took us back to ourmotel. THANKS AMY AND KAYLA!!Persistent resupplid and the 3 of us went for dinner at a chinese place. Itwas a wonderful time talking with Fuzzy Monkey (who is my age), and we all 3talked about stuff other than hiking. It was great to talk to friends and getto know them as people instead of just hikers. It was one of the most enjoyablemeals I've had yet. Then Fuzzy Monkey pays for our dinners! Thanks man!So after all of the walking around today, my foot was so stiff and hurting,despite taking my medicine. I am even more sure that I am making the rightdecision to get the shot and rest it. However, it is sad Persistent and I willno longer be hiking together.What does it feel like to come to terms with this? A bit shocking, our mothersare not happy about it LOL, and there were certain things about the dynamicsbetween us that I will miss horribly. Who will loan me batteries when minedecide to run out in the woods? Who will throw the bearbag rope up forPersistent every nite? Who can I just give "that look" to and not have toexplain myself? Who will be carrying 10 lbs of handwarmers so if I need toborrow one, they'll be there? Most importantly, who will be preaching toPersistent about hammocking all day?! I actually believe we'll somehow end up back together at some point. Thingshappen out here that change an individual's path drastically, and when she goeshome in August, that may be the very time I am able to catch up, but I am notwilling to skip sections or push harder than I should to catch up, nor would sheif the tables were turned. We're going to stay in touch via email so we'll knoweach other's location. Good luck Persistent! I know I'll see you in Maine! When she was packing up she gave me a package to mail to Eric. It is a birthdaypresent FOR ME!! LOL She wouldn't tell me where she got it, how long she'sbeen carrying it, and she threatened me with bodily harm if I "looked." LOL (I turn 34 in July), and honestly, I am really humbled by the fact she would dosomething like this. Not used to people doing this sort of thing for me.So tomorrow, I'll be watching Persistent and Fuzzy Monkey ride back to thetrail, and Scribe's parents will be here to pick me up @ 10:30 a.m. It's a bitdepressing to have to go thru this, but I know in my heart it is the right thingto do.Don't worry though folks, this is only a hiccup in my walk north, I'll probablybe back hiking no later than next Saturday.~Certain