Wrapped In The Love of Amazing Friends

Day 56

PCT Mile Marker 1716.19 – 1716.19

Miles Hiked 0

My tent was wet from the grass at the Lodge. Waited for it to dry. Moved it from this spot of sun to that one. Turned it around six times. Moved it again.

…Watching Paint Peel…

Draped it over a strategically placed boulder in the middle of the lawn. Fluffed it. Sat in a chair and watched it.

Finally my belly took over and I loaded everything up and went in for breakfast. And Oh My, What A Breakfast It Was.

Gluten-free salmon scramble on toast with hash browns. And coffee. Decaf this time, so I could enjoy a lot of it.

I hitched a ride in about four seconds. Shaved head, dark sunglasses, very L.A. gangsta-lookin-kind-o-guy.  

Me: “How long have you lived in Ashland?”

Gangsta: “About a year. But my wife, you know?, she just needs to be in a place that respects her karma, you know?, and she needs to be around people who can help her be one with the universe and all that. And this place is good for her. And, man, the only thing I need in this world is for my wife and my kids to be happy. What else is there, you know? Yeah man, so here I am. This is a good place.”

Don’t Judge Any Books At All Ever.

I went to the laundromat first thing. In the bathroom, I changed into my rain jacket and my rain skirt. I went to the soap dispenser thing to pay for detergent when a man interrupted me to show me he brought soap and I could use his. He didn’t speak English, and I didn’t speak Spanish, so I thanked him and used his soap.

I retreated to a back corner and plugged in electronic things and sat down to blog for a while. When everything was done and dried, I changed back into my dress, loaded up my stuff, and was leaving when a woman stopped me to chat about the trail. She offered me cantaloupe, blueberry, sliced almond salad she had in her van. I hastily accepted and ate all of it in about nine seconds while she finished putting in her laundry. It was the most amazing thing I’d ever eaten in my life and my heart swelled to three times its normal size.

People are so very kind.

All of a sudden, the sweet soap man came out to the parking lot where I was inhaling the fruit salad, and he pushed a $20 bill into my hand. I tried to refuse, and he wasn’t having it. He put his hands up and backed away smiling, and then went back to his van and left. I thanked him again and waved as he drove away.

I wasn’t sure if he knew I was a hiker or if he thought I was a homeless person inhaling cantaloupe salad from someone’s car in the parking lot. Either way, it was so sweet and endearing. I vowed to pay that one forward for sure.

The woman came back out and I had a great time showing her how I do my blog and talking about gear. She actually had her van modified so she could sleep in it, and had a leveling system on the van, and great organizational storage systems built in to suit her. It was really impressive. Very well thought-out.

I checked into my motel and just finished cleaning up when Michelle and Leland showed up! My amazing friends from Reno drove all that way on their motorcycle just to hang out!  

We walked 2.6 miles to the brewery for dinner. There was too much food, so I finished everything for everyone. So that was nice of me.

Sweet potato curry fries with aeoli sauce

Kimchi

Chicken enchiladas with rice and beans

Tofu Curry with rice

Vanilla ice cream

And Two IPA’s

And then I was so full we had to sit on a park bench for half an hour so I wouldn’t vomit.

And I was super excited about it!

We wandered around Ashland and the park. Leland played a frisbee game with some strangers and then we took a cab and went back to their swanky hotel.

I pulled my buff over the upper half of my body, Survivor-Style, and put on my decorative black underwear. Tah-Dah! Bathing Suit!

We alternated between the hot tub and the swimming pool until our internal thermometers were good and confused, and then we went upstairs where Michelle had me draw a foot bath with Epsom salts.

While my feet got doctored up, I read that yesterday Sprocket completed the trail. Remember him? From Super Sketchy McSketcherson? Yeah. He’s done. So he did a thousand miles while I floundered around during the last three hundred or whatever. What a crazy accomplishment. Go Sprocket! Congratulations.

Michelle and Leland walked me back to my motel and I went to sleep, grateful and appreciative, wrapped in the love of amazing friends.