Knee Update

So, I stayed another day with my new friends Tom and Carol, who live here in Lancaster, PA. It's Friday, and I'm for sure getting back on the trail tomorrow either in Port Clinton, or at the 501 shelter so I can be in Port Clinton when T-toe gets there sometime on Sunday. Tom and Carol took me around today to Mennonite country near Intercourse, PA where we visited a pretzel factory, got ice cream, and bought some homemade root beer. They've been so incredibly kind to me the past few days while I rest, and we even got Chinese food yesterday. We had a nice brunch this morning, and I spent some time just relaxing and reading for a little bit. I still can't believe that we ran into each other after originally meeting them over two weeks ago. They were only in Duncannon for a short bit (they have property there), and I was lucky that they happened to recognise me when I was saying goodbye to my girlfriend. What a funny world we live in.... -Sparky

Keep on trucken

With the half-way point behind us, we're now set for the rest of Pennsylvannia. My girlfriend has sadly left Duncannon, but on the bright side, I ran into a couple we met in the Shennendoahs who live near here. I'm staying with them tonight while I rest my knees, and they're taking me to Port Clinton where I'll meet up with T-toe again (she went ahead to see a relative for a day). You'll all be pleased that T-toe and I both passed the half-gallon challenge in Pine Grove Furnace. T-toe had a respectible time, but I took 73 minutes to eat my butter pecan box. They didn't think I could do it, but I pulled through. .We've enjoyed some great weather and my girlfriend really got to see a nice slice of trail life. In Boiling Springs we feasted on the fare of a real grocery store, and that night we stayed at a quirky B&B owned and run by two older individuals still living in the 50s. Did you know that the question "this is a historical house?" has an hour-long answer? At least they were only 70% homophobic. How can you beat that? In all honesty, it was a pleasant stay. Lots of corn and wheat fields lately, and we've eaten all sorts of wild berries with no ill effects. I'm excited to relax my legs and read for a few days, then the last of PA! -Sparky

1024 Miles Down

Well, Shenandoah was pretty much what we had been led to expect: easy grading of the trail with fairly easy climbs during most of its length. Shenandoah has quite a few waysides that we visited which are basically just restaurants. I think they don't call them restaurants so as to remind us hikers that the prices are about 200% higher than normal restaurants. Regardless, they made the days even easier since we didn't have to carry a lot of food with us. We had about 10 minutes of hail during a thunderstorm during which we hunkered down at a low elevation, but that same day we saw plenty of wildlife. Early in the day, we were walking in a grassy area when I heard this sound unlike any I'd ever heard before, and what did we discover not a meter off the trail but a fawn that jumped up and bounded into the forest looking for its mother. We saw the mother a minute later running toward the sounds of her baby. If that wasn't enough for one day, we also came across a bear that was calmly eating maybe 15 meters off the trail. We also, on a later day, saw a mama bear with her three cubs once we were at a shelter for the night. One day, we were picked up by T-toe's mother and went to visit her cousins in Gainsville, Virginia, and we also busted out one of our longest days since we began (I don't remember exactly how long, but it was well over 23 miles I think). We FINALLY made it out of Virgina (no offence, Virgina, but you're one long *$#%&#% state). We stayed in historic Harpers Ferry at a really nice inn, and my girlfriend arrived after a grueling day of traveling from the other end of the country. We're now in a hostel in Maryland, just over the state line, and T-toe will join us tomorrow at a shelter we agreed upon. Excitedly we look forward to the second half of our trip having walked over 1000 miles. The official half-way point mile-wise is only a few days away. You'll next hear from us probably somewhere in Pennsylvania. -Sparky

Waynesboro Ho!

We've had some shorter days lately and some pretty awe-inspiring views. One day, I caught up with T-Toe who thought she saw a tiny bear, but upon closer inspection I decided it was either a large squirrel or a marmot or something much less fear-invoking. We also came across a deer and her yearling (I think) and spent a few minutes walking slowly by the pair which were amazingly fearless of our presence. Last night, we had a super-sweet campsite near a waterfall, and almost had the entire shelter area to ourselves. T-toe threw a wicked bear-bag line, and my ramen noodles were da bomb with the dried veggies I received from Nicoal in the mail. Thank you, Nicoal, for making my alfredo ramen into Veggie-alfredo ramen. Right now, we're at a Lutheran church hostel in Waynesboro, Virginia, enjoying some movies, food, showers, and eventually a good night's sleep. Let me tell you about Waynesboro--two words: Ming Garden. I think we spent three hours in the buffet and saw a complete turnover of people twice. The library was nice, though I didn't dig the choice of romance novels they had for sale. Do people really read those? I've read some Star Trek novels in my time, so perhaps I shouldn't be talking... Anyway, life is good, and we should see T-Toe's mother on Saturday. We enter Shenandoah tomorrow, so we're going to fly from this point on. Maybe we'll finally see a bear (or a really huge chipmunk).... Sparky