Date: 2006-04-25
To: Sue's Musings From Visit With Old Goat
Miles today: 0.0

From Sue: I've decided to enter my musings from my visit with Old Goat separate from his entries. Below are from Sunday (4/23) through Tuesday (4/25). Sun, 4/23/06 ¢ Each time Old Goat and I talked over the last couple days (once we decided this visit looks like it can work), Old Goat kept listing things he wanted me to bring. Being ill since Wed, 4/19, I hadn¢t been able to get things together. By Sunday afternoon I was out of time...but, thankfully, feeling better...so I was able to get things together and filled the trunk of the car completely. The suitcases with our regular clothes will be on the back seat ¢ the car will be FULL! I thought I had everything, but I knew I¢d think of other things I wish I had thought of to bring when I get down there. (I did ¢ mostly just little things, but frustrating anyway. Right this minute I can¢t recall what they were.)One reason for my bringing so much stuff was because we still had not completely decided if I would hike with Old Goat or not. I brought everything he wanted me to, plus regular clothes for Old Goat (for when we¢re not on the trail) and all my camping gear and clothes (to hike with him if it works). Very much like traveling in the military ¢ you have to have all your military clothes, AND you have to have civilian clothes ¢ double the packing! It wouldn¢t be so bad if you didn¢t have to also have combat boots, civilian shoes, and two winter coats if it¢s winter! (Both Old Goat and I are prior military...can you tell?)Mon, 4/24/06 ¢ I had commitments at work I felt I needed to be there for on Monday, so I went to work. My work load is heavy on a normal day, and most Mondays are heavier than all the other days of the week because my bosses work some during weekends, so I come in early Monday mornings to stay on top of it. I was worried about this particular Monday because I was home sick most of the previous Thursday and half of Friday. My bosses were kind (thanks!) ¢ I think they held back on what they passed my way because the load wasn¢t extreme and I felt comfortable with what I had been able to get done before I left for the day. I went home and put the rest of the stuff in the car and headed South by 6:30pm.One final task before I departed was to print out the next 10 day weather forecast for Damascus (requested by Old Goat).I drove to Wilkes-Barre, PA, that evening and parked myself in a hotel. Whatever happened to ¢easy off, easy on¢ for highways? I followed the sign for a Hampton Inn and ended up following signs for a long time ¢ ultimately finding the hotel high up on a hill. It was dark, so I don¢t have a clue where I was, and I had to ask for directions back to Route 81 when I left the hotel the next morning. I never would have found 81 without those directions, and it took me 10 minutes to get back to where I got off the highway!Tue, 4/25/06 ¢ Old Goat called a couple times while I was driving down, so we had a good idea what time each of us would arrive in Damascus. As Old Goat said, he arrived about an hour before I got there ¢ not bad timing. My reaction to Old Goat with a beard surprised and disturbed me...it was like he was a total stranger! We talked about my reaction and the fact that he really doesn¢t like a beard, so he decided to shave it off. The beard was about an inch long, so the clippers I brought helped to reduce the beard to a shave-able length and thickness. I drove to the hotel and was surprised when Old Goat reacted to my quickly slowing down behind a truck. I asked if I scared him and he said I did. Then he said, ¢remember, I¢ve been going 2 miles an hour for a long time now.¢ When Old Goat took the wheel later he drove much slower than he normally does and said, ¢this feels so fast!¢ (He was driving about 50 mph at the time.) Didn¢t take him long to get past that though. (Later, on the trail, I shared that story with a thru-hiker who said he hitched a ride in the back of a pickup truck not long ago. He said he rode 1 mile and the truck only went 40 mph, but he had white knuckles!)It was raining when we went outside to go a restaurant ¢ Old Goat made a comment that he finds thru-hikers think differently about rain from those not on the AT. Old Goat talked about how the rain slows everyone down because dirt becomes mud and slippery and one can slide on the rocks when they¢re wet. Another interesting observation ¢ I don¢t recall what we were talking about, but I said something about 4-5 miles and Old Goat replied that his concept of distance is not that great. I didn¢t quite understand what he meant until we were hiking the trail on Thursday. Thru-hikers look at distances completely differently from the rest of us. Their estimation of about 100 yards is more like 500 or more. ¢Not far¢ is a lot farther away than they think it is, especially when a non-seasoned hiker is hiking the distance. Later: When our children read that paragraph about distances feeling so different, our daughter reminded me that Old Goat's "little" is my "big" when it comes to measuring things out (like food portions). Our son then noted that his perception of distance is completely the opposite of his dad's right now because he flies thousands of miles in a few hours in his job as a pilot.