Date: 2013-05-18
From: Zero Day 1 in Damascus

To: Zero day 2 in Damascus
Miles today: 0.0

On Saturday, which I'd heard is the biggest day of Trail Days, we got up and had breakfast and realized that we'd screwed around until almost time for the parade. I made sure I had my camera with me today so I could get that picture of me and AWOL. For those of you who don't know who AWOL is, his real name is David Miller, author of "AWOL on the Appalachian Trial". He also wrote the "Appalachian Trail Guidebook". He is famous among the through hiking community. We didn't want to miss the parade, so we scurried out to the street and tried to hitch into town. This time, however, we were unsuccessful, probably because there were five of us walking together. Unless someone had an empty van or large pickup, no one was going to give five people a ride. So we walked into town, but the parade was a little late starting to our benefit. When the parade started we joined in with all the other through hikers. Everyone was squirting each other with huge water guns, and despite police prevention, water balloons were flying. About 10 or 15 minutes into the parade the police were coming toward us in one lane, asking us to step aside. Then another police cruiser came by, then an ambulance and all kinds of emergency vehicles. I saw a lady crying and people consoling her, and it was then I realized that the problem was close to us. I looked back and saw a car in the road with people on the ground being tended to. I talked to Radagasgar who said she was right there and bumped, possibly actually bumped by the car. Apparently, an older gentleman had had a heart attack or stroke or something and veered into the crowd behind us. I talked to Goath who was there and said that he had helped lift the car off a girl who was run over by the car. We heard all kinds of rumors that were conflicting, but the truth we found out from talking to people who were near is that the car went out of control because the man had lost his faculties for some medical reason. He drove into the crowd at a low rate of speed, somewhere between 10 and 20 miles per hour. The people who didn't see him were run over, but I never got a true bearing on who was hit and who was run over, or who the victims were. The police cleared the streets and stopped the parade. They transported three by ambulance and three by helicopter to a trauma center.   It was a bad scene to what was supposed to be a fun time. It was obvious that this small town hadn't seen much action by the way the police were acting. They were shouting at people in their deep southern accents who weren't in the street to clear the streets. They were stopping people from crossing and telling them to hurry when there were no cars visible. They were a little excited to say the least, but to their defense they probably don't see a lot of action and this was a big deal. Later on I heard on all the news stations that there were 50-60 hikers injured and six taken to trauma centers. I don't know how this got reported, but it is simply false. Sounds like some over exuberance on the part of small town reporting because it just isn't true. They reported it like the car just ran all over people in the street at a high rate of speed when it was barely moving. I believe that if people had seen it they might have gotten out of the way, but because there were so many people they didn't see it coming. Perhaps there were some scratches, but no way were there 60 people really injured. That's just false reporting. I didn't see it happen, but I was close enough to see what did happen, and talked to plenty of people who were right there. After all the excitement, we decided to move on to the festival. I did get my picture of AWOL and me and Thistle got hers. We got a tattoo on our faces and watched the festivities. I was surprised that the festivities seemed to die out quite early. I had talked to Deb about coming to get me early, as I was supposed to go home for my daughter's wedding for three weeks to help prepare and visit with relatives coming in to stay after the occasion. I took plenty of pictures of hikers I knew, something I wished I'd done more of along the way. There were lots of prizes, none of which came my way. When it started getting late we decided to go back to camp so I could spend a little more time with my friends before departing. We walked along the road to find that five hours later it was still closed to traffic, including people on foot. More small town exuberance. When we got to camp no one was there. I wanted them to meet Deb, so it was disappointing. It was Thistle, Indie and I for a while, and I thought I wasn't going to get to say goodbye to everyone. She arrived and I said goodbye to Indie and Thistle. We drove about 20 minutes away and I received a call from Thistle that I had left my two jackets at the camp. Since I wasn't that far away I decided to come back instead of having her have to mail them to me. On our way back I saw Mountain Man and Nomad on the road walking back. They weren't hitching, so I stopped and asked if they needed a ride. Nomad started explaining that they were camped up the road at a camp...and then she recognized me and said Nuuuuut! We had a good laugh about that as they climbed into the car. I'm so glad I came back so I could say goodbye. I went back to camp to get my things and to my surprise Stupid was now there. I gave everyone a big hug as though I was leaving forever and returned to the car. I didn't get to give a final goodbye to Piper and Morris the Cat, so hopefully I'll see them again soon. The one person I'll miss most is Thistle. We've been hiking together for a while now and have gotten to know one another pretty well. Since Gman left the trail and Indy hurt his ankle, it has been her and I. Now she may have to hike alone for a while, but I'll join back in once I return. We made a pact that we will be Aqua blazing together once we get to Warrenton, VA, I believe is the town. So to all my readers, I will be off the trail until sometime around the end of the first week in June. I vow to get a charger for my phone so I can write more and more often. I also hope to spend more time writing instead of simply reporting what I'm doing on the trail. Morris the Cat, who is a brilliant writer, and I discussed how easy it is to get into a funk where we lose a bit of our creativity and simply report after a full day of hiking. Although he has done better than I have in that department, I hope to start fresh once I return. I want to thank everyone for reading, and especially for those who have signed my journal. If I have thoughts while I'm gone, I will write, but I don't expect to have a lot of time while I'm preparing for the wedding. I'm very proud of my daughter and I'm so happy for her to start a new phase of her life. She is 27 years old and marrying a young man named Steve Bodnar who we are also proud of and welcome to our family with open arms. So until then, Happy Trails to all!!!!