Miles: 4.1
The Texas Trio, Texas Pete, Kevin and I bonded over the fact that the innkeeper of the Andover Guesthouse is nuts. She talked too fast to comprehend (earning her the nickname "Turkey Lady") and was the epitome of poor hospitality. After she yelled at me for being on the computer too long (with nobody in line for it), slapping Tangent on the arm (after smelling his clothes to make sure they were good enough to wear downstairs), yelling at me for being on the phone this morning and barking at us to take showers right when we stepped in (and I thought this was a hiker hostel), we felt right at home. Her husband passed away a couple of weeks ago, so she's understandably stressed... but she didn't have to take it out on us! We're paying her money to stay here, right?
Anyway, that was an interesting experience. At least the pizza at the general store was incredible. I suppose that saved the whole Andover experience from being stinky... well, that and the big jug of wine we consumed on the front porch.
(Quote of the evening: "All great things are decided over a box of wine." -- Java, '03 NOBO)
Being a 4.1 day, it was short, but it still managed to kick our butts. Post-town days are always hard and seem to consistently involve climbing straight uphill.
We hiked with the Texas Tri and Texas Pete, which made for an interesting day. Kevin and I go pretty much the same pace. I'm a little faster uphill and he's faster downhill, but, overall, we keep in sync. Hiking with other people is strange because we all have different paces, but we want to stay together to talk. What ended up happening is that Wonderboy and Texas Pete would move on ahead. Then, Semi-Sweet, Tangent, Kevin and I would hike together in the back. With all the random stops and extended rest breaks, it took us 5 hours to hike 4 miles! Ridiculous (but fun)!
We met two guys at camp today - Dead Horse and Early Riser - both about Mike's and Terry's ages. They seem nice - we'll probably run into them for the next couple of days.
Tomorrow's going to be a long one. Icky. I'm going to miss being a slacker!
- Lazy Bobo