Date: 2004-06-29
From: Still in Sumterville, Fl.

To: Headin' northin the morning
Miles today: 0.0

Still in Sumterville, Fl.I'm leaving Florida on Wednesday the 30th of June!! Boy, am I ready to get back on the road that will take me back to the trail. I've had a good day today getting the last minute things done and all I have to do is load the truck and I'll be headin' north. I'm taking my winter hiking gear along with me because I don't think that I'll be back in Florida until about December. It will feel so good when I can start using my cold weather gear again...I'll never complain about carrying an extra 7 or 8 pounds to hike in cold weather. The summer is just not my preferred hiking season. I'm taking a book to read on the trail and I'm getting my coffee cup back...I'll be a happy hiker walking south. {The right way:+}I talked to Dr. Dolittle who I hiked with alot last year. Always good to talk to her. I miss her and Maggie, the super trail dog. Yeah J.G., I know all about you guys and no, I'm not going to tease you about it.I'm still trying to get a free breakfast at Mac's out of Liteshoe when I stop by to see her, but she's not budging. I sure wish she was a little more like Goosebump The Snow Princess. I'm pretty sure that Goosebump said that I would be served breakfast and coffee in bed if I stopped and visited her and Rainbow Slick.I talked to Tripod and found out where Hippie is going to be. I sure hope she has forgotten about that large bucket of water I dumped on her head at Trail Days or I might be in trouble because she's MEAN!!!I've been invited to Moosie's Hostel in Connecticut...oh, I wasn't supposed to mention anything about that hostel in Connecticut. Hopefully I'll get to see John Galt when I go through Ct. and I am looking forward to seeing my good friends in Maine....Frogcaller and Lew.I picked up my running buddy, Jim and we went to Ferna and Larry's home for dinner. I took some pictures from the trail and we all talked for a while. Larry and Ferna did alot of hiking in Va, Tn, NC and Ga last year, but they really didn't have trail names...but they do now. From now on Ferna will be known as Crank Bait and Larry will be known as Goofy....oh yeah, Jim is Mouse. They grilled salmon and had a nice salad, baked potato and peas. Everything was delicious and then Crank Bait brought out 2 homemade pies...one banana cream and one lemon marrang pie....ummm, ummmm!! Had coffee too. Goofy ate like he had been hiking all day while Mouse was working on the wine. Crank Bait and me were the only good ones at the table. After dinner we were listening to some of the music that Goofy and Crank Bait's friends had recorded. Goofy got out his guitar and got Crank Bait to sing "Mule Skinner Blues" while I clapped my hands to the beat and Mouse was still drinking his wine. Crank Bait did a great job and held some of those notes so long that I was gasping for air. They wanted to get some pictures before we left, so Goofy, Mouse and I got in the first one. Mouse only comes up to my chest when he stands next to me and I think he still had that wine bottle in his hand. Crank Bait got in the next picture with Goofy and I. It was getting late and I still had a few things to do at home, so I dropped Mouse off at the end of his street and he walked home still clutching that wine bottle...his neighbors are probably used to seeing Mouse walking down the street with a nearly empty bottle of wine in his hand. Thanks for a great evening with great friends.