Date: 2004-04-30
From: Double Springs Shelter

To: DAMASCUS
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: light rain

My road to Damascus is over after yeat another beautiful day. Today was the easiest day yet. I awoke at 6:45 excited to get started. In order to annoy Pegasus, Boo-boo and I began to sicg. Boo-booo is a hyperactive Don Juan who use to work at DisneyWorld . We sang "The Song that Does Not End" very loudly. Pegasus remained unmoved, but Fire Marshal slowly stewed and then finally snapped. We deserved it of course, although we never saw it coming. Fire Marshal is a very nice guy from Florida. He is a very calculated 34 year old who just went through a job transition in the real world. When Fire Marshal snapped at us we all shut up. After 10 minutes we resumed talking as though nothing had happened, then shortly after traded apologies. The fact is people can grate on your nerves especially at 7 in the morning (even I can be grating ). Deep down we all like each other though and I am actually sharing a room with Fire Marshal tonight.   As we started I carried a strong pace except for when I stopped to stare at the Trillium. In under 3 hours I arrived at the shelter 8 miles away. Shortly after, Krispy, Fire Marshal, Pegasus, and Boo-boo joined me. We joked about town and ate. Krispy and Pegasus shared food with me . I had a "LIQUID HEART ATTACK" which consisted of a tortilla with peanut butter, parkay squeeze butter, and nutella chocolate hazelnut spread all rolled together into a conglomeration of goodness....YUM! After that I left a poem something like the one below in the register at the shelter:ODE TO MY LOVELYOh how I miss your sweet and tender charmsThe feeling as I held you tight within my armsThough with you but a moment, you meant so much to meA feeling of pure joy, unencumbered and so freeOur time together sweet, was nothing but divineI was yours my lovely, and you my dear were mineSo I'll cherish you in my heart, as long as I canUntil my precious rope swing, I see you once again.   I do not know what that last poem was, but I really enjoyed the rope swing 2 days ago (no I do not smoke crap). The last 10 miles were so easy that they are called the "Tennessee Turnpike" and they really were that easy. On easy terrain I have time to pray or think about randomn things. After prayer I began to contemplate prime numbers (we've covered that I'm a huge DORK). I noticed that at least until 100 if you add any 2 consecutive odd prime numbers the answer is one digit away from another prime. For instance 11 plus 13 is 24. So 23 or 25 will be prime. 23 is. Anyhow, I will think more of whether this is always true and if so why. I think I'll wait to the next time I have easy terrain and I'm not absorbed in prayer or flowers. Although I'm sure all of my readers are fascinated by prime numbers I will move on now. My prime number thoughts were abruptly ended when I saw Krispy pointing at a huge black snake. I hate snakes, but at least this one did not startle me. I jumped 15 feet forward the other day when I thought Krispy was warning me of a snake. It was actually just a stick....ugh. This snake was about 6 feet long and non-poisonous. I still have no love for it.   After recovering from the snake sighting I headed the last few miles to the Virginia state line. After we entered Virginia we stopped for a massive photo-op. It was bedlam as we attempted to all take timed pictures so that all of us would be in the shot. In the end we all got the picture with Boo-boo, Fire Marshall, Krispy, Myself, and Pegasus. We hiked toward Damascus as a crew. 3 states are now down, but it will be over 500 miles before we enter another state.   Damascus is supposed to be the "Friendliest Town on the Trail". It is really cute, but I do not know about friendly. I needed to pee and a woman at a bed n breakfast told me to find another place to pee (wench....dealing with difficult people....ugh). None the less, I enjoyed the rest of town immensely. I picked up my package from the Post Office and Fire Marshal and I got a hotel room. Were at the "Old Mill" which is amazingly posh. They even gave us each a free beer for the room not being clean. I mentioned to the manager that I was a server and she told me she needed help in 2 weeks for the massive hiker festival "Trail Days", here in Damascus. Shortly after, I was hired for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday Night 2 weeks from now . Its crazy but I love both waiting tables and making extra money, so SWEET!!!    I just called my family in Maryland, my Uncle Bobby, and my friend Jesse. I love support from friends and family. I actually found out that my relatives in Alabama are reading my journals including my Grandpa (Hello all! Make sure you read the journal from the 3rd day in Gatlinburg with the drunk Tennessee fan ). Anyway, I'm going to eat dinner now. I will update my e-mail tomorrow. My road to Damascus is over. I'm content, I'm in Virginia, I'm headed towards home, and I only have 1,715 miles left . Goodnight and God Bless, BEATBOX   ttt.