When I talked to Bunny last Sunday, she was planning on waiting until her brother was coming home but didn’t know when exactly that would be. She wanted me to wait up to 6 days in Pearisburg—a non starter for me. When I talked to her on Wednesday, it looked like her brother wasn’t coming home until May-ish so she could be back by Friday—a triple zero I can handle.
Patches finally caught up with us on Wednesday, as did Gnome. We did all the usual zero day things: laundry, eat, resupply, shower, go to the circus, eat some more. Wait a minute, go to the circus? Patches found a flyer for a traveling circus so we thought that might be a fun change of pace.
The early show started at 5 so we headed over around 4. As soon as we arrived, we started questioning the appropriateness of our presence. With the purchase of every adult ticket, you get 2 free children admissions. With our 8 adult tickets, the tent was about 16 kids light. To try and not stand out too much, we took seats slightly off center in the back two rows—that is, rows 5 & 6. All we were missing was a police officer acting as a chaperone for the prison outing.
Since we were early, there was plenty of open seating. One little boy painted up as Spider-Man started to climb the bleachers heading straight to Gnome. PC yelled “Don’t come any closer kid or you’ll violate the terms of his parole.” This perked up all the parents in the area. We denied the terms of parole and told PC to lay off the pedophile jokes in the children’s circus.
Surprisingly, the Lewis and Clark Circus was very entertaining overall. The snow cone salesman before the show turned out to be a contortionist which provided the most cringeworthy moments of the show when he locked his arms behind his back and stepped through them. They had also found a rope climbing woman who, may or may not, have perfected her act on a pole wearing a little less clothing than tonight.
I decided to try a discounted chiropractic session (the owner of the hostel is a chiropractor). She gave me an adjustment and put a tens unit on my lower back (the extra 15# I carried out to Dismal Falls, aka beer, might have been a bit much for me). She analyzed my walk to see if I was doing something out of the ordinary which might be stressing my Achilles’ tendon.
Friday evening saw Bunny’s triumphant return to the AT. Her son drove her back to Angels Rest and then chauffeured us around for the evening including dinner at a Mexican restaurant (rather than Korean as planned—time zones remain a mystery to them as it kind of involves math).
I have gotten sucked into the vortex which is Angels Rest Hiker Hostel. This is an ideal location to take a few days off. The owner bought her neighbor’s land with the ironic intention of getting more privacy. Doc Peppa then decided she could save money by having hikers do work for stay. Now she has THE most hiker friendly place we have been to and getting better every day.
Lady Bug and Stickers left on Monday (as planned). Postcard stuck around until Tuesday morning and I got here Tuesday afternoon. Since I didn’t stop to eat while hiking into Pearisburg, her gift of M&Ms didn’t survive long (Thank you, Postcard). Mizman is a week or two behind. He and is girlfriend visited with us in Whyteville until Bunny’s car was ready.
Patches? What happened to Patches? She decided to slack pack 20 miles on Thursday so she could catch up to Postcard before she finishes in a few weeks. The “plan” was to then jump on the trail Friday and move fast. So? Patches is simultaneously 20 miles ahead of Bunny and me while standing in the kitchen eating her 5th meal for the day at 4p. Plans may change, but some people don’t.
EFG