April 29, 2000

Pearisburg, Va · 0 Miles Hiked Today · 617 of 2167 Miles Hiked Total

I just couldn't leave today. I woke up this morning in no mood to hike and it didn't get better. I think it was a combination of too busy a day yesterday, a rainy afternoon forecast, hanging with cool people, and the info I received that the first shelter, where I had intended to stay, was packed by noon. So, I took Zoom and Lone Star's (from Euless, TX) offer to stay in their room and am going with the flow. I'll still make it to Cloverdale by Thursday night, where the Cobbles are picking me up.

After lunch, four of us went back to the room and whoa what a smell! Bishop, Zoom's dog had taken the biggest dump in the world on the bathroom floor (at least it was easy to clean up!). It reeked, honest to God, 10 feet outside the room down the outside hallway. It seems Zoom allowed Bishop to gorge himself on canned food to compensate for not being able to eat enough on the trail. It was an all-u-can-eat for dogs. Sounds like what we do as hikers.

Four funny hiker/food stories:

1. Guman was apparently seen in a restaurant (DQ?) with his camping cup under the soda fountain, drinking from the cup with a straw at the same rate the machine dispensed the soda.
2. Red Forest bought (or was given) some Krispy Kreme donuts and dunked them in this Blizzard from Dairy Queen.
3. Lone Star ate something at a restaurant, no one knows what, that within 5 minutes caused him to literally pass out at the table. "Hey guys, do you hear that? I'm having a hard time seeing." Bonk. Luckily, Zoom, a nurse anesthetist was there and with another hiker was able to get Lone Star onto a table where they held his feet up to force blood to his head. No one else in the place moved a muscle and the funny part is that as they were holding him with his butt facing the door, a pretty local girl walked in and just said "Hi."
4. Koonackie ate so much at Pizza Hut in Erwin that he literally could not move and laid down outside between Pizza Hut and another building for two hours until he felt he could walk. His stomach hurt that much.

A not-so-funny phone story: My MCI calling card phone bill was $550.00. They were charging me up to $3.00 per minute at pay phones. I am now using pre-paid 5 1/2 cent per minute AT&T cards that have no hidden charges. Screw MCI. I am taking donations to pay my bill via this website.

Random advice/thought: call someone, or better yet, tell someone in person, how much you appreciate what they do for you. Don't wait for Mother's/Father's/birthday days.  Tell someone now, unexpectedly. You may feel good, but they will feel good.

By the way, I spent my unplanned afternoon off watching rock history on VH-1 (Kent State shooting / "Ohio" by CSNY, Judas Priest / suicides, Beach Boys), reading, and writing outside in the sun with views of rain in the Virginia mountains.