Last day in San Diego

We woke up around 7am, and were out the door and on the #30 bus headed to the Hillcrest area for breakfast at our fav, Crest Cafe. Hillcrest is a very artsy, progressive, alternative, trendy thrift store type area. It's cute, funky, quirky, and next to Balboa Park, which was our destination. (Not only does Balboa Park house museums, art galleries, gardens, fountains, amphitheater, and carousels, but also the world famous San Diego Zoo.) So after a yummy breakfast, I had the Yucatan tostadas, Boo had a western omelet, and we both had REAL orange juice from real California oranges, not the crappy Florida oranges we have back at home, but real, smooth, sweet, tasting Cali oranges. (I never drink OJ back at home, but in SD, I love it.) Anyways, after breakfast, we walk down to Balboa Park and discover the walking trails, anywhere from 1 mile to 14 mile trails. We are walking to the Botanical Garden so we hop on the 1 mile trail and watch countless joggers and walkers stride by. We catch an outdoor yoga class in the middle of stretching, and further down we are treated to an outdoor Tai Chi class getting on their Chi. The trail meanders through gardens, picnic areas, and along the street. You can see other trails down in the canyon that offer a really good workout. We even saw the cutest pine tree shaped up to look like a palm tree. hahaha! About 1/2 mile into the trail, we see a group of people dressed in all white playing what looked like Bocce ball. We stopped to check it out and learned that it was actually called Lawn Bowling. They had their own little club house right there in the park. The head guy tells us we should think about joining the league. Lawn Bowling, who knew! hahaha!

We continue on down the trail and start to hear loud cheering. As we get closer we see a sea of people walking from the other way, turning down the path we needed to turn down. There was an Alzheimer's Walk going on and we were about to crash it. It was actually pretty cool to happen upon it. Alzheimer's was something that hit us in a very personal way. Boo's mom had passed away from Alzheimer's at a very young age, but I was fortunate enough to meet her and admire her. So it was very touching to now be a part of the throngs of people walking to help fight this disease. Oh, and the cheering we heard, a local high school had their cheerleaders at every corner cheering on the walkers. Boo got a nice cheer as he walked under the Spanish style arches and into the park area. hahaha!

We walked the last 1/4 mile with everyone and I was again reminded of what a dog friendly city San Diego was. Almost everyone had their dogs with them. As we looked to our right, we caught a glimpse of the dog park and stopped to watch a silly Beagle play chase with a Lab and a quirky black mutt running his little heart out with his tail going a mile a minute. You could tell he was in heaven. The dog park was huge too! Had plenty of trees and stretches and stretches of grass to run around on. I was also reminded that San Diego is one of a few coastal towns to have a Dog Beach. An entire strip of beach devoted just for dogs! Got to love THAT!

We continued on and crossed the bridge over the highway and caught a glimpse of the 18 station archery trail below. Seriously, a trail for archers to practice! It reminded Boo of a disc golf course, a target at each station to aim for. Pretty cool. We entered the park that has the museums, outdoor amphitheater, and gardens. We headed into the Prado (a famous restaurant with an amazing view of downtown) to see the view but it was only 10:30am and it was still closed. We decided to get cultural, and check out the Timken Museum (which was free). It Had paintings from Russian, French, and Italian artists, dating from the 13th to the 18th Century. I found Boo standing at one painting and he says, "that looks familiar." I smile and say, "it should, you've been there on your honeymoon." It was a painting of San Marco Square in Venice, Italy. We finish up and decide to check out the Botanical Garden. This building is an amazing structure. Just looking at it from the outside is intriguing. We go in and do a lap around the gardens. We stop, rub, and compare the mint plants that have "touch me" signs all over them. Literally, signs that say it's OK to touch and rub them. It's a bunch of different hybrid scents of mint. We try to decipher the different scents and are surprised that we can actually detect the chocolate scent in the Chocolate Mint plant and lemon scent in the Lemon Mint plant. (I remember how my mom has a ton of mint growing in her gardens and how she is always trying to get rid of it. I wish my sorry garden would grow some mint. Hell I wish anything could grow in my little sorry garden. So far, I've got a hardy climbing rose and about 20 varieties of weeds.) We stroll over to the pepper section. It's a plethora of different red peppers. Who know red peppers came in such different varieties! We wrap up our garden tour and are treated to a local musician playing his saxophone. We decide to leave Balboa park for the day b/c we have a swap meet to get to. We hop on the #30 bus and head to our hotel room so I can put on some comfy clothes and walking shoes. I was in sandals with heels. Though I walked pretty far in them, it was time to break out the sneakers and get in some REAL walking :)

We left our room and were walking to the Trolley center and I swear, at ever intersection we came too we got green lights! It was like that Jim Carrey movie, Bruce Almighty, when he hits all the green lights. Well, lady luck kept with us, cause we get to the trolley center just as the Old Town line arrives! We hop on and it takes off. We get to Old Town just in time to see our #9 bus pull in. We hop on the already packed bus and head off the swap meet. Now for any of you that have no idea what a swap meet is, it's like a giant rummage, garage sale or flea market. But not really. It's got good stuff, not just crap that people don't want. Like it has a farmers market, (we saw avocados that were 2 for $1, HUGE pumpkins that were just $1, amazing Orchid arrangements for $10) new designers selling their duds, I saw a leather purse that the owner told me was $45, by the time I left, she brought the price down to $15 for a full leather, one of a kind purse! Lots of beachy clothes, funny t-shirts, florists, Apple accessories, local artist paintings, matted photo's, Charger and Laker merchandise booths, jewelry makers selling their sterling silver pieces, designer sunglasses, DVD's, Music, furniture, rugs, trinkets, souvenirs, you name it, they had it at the swap meet. I found some sunglasses and these awesome new UGG boots for $25. In high school (over 15 years ago) I had a pair of Uggs that I sported almost everywhere. Well, in Southern California (especially in beach neighborhoods), they (still) are a basic piece of your wardrobe, not a trend. I got them for nostalgia sake and to wear as slippers during the cold winter months that east coast living brings. I love my Uggs! Thanks Boo for getting them for me! and Thanks to my mom for buying me my first pair waaaay back in the day. I still remember walking into that surf shop with you for those boots.

We decided to walk to Wahoo Fish Tacos for lunch. (Wahoo's is another must if your in SoCal :) So we huffed it a mile in the sunny California sun with the ocean breeze blowing to cool us down. I got the carne asada tacos and another local beer Woody (like the beach surf wagon) and Boo had the Fish Taco's and a Corona. Yummy eats, but so much I couldn't finish it all. GOD I missed SoCal food! After lunch, we walked down to Sea World to catch the bus to PB (Pacific Beach). Man, the walk was faaaar and over the looong Mission Bay bridge. But I did discover lots of biking trails that run along the San Diego River. There are so many outdoorsy things to do in this town, it's amazing, no wonder everyone is in such awesome shape here!

Poor Boo was in flip flops and we were walking so much. His feet were becoming tender, so I new we needed to stop and chill soon. Everywhere we went, we saw people on beach cruisers. I've always wanted one and still do. Maybe one day I'll trade in my mountain bike for a beach cruiser :) Anyways, we hopped on the bus at Sea World and rode it to Crystal Pier in PB. We headed straight for the beach and sunk our toes in the cool sand. We went to dip into the water and I had forgotten how cold the Pacific ocean was compared to the Atlantic ocean, so my feet got shocked when the waves lapped up on them. We decided to chill for a while, watch the surfers, (which there were at least 40 of them in the water) and catch the sunset. So we spent the next couple of hours beach bumming it. So nice to just sit, relax, and take it all in. The sun set around 6:15pm and it was beautiful. I'll take a sunset over a sunrise ANY day of the year. Don't get me wrong, sunrises are pretty, but sunsets are beautiful. They just set the romantic mood. We grudgingly pulled ourselves away from the beach and decided to walk up Garnet Street and see what was going on. Just like we left it many years ago, Garnet street was still pulsing with activity. Tons of beach people going out to dinner, drinks, shopping the funky shops, it's a completely different vibe then the Downtown Gaslamp district area. It's alot more casual and easy going in PB. It's where I felt most comfortable and at home. I suppose b/c when we lived here, we lived right on the beach. I would just slide open up the patio doors and the Harbor would be right there with the beach to the left. That was my play ground growing up.

We headed up to Trader Joes to buy breakfast for the next morning, (since we were catching an early flight) and decided to have drinks and an appetizers at Freds Mexican Cafe. Boo sips on a margarita, I get a 20 oz Tecate beer and we snack on chips and salsa and get into some deep philosophical discussion about our opinions on why/how the smaller Eastern European countries ruled the old world(Italy, England, Spain), while the huge Western European and Asian countries didn't have the confidence to take over (Russian, India, China) Oh... did I mention that we both had a second round of drinks and only appetizers? yeah, we were buzzing, but the conversation was awesome. So we stumble back to the bus stop and head back to the hotel to call it a night. We have a 6:20am flight to catch.

The next morning we woke up really early, packed up, showered, and were checked out by 5am. We didn't say a word during the cab ride to the airport. I was pretty sad to be leaving and just wanted to think about all the things we did while we were here. I'm sure Boo was thinking something similar. The flight home was uneventful. Easy flight (I slept the entire way) to Atlanta. Had a quick 1 hour layover. The flight form ATL home was rough. We sat next to this women and her screaming child, who would not shut up the entire way home.

The trip out to San Diego, we both agreed, was one of the best trips we've taken. We loved every minute of it and had an amazing time. I hope to make it back "home" soon. Till next time, GET OUTDOORS!!!

LAAAAAAKERS!!!

"Birdman SUCKS, Birdman SUCKS!" was what we were chanting along with the packed arena as we watched Birdman, Chris Anderson, a Denver Nugget forward covered in tattoos and sporting a faux hawk, cheat his way to a technical foul against one of our beloved Los Angeles Lakers. (More to come later...)

Friday started out with a ride to the airport to catch a 6:30am flight. We were off to San Diego! Aka "America's Finest City," AKA, the county I grew up in. We had a smooth flight, quick layover in Memphis and were landing in sunny SD at 11am. As soon as we landed, the stress melted away and everything just felt right. Like the feeling you get when you're comfortable, at ease, and happy. It's HOME. I've never quite experienced that feeling anywhere else I've lived, and I've lived all over the US (miltary brat). Something about going back to the place you grew (elementary thru high school) where I had the best memories, and friends I still keep in touch with. It just makes me feel like I belong, this is my home. Anyways, as soon as we got out of the airport, who do we see? Jeff Zevely from channel 8! He walks up to us as asks if we could give an opinion about a Northwest flight that originated in SD and attempted to land somewhere in the midwest, but the pilots were arguing and passed the destination. We hadn't heard about it, but he still wanted our reaction. So the camera man pointed on us and the microphone was thrusted in our face. It was cool! We just landed and were going to be on the news that night! haha! After our "celebrity" encounter, we walked over to the bus stop to catch the 992 for our 15 min. ride to our hotel in downtown SD.

The staff at the Sofia Hotel said we could check in early. YEAH! Our room was on the top floor and pretty swanky. We changed out of our cold, rain weather clothes and into some 78 degree, sunny weather clothes and we're off to grab some lunch. We walked into, The Local, a cool little bar/grill place decorated with surfboards, surf legends, and flat screen T.V.'s, pulled up to a pub style table and were greeted by a cheery waitress. I order the local brew October special, a nutty brown ale, and Boo gets his fav, Corona. While sipping on our beers, soaking in the atmosphere, and relaxing from the flight, we talk about how we can't believe we are in Cali. After lunch (Boo- tuna burger and Me-carnitas) we head down to Horton Plaza for a quick stop. Horton Plaza is an outdoor mall. (Yeah, I know, I know, who wants to go to a mall on vacation. I guess some do.) But I had a legit agenda. I was going to buy me a true San Diego Charger hat. (my favorite NFL team, going back to when Charger Dan Faust came to our high school to recruit Junior Seau. That's far back!) I know I can walk into any Lids, or Footlocker in the world and get a hat, but I wanted to buy my Charger hat in SD, so we went shopping. The mall is architechually beautiful and the fact that it was a 4 levels and outdoors was pretty cool. Afterwards, we walk down to Seaport Village and Embarcadero Park. Boo was on a mission too, he brought his kite with him and wanted to fly it for a bit. After walking along the waterfront and popping into the kite store, we made it into Embarcadero Park and see that the Kite store had the nicest spot and had all kinds of kites flying in the air for you to try. We stop and watch a guy try to unsuccessfully fly this HUGE kite for a while, then continue down along the water til we find a nice open area. Not much wind, but enough for Boo to get his kite on. After a bit, we decide to lounge on a grassy knoll and chill. We had a loooong night planned and needed to conserve our voices... umm... energy :)

Around 4:30pm, we walked back to the hotel, showered, changed clothes, and were off to catch the trolley to Old Town, where we would jump on the #9 bus to the San Diego Sports Arena to catch a preseason game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets!! Lakers being mine and Boo's favorite team and the Nuggets being Boo's second favorite NBA team. No room in my heart for a second team, only one team :) (It was Boo's B-day present that I got him b/c I had to miss his B-day to go on my Shenandoah Hike.) It was around 6:30pm by the time we got there and tip off wasn't til 7:30pm, so we decided to grab a quick dinner at an old Cali favorite. IN and OUT burger. And I guess we came to the right place b/c it was packed with Laker fans!! Whoo hoo!! I mean packed! I was too chicken to order off the secret menu (which is not printed, but a word of mouth secret menu that only "in the know" people know about. But I think it's out in cyberspace somewhere now.) So I go with a cheeseburger and a chocolate shake. Boo gets a cheeseburger coke and we split his fries. YUM, forgot how awesome this place was as far as burgers go.

We get back to the arena around 7pm, just in time to get to our seats, and catch the Lakers warming up. I look over at Boo and all he does is show me his arm. The hair on his arms were sticking straight up! He was loving the excitement of being live and in person with his team! I walked down court side and got some great pic's of Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odum talking in the middle of the court. Man those guys are TALL in person. Lamar looks like a GIANT. I check out our newest recruit, Ron Artest, and he is as big as a truck! He's going to make a great addition to the Lakers with his bold, linebacker type moves. And of course, my crush, San Diego's very own Luke Walton looks even cutier in real life. hahha! Paul Gasol wasn't playing tonight (injured), but he was there wearing a suit and looking good. Sasha Vujacic looked good too, sporting a new shorter haircut. I went snap happy with my camera :) (Sorry for getting girly, but seriously, the Lakers are the best looking team in the NBA. We got some hotties! oh... and their alright ball players too. hahhaa! 2009 NBA CHAMPIONS BABY!! ) So after crushing on the team, I went back to my seat for the start of the game. We had a great time, cheering on the Lakers, yelling at the Nuggets, and just being loud and surrounded by fellow Laker fans. Though the Nuggets won, (I hate the Birdman with his black socks pulled up to his knees and that 5 foot quick midget Ty Lawson.) it was still a fun game and hey, we were in San Diego! After the game, off we went. We walked to the Trolley station (cause the line for the bus was ridiculous) and hopped on a trolley headed back to the Gaslamp district downtown to call it a night. Awesome first day back in Southern California. Awesome Day. Til tomorrow, GET OUTDOORS!!!

SNP Sun 10-11-09

I sadly rolled out of Shenandoah National Park around 8:30am and was on my way home. I stopped at a few overlooks on the way out of the park to relish the views one last time. My Shennie adventure was over :( As I hopped on 81 south, I started thinking..... I've got ALL day to get home. Why not find an adventure? I remember seeing something about a Natural Bridge on the way up, so I decided to find the exit and check it out. The exit is after Lexington VA and as I zoomed down the little two lane road, a surprising sign catches my eye. FOAMHENGE!!!

Now you KNOW I had to stop. This place was in the middle of nowhere and it was FREE. I pulled into the dirt parking lot and there wasn't a soul around. I grabbed my camera and climbed up the hill to get my first, up close and personal, view of Foamhenge. I had it all to myself. It's supposed to be an exact replica of Stonehenge, but made out of Styrofoam. Even though it's super cheesy, I loved it. An undiscovered little adventure. I took tons of photos and admired the view. There was even a foam figure of Merlin that was kind of neat. Smiling, at finding this little kernel of corniness, I hopped back into my car and headed down towards the natural bridge. I must of arrived early, b/c I had only a 5 minute wait in line. While I was waiting, I see another corny (literally) adventure I've always wanted to do. A Corn Maze!! It was only $5 so I said, what the hell. I told the ticket lady to hook me up with a natural bridge ticket and corn maze ticket. I'll pass on the wax museum ticket this time. hahhaa! So off I go, through some double doors, down a flight of stairs and instead of taking the shuttle down with all the tourists, I opted to walk down all 130 some odd steps. After all, I've hiked over 60 miles and climbed countless mountains, what's a set of stairs and a 2 mile walk to see the sights? At the bottom of the stairs, I see a shuttle unloading a group of clean looking tourists. It isn't til this moment that I become aware that I haven't showered since last Tuesday Morning! WOW, I must totally look like a homeless person. I don't even want to know what I reek like. Oh well.... these Sunday morning tourists are in for a surprise if they step too close. hahaha! Not to mention my classy, colorful, outfit might make me look a bit crazy like. Red pants, pink top, powder blue down vest, and my old college hat. Yea, I wore my camp clothes that I'd been wearing for a week, BUT they were the cleanest thing I had with me. It was either the camp clothes that I slept in for 5 days or the hiking clothes that I sweated in for 5 days. So with my hat pulled down low (Way to rep ECU huh?) my grimy self was self aware of my situation. Aaaaahhhh, who cares, it's not like I'll run into my old Junior League girlfriends up in VA. So on I walked amongst the clean and bathed to enjoy what my $18 ticket paid for.

I was surprised to see how close the Natural bridge was. Within .1 mile of walking and within that the .1 mile there were several bench seats available. FULL of tourists. I took some pictures and decided to see what the rest of the mile down, mile back walking path had to offer. The bridge was actually pretty awesome to see. It was just striking in the sheer size of it. I walk on and decide to pass the little Indian village set up. I'll save that for on the way back. Too many people crowding around it. So I continue on, cross a cool bridge and head out to this cave. So it's just me and this little rug rat, whose about 7 or 8 years old. Without even thinking, I step over the small rope and enter the cave to explore in more detail. Well the little kid follows my lead and the next thing I hear is his mother screeching in what sounded like Russian. We both look at her and both bolt for the rope and jump back on the other side. Seriously, I had no idea I did that. Normally, I'm the stickler for following rules and being safe. I think being out in the wilderness for so long, changed my perception on where I was allowed to wander. I mean it didn't even compute that I had to stay behind the rope! I just wanted to be inside the cave to see what was in there. Red faced, I apologize to the mom and scurry away. I continue down the gravel path to see the waterfall. I power thru an easy graded incline that lasts probably 1/2 a mile, but it amazes me how many people have to stop to catch their breath or sit down on the rock wall. I guess b/c I've hiked around really talented in shape people this past week, that I forget what "normal" everyday people in the world can do. Then it hits me, I worked hard to be able to hike up mountains! And where were these people when I was struggling up Hightop mountain? Could of used the ego boost then! hahha! In all seriousness, I know I'm lucky to be able to hike on the weekends, and for that, I'm grateful.

So I get to the end of the path and check out the waterfall. Honestly, I thought it was going to be more to it than what I saw, but whatever. I'm outdoors! On the way back, I spot an egret just chillin' in the water, so I snap a pic of him and continue on to the Indian village. The village actually turned out to be pretty cool. There were actual people in costume at each little station, explaining how the people back in the day used to live. One lady was weaving baskets from strips of bark they peeled off of trees, another was drying out her corn so they can grind it down to use to make corn cakes. It was pretty interesting. I entered the little huts they had all around to check out the inside and I was surprised at how hot the living quarters got with just a small fire. I mean after a couple of minutes it felt like a sweat lodge, so I bowed out in the middle of her explanation on where everyone slept and ducked into the storing hut. Where they stored their valuables, like tools, furs, and food. After snapping some photos, I hopped back on the gravel pathway and walked under the natural bridge again for the last time. I climbed the 130 some odd steps and slid back into my car. Off to find the Corn Maze!

The short drive to the maze was beautiful. Wow! These corns have some bank real estate. Talk about views. I had to stop the car just to look at the views of the mountains in the distance. Spectacular. Finally, I pull into the parking area and guess what? I've got the maze all to myself. I glance over at corn field and visions of that movie "Children of the Corn" start flipping through my head. I had to stop myself before I got to carried away. The corn field was plowed on a hill so it's got some nice climbs, but hey, I've climbed bigger hills. :) I walk up to the two teens, who look so thrilled to be there, and say hello. Seriously, only one gets up to greet me, the other continues to play with the piece of hay she's got in her hand. The guy robotically tells me the rules of the maze, and hands me a piece of paper and a pencil. Basically, this corn maze has an incentive. If I find 10 of the 30 scarecrows hiding in the maze, and write down their names (scarecrows will be wearing name tags) on this piece of paper. When I've found my 10, I turn it in to one of the teens and claim a prize! Whoo hoo! A prize! Sweet! I look at my watch, It's 12:43pm, and I squiggle it on the top of the paper. It's now a race to see how fast I can find me some scarecrows! I dive into the corn field at the lower edge of the field and start my climb up. I figured the higher I go, the better of a view I'll get. The maze takes me on a couple of turns and by 12:54pm I've found 10 scarecrows (Ty COBB, HAY-lee Mills, John STALKton, General CORNwallace, etc.. you get the jist). I figured I haven't gotten my $5 worth, so I continue walking around the maze to see if I can find more. I know there's no extra points for finding more scarecrows, but what can I say? I've got overachiever tendencies. I actually hike up to the top of the field, only to discover I still can't see the views b/c the corn stalks are taller then I am. So I walk over to the edge and try to get a good picture. 10 minutes and 6 scarecrows later, I go to collect my prize. The same teen who explained the rules gets up to meet me. He tells me my prize is either a day or night time poster of the Natural Bridge. Since I've got plenty of day time photos of the bridge, I opt for the night time poster. I thank him, roll it up, keep my score card, and head back to my car. From here on out it's a long ride home.

I can't tell you enough how awesome today was. Even though I did alot of corny (no pun intended and I love corny by the way) stuff, I loved how my day turned out. It was a totally unplanned day and full of spontaneous adventures. I asked for a thru hikers experience and I feel like I got one. I've read so many trailjournals, heard so many stories of other hikers talking about the crazy twists and turns along their journey, and here I was having a crazy turn of events. Who would of thought I would be on top of a hill, in the middle of a corn field today? If you looked at all my planning, I should of been summiting some mountain right about now. Well, this was a perfect end to my week in the Shenandoah's. It was all about tossing the "plan" out the window and just being open and free to experience life as it happens. I had no way of knowing what crazy places I would of visited today if I hadn't be open to opportunities during my hike. Except for timing myself to see how fast I could find the scarecrows, (I know, I know, I'm working on it) I let myself be free from my usual schedules and time lines, and man did it feel good. I'm so used planning everything before it happens and then getting upset if it didn't happen the way I planned it that I think I need to work on not holding onto the reins so tight. I need to ease back and just..... Flow..... I like that word. FLOW. I can feel that this trip has already changed me a bit and for that, I am most grateful. Til next time. GET OUTDOORS!!!

SNP Sat 10-10-09

I met up with Ed at the shelter and decided to hike the 13 miles with him today. It worked out b/c Lori had decided to NOBO hike the rest of the trip. She's been know to say "I don't buy the same real estate twice", meaning she doesn't hike the same section of the trail twice or she doesn't back track. It looks like she's buying the city block today. I couldn't imagine going over the same section I just conquered. haha! I'll miss her, but it's on to a new adventure. So Ed decided to road walk today, I decided to hang with him. Well, really my right foot and left pinky toe blisters decided for me. I duck taped my blisters and hoped they wouldn't bother me today. We hike from the shelter up 1/2 mile, then down 1/2 mile to the next road crossing and started our road walking climb. YUP, climb, for the next 3 miles, the road climbed up and the further it climbed, the chillier, windier, and rainier it got :(

As we were rounding up our first climb, we see a wild turkey crossing the road. Then we see another pop out of the woods and cross, then another, then another, then ANOTHER! in total I think it was about 8 or 9 HUGE wild turkeys that walked within 20 feet from us just to cross the road. It was pretty cool. During the long boring miles, we talked about our families. I learned that his younger daughter is an adventure seeker and has done some cool stuff. She's actually a white water raft guide during the summer. How cools is that! After we rounded the top of the road, it coasted down for a couple more miles and that's when it began to rain. Let me tell you, Rain + cold temperatures + high winds and sweaty clothes = chills. It was freezing and I was shivering. Around mile 8 we decide to stop at Turk Mountain overlook that was just 3 miles from the trail head to our campsite. We were cold, miserable, and tired. Road walking is tough on your feet. Your pounding on a hard surface for miles and miles and it can get pretty boring. So we decided to try out hand at Yoging, to get a free ride. (OK, hitch hiking, but shhhhh.... don't tell my mom or dad.) After 7 cars passed with no one stopping to help us out, just rolling by in their dry, warm cars, we tried to see if I had cell service to call a shuttle. NO service. We decided to walk a mile more to the next overlook, Sawmill Run, to see if there was any cell service. Shaking with chills, I walk over to the overlook and check for cell service. YES! I start dialing the PTC # from the map and just about the time I hear that the office is closed on Saturday, I look over and see Ed talking to someone in a Prius. Ed hooked us up with a ride! YAY!!!! He comes over and grabs my pack and stuffs it in the back of the guys Prius. Ed has officially become my hero. hahaha! I stutter out a thank you to Prius man and tell him how grateful we are that he is willing to pick us up. I find out the guy's from Williamsburg and was out hiking for a couple of days. With the rain pounding on the windshield and Ed and Prius guy talking away, I sit back in the warm car and enjoy the ride. When Prius man asks us how far are we going, Ed asks him how far is HE going. hahhaa! When the guy says Rockfish Gap, it doesn't take long for us to say, " That's fine." Rockfish gap is 7 miles further up from our original campsite (Calf Mountain Hut). So we'll skip 7 miles. Oops... Don't tell.

When we get to Rockfish Gap, Ed pours on his McSteamy charm and gets Prius man to pass right by Rockfish gap and drops us off 6 miles into the Blue Ridge Parkway at the Hump Mountain Visitors Center. (If you've seen Greys Anatomy, Ed sort of looks like Dr. McSteamy. You just have to cock your head to the side, squint a little, imaging his salt and peppered hair is a bit shorter and BAM! McSteamy.) So we skipped Sunday's intended 13 mile hike. Oops. :) There is no rain at the visitors center. Just nice overcast day and WATER!! Since it's only 2pm, we decide to take a short lunch break before we're off again. We head over to a platform that looks like a small stage and throw down our packs and eat lunch. I called Rylan and left him a voice mail, letting him know we will not be at the shelter tonight. Several tourists walk by in their clean and dry clothes. Probably looking at us like we are some serious hiker trash. hahaha! I love it :) After a nice and dry lunch we decide to just go all out and hike to the Van. (Thanks Lori, for letting us borrow this section of the trails map. It came in handy and gave us lots of options for water) That means that today is going to be a loooong 17 mile day. So we slap on our packs and start walking on the Blue Ride Parkway. And of course, the road climbed up for 5 miles. We walked straight up for 5 friggin miles! At one point I look over to my right and see a couple of cyclists riding up the mountain all cheery. I say hello then ask if I could have a ride. hahaha! We all laugh and they cycle away and Ed and I continue climbing up. Let me just say, that at this level, the views are outstanding. All I have to do to see an amazing view is turn my head to the right. I can't believe how high we've climbed. We consult the map, and decide to head up to the campground for a quick water break. Well, the campground is, of course, a steep climb up. What we didn't realize was how windy and cold it was up there. I start shivering again. Ed tries his luck one more time with the ranger that drives through. But the ranger says he's not allowed to give rides to anyone. So after resting our sore feet a bit, we hit the road with 5 miles left. AND of course, most of it is up hill.

We get to Rock Point overlook at 4pm and Ed says that with only 3 miles til the Van, he can probably knock that out in less than an hour if he didn't have his heavy pack. He suggests that I wait for him at the overlook, with his pack while he gets the van. I'm a bit nervous, but my feet thank him and off he goes. The first thing I do is go behind the big rock and change into some dry clothes. Then, I pull out my Jetboil and heat up some water for some tea! YUMMY! Oh... it's so good and warm. I sit on the side of the road like pure hiker trash, waiting for Ed to return with the van. SEVERAL people stop by the overlook during that hour wait and a bunch of them get curious and ask me all kinds of questions about my pack, the trail, ect... I kind of feel cool. Like what a thru hiker must feel like, getting all kinds of stares and asked all kinds of questions. Ed finally arrives right at 5pm like he said he would and I am SO happy to see the van. We throw all of our stuff in, turn up the heat, and head down to the town of Waynesboro for some REAL food. We drive around and somehow find Ciro's pizza joint. Ed orders the Ciro Special without knowing what it was and I order the Stromboli and down a glass of diet coke. Aaaahhhh. I scarfed down that Stromboli like it was no one's business. We talk about our favorite travels and I find out that Ed, though he's visited 22 different countries, and has NEVER been to the Caribbean. WHAT?? hahaha. He tells me that his favorite travel memory was when he was in Egypt and walking Cairo at midnight. A local offered him a private tour of the inside of a newly excavated pyramid. All he had to do was pay the armed guards a $1 to get by at each check point inside the pyramid. WOW, I know some archaeologist somewhere is jealous. What an adventure.

After dinner we drove back up to Big Meadows Campground to retrieve our cars and leave the van for the NOBO's. I was just amazed at driving back up all the miles that we walked on this entire trip. You really don't realize how far your walking until you actually drive it. It's pretty surreal. We hop out the van at 8:30pm and it's cold! We say goodbyes and exchange emails. Ed head home and I, not looking forward to a 6 hour drive, pull into the campground. I notice a huge sign saying NO vacancies. I pop my head in the ranger station, and hope I look sorry enough for the ranger to take pity on me :) I tell her I just hiked from Big Meadows down to Three Ridges (which I sort of did) and am very tired and cold. Do they possibly have any room for me. All I need are two good trees to hang my hammock on. I think she she had a soft spot for me b/c she gave me a campsite # E184. Full bellied and tired, to hung my hammock up in freezing cold temperatures. The site wasn't exactly private, but hey, I can't argue with charity. So with my headlamp on, I had my tarp and hammock up in 15 minutes. I walked to the bathrooms to change into my camp clothes and I was asleep by 9pm.

I was warm and snug as a bug all night long. I didn't wake up til 7am the next morning. I knew I had all day to drive home, so I took my time packing up. I met a nice lady in an RV that had lots of questions about my hammock and backpack. Seems as if her husband, who was sleeping in the RV, was just as obsessed with the AT as I was and was planning on Thru hiking next year! He was even emailing my favorite 2009 thru hikers Wags and Gangsta for some tips! Wow, small world. I wish I would of met him, but I was packed up and it was too cold to hang around and wait for him to wake up. Whoever you were, I wish you much luck on your thru hike next year! Til next time. GET OUTDOORS!!!

SNP Fri 10-9-09

We hit the trail around 7:30 am to start our 13.1 mile day. I felt good today. I think my trail legs finally caught up to me. Lori and I hiked together and I was able to keep up with her during the first 3 miles and two mountains we climbed. I just kept it slow and steady and I didn't even stop on the up hills. We met up with Rylan at an overlook with amazing views. Lori decided she wanted some "funeral photos." (Ok, before this starts sounding morbid, we were all joking around at how she hasn't found a recent photo of herself b/c she has become the family photographer, and when she passes on someday, all the photos that they show at the wake will be all old and outdated. So she wanted some updated funeral photos of her doing some awesome things.) So we took tons of photos at that overlook.

We continued on and made it to Ivy Creek and decided to fill up on water while we had it. Seems that the trail is pretty dry in the southern section. We also had a 2 mile climb up Loft Mountain so we wanted to make sure we had plenty water. The climb actually wasn't that bad. About 3/4ths of the way up, Lori notices a sign that says .6 miles to Loft mountain wayside. Hell yeah! (visions of juicy cheeseburgers and icy diet cokes watered my mouth.) So.... we blue blazed it :) I got a diet Pepsi (eh.. it was all they had), but no burger. It was only 10:45am and too early for lunch. We chilled for 1/2 hour and had a big laugh at Rylan walking in on us sunning on the deck. His face was priceless. Dumbstruck, as he tried to figure out how the hell we made it to the wayside before he did. hahaha! He actually climbed to the top of Loft Mountain and then took a side trail to get to the wayside. Oops. Guess he missed the blue blaze. hahaha! He grabbed some eats, I caught up on some journal writing, and we all chilled for another 1/2 hour.

We bid farewell to the wayside started back to the trail. Rylan was sticking to us like white on rice. He wanted to make sure we didn't sneak off on another short-cut side trip. So we filled him on on our plan to shave off another mile. hahaha! Blue blazing is fun! We huff it up campground pathway a mile (all up hill) to Loft Mt. campground store. Rylan and Lori had to resupply before continuing on the trip. I, had all 7 days worth of food in my pack, and boy did I feel every ounce of it. While they restocked, I decided to take a little nap on a sunny grassy hill. I probably looked like total hiker trash to all the clean campers that DROVE from their campsite to the store, which was less then .1 miles away. Funny how perspective changes things. After they finished, we took a side trail that was only .33 to the amphitheater at Loft Mountain, instead of hiking around the campground and shaved off at least a mile from our trip. Once at the amphitheater we all checked to see if we had cell service. It was Boo's birthday and I've been trying to get cell service to call him. BINGO! we had service, so I made the birthday call. It was soooo good to hear his voice. I wanted to talk forever, but alas, we had the AT trail to find. Happy Birthday Boo! I hope you like your gift :)

The side trail met up with the AT and we hop on like nothing happened and continued coasting down hill. For some reason, the Wizard of Oz song, "We're off to see the Wizard" got stuck in my head. I sang it (in my head) all the way down. It reminded me of my grandparents. They live in Kansas, so you can imagine as a kid with grandparents living in Kansas, what kind of over active imagination I had when it came to the Wizard of Oz. hahaha! It was nice to think of my grandpa Belly Bean, who passed on. I thought about him and in his ever present overalls. I thought of the first time I ever went fishing and caught my first fish. I thought about the first time some girl crazed boy we met at the pool drove by to see me and my grandpa went out on the porch and stared him down and scared him off. I thought about my grandpa. I missed him. It's strange, I always read in someones trail journal about how emotional some people get on the trail. Even though you are physically exerting yourself, all these feelings, memories, you have stored up, start pouring out. I really thought it took weeks and weeks of hiking to experience that emotional rush.

It must of been grandparents trail day, or I just had grandparents on the brain. B/c when ever I saw little black caterpillars and little white caterpillars on the trail, I thought of my abuelo and abuelita (grandma and grandpa from Costa Rica. who have passed on) Whenever I was climbing a tough section, I'd see a little black or white caterpillar and it would make me smile and feel like I could make it to the top. It's like my grandparents were watching out for me and keeping me safe today.

When we got to the bottom we had a road crossing before we began a long 2.7 mile climb up Blackrock mountain. I knew we only had .7 miles to Dundo, to get water, so I plodded on. The water break helped cut up the climb, but Arrrggg! a climb is a climb. Rylan hung out with us til Dundo, then after he loaded up on water, he bounced. Lori and I continued up that loooong climb. About .5 miles to the top. I decided to rest and take my pack off while Lori continued up. I finally reached the top, I had the rocky summit all to myself. It was spectacular. I stopped to enjoy it for a whole 15 minutes. I thought about all the people that have never and will probably never see this amazing view and how lucky I was to be able to climb up here to take it all in. I finally decided to climb down and hike the last mile (down hill) into camp at BlackRock Hut.

Well, the hike down was a bit precarious. On either side of me, the trail, for the next mile, was lined with berry bushes. BEAR eating berry bushes. On top of that, every 50 feet I stepped over fresh bear scat. I got a bit nervous, so I decided to sing, out loud, to scare any bears. So I say the only song I knew all the words too. Beastie Boys, Paul Revere. "Nooooow here's a little story, I got to tell, about three bad brothers, you know so well..." As loud as I could, I rapped my way down that mountain and treated the bears to some old skool rap. I think I sang it like four times during that mile. I hope the bears appreciate some Beastie Boys :) I made it to the shelter by 4:39pm. When I got there our entire group was there. The southbounders (SOBO's) us, and the northbounders (NOBO's). We had a full shelter. I finally got to meet the man in charge of organizing our hike, Mr Kent Zotter of ATHiking podcast, aka "Toothless". In his group, he had Dale, Jackie, Paul, Hez, and John. I hope I didn't forget anyone. Also at the shelter was a family group, Maui Girl, Elizabeth and her dad Dave, they were thru hiking the park and enjoying just being together. And Sarah and Dave, a mother and son who were hiking the park together as part of the mothers "bucket list." How cool is that! After introductions, I went off to set up my hammock and came back to the shelter to have dinner with everyone. I got to talking with Maui girl, who really lives in Maui, and found out that her daughter is married to a big wave surfer who used to tow in Laird Hamilton on jet skis to surf big waves, til he decided to surf them himself. Laird Freakin' Hamilton! I WISH I would of wrote down his name. It's a hawaiin name and I want to give him props, so Maui girl, if you read this. Please send me his name! Thanks. It was actually nice to talk to someone about surfing. Growing up in southern California, it's like a right of passage, I mean we had a surf team at my high school, so it was cool reminiscing.

During dinner we had some unexpected visitors. Seems as if three bears had sniffed their way to our campsite. Three bears showed up on the other side of the ravine and entertained us for a good 30 minutes. I was getting worried b/c my hammock was strung up at the furtherst campsite and closest to the bears. I got nick named bear bate and Kent kept ribbing me saying I wasn't going to last thru the night, it was nice knowing you, can I have your husbands # to call the widower. All in good fun. hahah! But seriously, I didn't think I was going to sleep well that night. After getting someone to bear bag my food bag, I sat down at the picnic table to update my journal. I looked around at everyone enjoying their conversations, building a fire, playing cards, and I just took it all in. What a great group of people, what an awesome day. Happy Birthday again Boo. Thank you for understanding that I needed to do this. I'm off to bed. Hopefully the bears will stay away. I guess you'll find out tomorrow..... til next time. GET OUTDOORS!!!