Date: 2009-05-03
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Dear readers,I'm at a hotel in their business center with all the time in the world to sit in front of a computer. It's a nice feeling. Gangsta's father came to visit and is treating us to our own hotel room tonight! It is very kind of him and is way nicer accomodations than we would ever pay for ourselves. Not to mention it's the first hotel room I've stayed in that hasn't been shared with at least 3 others. My own queen bed tonight! woohoo! Oh, AND I just took my second shower in two days. That is a new record for life on the trail. I washed my hair both times, too! I wasn't going to today but then I saw our hotel had complimentary shampoo AND conditioner. My hair hasn't seen conditioner in 49 days so that quickly changed my mind. Also, I looked in a full length mirror for the first time in weeks and what did I see? Butt rash. Yup, who knows how long it's been there. Red bumps all over. Oh well. I didn't even know it was there so it can't be that bad, right? Sorry if that was too much information, but I want to give you an honest glimpse into the life of a thru-hiker and well, when you are sharing shelters with lots of other people and never looking in mirrors, sometimes checkin' out your reflection when the opportunity presents itself can have scary repurcussions. Also, for the first time in 10 days we're doing laundry! My stuff reeked! Two pairs of my socks got wet when walking through muddy puddles that were unavoidable and at the end of the day they smelled like something had died in them. That's what's been in my pack for the last few days making everything else in the pack smell like that, too. Maybe that's why Gangsta's father insist we have our own room......... Anyway, yes, laundry is a fabulous thing, until I realized every top I owned was in it (I was showering when G took it down). Currently I'm wearing Gangsta's rainjacket and my long john bottoms in the middle of the hotel lobby. Classy, I know.Time is flying. We just spent 6 straight days on the trail with the only civilization being a resupply at a gas station 4 days in. It seemed daunting as we left Damascus last week, but it passed in the blink of an eye. We are already over a quarter of the way finished with the trail! We've been doing big mileage and hiking 9-10 hours a day which makes the days seem like a blur but I'm trying to enjoy the journey as much as possible, too. I've taken the time to flip through an 85+ year old mans photo album outside the Dollar General because he wanted to show me his fishing pictures dating back to the 60's. Yup, I saw every page of the 3 inch binded album, including newspaper clippings about his largest, record-setting catfish that was 90 lbs. I also chatted with a group of motorcyclists for awhile who had no idea about the AT and in were in shock when I told them how far I'd come and how far I had to go. But what do you expect from leather clad people who spend beautiful days riding around on a two-wheeled motorized vehicle? I was glad I could inform of the Appalachian Trail - they were really nice. I'd like to think I stop to smell the roses when I want to, but I also love the feeling of pushing myself physically and doing big days. Yet, here I am making the most of a plush bed with 4 pillows, a big screen tv, internet, and music (our radio's been tuned to country since we walked in the room). It's easier at certain times than others to stop and smell the roses. Speaking of Dollar General, it's a fantastic place! Ever been? It is by far the most frequented grocery store we hit up on the trail. Every trail town seems to have one. You can get just about anything you need there, and best of all, I can eat for a week on less than $30! Little Debbie products sell 2/$3! I recommend not looking at the expiration dates, though...I mailed home winter gear from Bland today. Goodbye 3 lb. 0 degree sleeping bag! That was a highlight! That thing's been makin' me sweat since I started- not to mention it takes up half my pack! Not that I'm complaining, most everyone else has been freezing til a week or so ago. Zero degrees was a bit overkill, however, it was what I had. People with 20 degree bags were cold the first month. I'll take too warm over too cold any day. I have a few more extra layers that I'll keep a bit longer and probably send home towards the end of May. We've had a warm spell, but I doubt it's here for good. The past few days when it's been raining it's been too warm for rain gear. If you wear it you sweat yourself silly, so it's best to just be comfortable hiking in the cool rain and get wet. Hence, another reason to keep an extra layer or two! Once you stop hiking the wet clothes make you cold really fast! I also got new shoes sent out to me. I went with the Keene Targhee's again. I wasn't planning on it, but after twisting my ankle in week 1, I'd like a higher shoe with more ankle support again. I ordered them from REI and got them delivered to my maildrop. I ordered the same size, hopefully my foot hasn't grown any! I don't think it has. Let's see if I can break in this new pair without getting any blisters. I think I'm the only person who has made it almost 600 miles without one thus far... I'm pretty proud of that! I was hoping to make it farther til I had to replace my footwear, but some seams on mine blew out. Super glue and duct tape could only hold them together for so long. I guess that's the price you pay for starting with shoes that already have a couple hundred miles on 'em.I also sent my memory card home with tons of pictures and video on it, so hopefully my parents can get around to posting more pics on my TJ site within the week! Thanks to all those who continue to follow me on this epic adventure. It's already been the experience of a lifetime with memories, photos, and friendships to prove it, and I'm only 7 weeks in. I love reading all of the comments written in my guestbook and have thoroughly enjoyed keeping this online journal. I was never much of a writer in school, so I'm surprised at how much I've enjoyed writing this. Gangsta and I were talking about how sometimes we feel as though we're columnists when typing up journal entries, haha (one of the many conversations had over 18 miles of chatter). Another topic of conversation had that particular day was our real trail concerns over peoples' perceived concerns. This is what the general public seems to be concerned about when hearing of this hike: being attacked by a bear, strange/creepy men, hitchiking, getting food, getting lost. These are our real concerns: filtering our water so as not to get giardia (puking and having diarhea for a week), keeping our sleeping bags dry in wet conditions, leaky tents, having our bear bags ripped down by a clever bear and getting our food bag destroyed, eating enough calories, having enough fuel for our stove til our next town stop, collecting enough water to last until the next water source, having enough chocolate to get us through the bad times (just kidding... kind of.)Despite walking like a 90 year old woman for the first 5 minutes out of bed every morning, life is good. Swine flu has yet to hit the AT, car companies going bankrupt don't effect us, and the Detroit Lions will still lose despite signing Stafford. Who says I don't keep up with current events? Happy Trails,WagsPS- If I have the chance before I go, I'll get around to doing an entry about the most common gear seen out here. I'm sure future thru-hikers would find it helpful and I have lots to comment on regarding certain products.PPS- I am officially putting my journal under "Wags" opposed to my real name on the main trail journal site! It's the real deal now.