Date: 2004-05-14
From: Damascus

To: Damascus (Trail Days)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Holy poop! It¢s 7 AM. This morning (yesterday) I rose at 11 and chilled with hikers in the tents. Two 18-year-old girls offered me free watermelon with one stipulation: No hands! While messy, I plowed in with hands behind me. A juicy, messy, free breakfast¢¦yum. Nearby, a ¢99 thru-hiker gave me a beer and lunch and I caught up with some of the members of the offensive 6. At 2 PM my day was proceeding splendidly when my old buddy Syracuse showed up.For those who don¢t remember, Syracuse is one of the 2 hikers who took my beer¢¦of course, he still has never admitted it. All day he talked to me like an old friend¢¦This amazes me! Nonetheless, I chilled and fun in the afternoon. I also played Frisbee with a cool couple, Matt and Elizabeth, who are not thru-hikers, but were camped nearby. I also said hi to Skippy and told her about my previous awesome night at work. I¢m not sure if we will be able to cut our hair together and I gave her my blessing to do it earlier if needed (I have to wait until Sunday, due to my job.) I finished checking e-mail at Sidetracks after talking to Skippy, but had little time for responses. I saw BearTracks, Boo-boo, Pegasus, and others and caught up, then I headed to work. ***UndatedMy night at work rocked! I waited on 5 tablets and made over 100 bucks. I was thrilled to wait on Krispy and Jackie as well as my hiker friend Blaze. I had a great time as Krispy grilled me¢¦I really felt comfortable, although it was my second night. I even waited a party of 19...and it went flawlessly. All told, I got to talk about hiking all night, made needed cash, did a job I love, and had fun. It was particularly fun to wait on Krispy and his wife, and I loved getting to talk with them. He wasn¢t too rough on me and he tipped well J By the end of the night I received a couple more compliments and I earned a 22% tip average on my tables. My 19-top told the manager ¢Michelle¢ how happy they were. The owner, Stu, his wife Melissa, and Michelle all are so nice and seem to be appreciative. Most of the workers here seem cool as well. Nelly, a nice woman who helps in the back, rocks, but she¢s tough and the cooks are fun. I could not ask for a better 3-day job.One other thing besides working that was cool is that at work I met many hikers. One of them, Poppins, is actually Skippy¢s hiking partner¢¦go figure. My non-hiker tables were full of questions as well. It was great. I did not finish closing until 12 AM, when I finally returned to Tent City.On my way back to Tent City I saw T-Bird. We caught up but we did not get to sing together tonight L At Miss Janet¢s tent I met even more hikers, though. Tent City is now packed! I met a cool couple named Lefty and Michi-goose (not Michigander¢¦ha, ha) who live in Maryland. In addition, I met Gordy and Sunny(?). Gordy is another attractive, skirted, hippy girl who sings and Sunny is a guy with a beautiful _________ who plays harmonica. We all jammed out and I was able to sing harmony and beatbox¢¦It was cool. I met like 30 other cool hikers and I had NO CLUE it was this late. Before I left I talked to Miss Janet again and her daughter, Kaitlyn. I also chilled with 2 other guys (names escaping me) and a girl named Sunkissed. I did not drink, and watching everyone was a blast. I¢m having a great time, despite my amount of time working.So now I am here in my tent and someone restaked it L This is ad because they did a bad job and muddy water has now flowed through it with today¢s rain. Still, despite current dampness, my day rocked. I love singing, rapping, and waiting tables. God has blessed me SO MUCH! Now it¢s 7:30 AM and I am going to read the last 30 pages of my book and then go to sleep. Good morning/good night,Beatbox