Hiking Trail Journals

Appalachian Trail 2003 - Chelsea's Journals

Entry #60 - May 29, 2003

Went to sleep pretty late last night - 2 AM or so. Were up watching TV and drinking a few beers. Just trying to soak up the most we could of the hotel before leaving, I guess.

Woke to rain in the morning, on & off. Ran a few errands and checked out of the hotel at about 11:00. Had to walk quite a ways just to get out of town. Besides that, we had already walked probably a mile & a half out when when we missed the road on the way in.

Eventually, we made it to the "new trail." Only had about six or so miles then to the shelter. The weather held out while we hiked, even though we heard thunder booming over the hills behind us. Made it to Rice Field Shelter around 3:00. Early to stop hiking, but, Good Lord, were our packs heavy! Somehow we ended up with more than double the food we usually carry! We have about 20 million PopTarts and Little Debbies. We also ended up with a 2-foot long stick of pepperoni that we couldn't pass up at the Magic Mart. We were just sick of being hungry and not being "allowed" to eat enough, I guess.
Sounds like everything is OK at home. I talked to my Mom this morning. Guess my Dad should be going home around Sunday. I wish I could visit or something - hopefully, they'll still be able to make it out sometime this summer - maybe July or something.

I enjoy being out here on the Trail, but I am really looking forward to going home, and to having a home. Maybe it's being a Cancer, or some kind of nesting instinct, but I find myself thinking all the time about when we get back: Where we'll live, etc. When we're at a hotel with cable TV, I am constantly watching all these Home & decorating shows, to the point that Andy has about lost his mind over it. One time, he even had decorating dreams, hee-hee, much to his DISpleasure! :)

Anyway, the grass is always greener. Now I think about normal life, and in normal life, I want something different. One of the mysteries of life, I suppose!

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