Today is the 5 month anniversary of us starting the AT. To celebrate, we took a day off. We thought we were pretty generous with our zero days in the first half of our journey—23. Since the halfway point, we’ve only taken 5. Mizman has taken more than 50 total.
We took a leisurely day with Mizman going to eat breakfast around 9:30. I was famished and ate breakfast and lunch both before I started to fill up. When we got back to the motel, Grandpa gave us coupons for free sundaes at his son’s ice cream store then drove us into town. We did our grocery shopping before I made the mistake of calling Olympus to try to get my camera repaired. I’ve been without my camera for over a week in case anyone is wondering why you haven’t seen any of our beloved selfies.
On the way to the ice cream shop, we stopped by the Post Office and sent my camera in for repair. I think I’ll end up having to buy a new camera, but it’s worth a try. Maybe a sundae will calm me down. Ice cream seems to do the trick these days. Once again, we achieved ice cream nirvana.
Before heading back to the motel, we stopped by a McDonalds so I could fill up on iced tea. It’s hard to find plain unsweetened tea without lemon anywhere else. I mentioned to Mizman that I might be interested in getting some lightweight cotton clothes to sleep in before I went to the bathroom. When I came back, he was outside getting me clothes from a woman he met inside. Mizman is a charmer and talker. He got me 4 t-shirts from a total stranger. If he had been a salesman, he’d be rich beyond all of our dreams.
I didn’t realize we were right next to West Point Military Academy in Highland Falls. This must be new cadets week because parents were running all around town on a scavenger hunt (while their kids were signing away there constitutional rights). I often over analyze things and look back on mistakes I’ve made in life. It’s hard not to when you are a mid-50s male that is unemployed and homeless. I had the opportunity to go to the Air Force Academy and turned it down (I had an uncle who was a Col in the AF that had some pull). If I had gone, I could be a retired mid-50s male that is just homeless. The big difference would be an income.
The day of rest and reconnecting with Mizman was just what we needed to get reenergized. Since he jumped north and started being a sobo, he has managed to run into most of the people we all know in the last month. He gave us some bad news: Play by Play has gotten off of the trail, but Pit Boss is continuing on. We don’t know the details, but we were very sad to hear. Most of our early friends are still around and are getting into Vermont. We are starting to be surrounded by the April bubbleheads.
We did meet a new hiker when we got back to the motel. Starburst started on McAfee Knob with her mother in May. After she gets done on Katahdin, she’ll flip down to GA and end up on McAfee Knob. Her husband is supporting her this year and she’ll support him next year when he thru-hikes.
This would be a strange set up for me. Bunny and I have been together continuously on this trip (except for the 10 days she went back to MO when her dad was ill). I felt lost without her with me. Sometimes we want to kill each other, but we spend way more time together than most married couples ever do. We are together to the point that neither of us knows what it’s like to be alone, yet we still get along. Ain’t love grand?
EFG