Laughing Fox

Thru-hiker, M.J. Fox, wanted to treat me to a nice send off, complete with subs, a boat ride and some trail talk.

There is this zoo in NY that the trail cuts through and it is said to be a very emotional experience for many through hikers. It is one of the spots on the trail that I am very excited to see and experience so I asked, Fox, what he thought about it.

"Oh, it's lame...wicked small," he said. "Oh..." That brings a whole new meaning to emotional experience, I thought.

He then started to talk about how great it was to take dips in the rivers in Maine, but than stopped himself and said that it was going to most likely be too cold for me to do the same.

There were a few other things that he said, but you have to realized, this was a conversation between a nobo (Northbounder) and a perspective sobo (Southbounder). There are perks to hiking the AT in both directions.

It was a very comical boat ride and it got to the point were I finally laughed and said, "Mike you need to stop, you're killing me!"

He was not saying these things to get a rise out of me they were just coming out in conversation. Time spent with Fox always results in a comical post.

He asked me what I was going to wear while I did my laundry in town. Hm, I thought, good question. "Lots of the girls brought a town dress, they kept them in zip-lock bags," he explained.

"What did you wear?" I inquired.

"I used to wrap my sleeping bag around myself and camp out in the laundry mat until my clothes were done."

I think I'll go with the town dress, I have a feeling it would probably draw less attention.

Updates

I have not been able to blog for a while since I have been incredibly busy with preparations. To give you an update: all 24 of my drop boxes are packed and labeled, I just this morning seam-sealed my tent (it takes 6 hrs to dry so it is going to remain staked outside till 2pm) and I am making a trip to REI to spend my 2010 dividend...most likely on nylon cord, compression sacks, and some fancy freeze-dried food.

I will be able to blog while I am on the trail, so you will be able to be apart of my journey from home.

I thank you all for the support and I look forward to reading/ responding to your comments and questions.

Karma

Ok...I may have overreacted when I said that grocery stores were terrible and ripping people off. The fact that I bought food today at a grocery store makes me hypocritical, however, I remember my favorite English teacher from high school explaining that being a hypocrite is not a bad thing. In fact it is human because it shows that are thoughts and opinions are dynamic. And how boring an individual would be who is steadfast in their thoughts and beliefs as to not be deemed hypocritical. 

I went back to BJs for round two and loaded up on beef jerky, peanut M&Ms, almonds and snickers. At the self checkout line, while I was scanning my goods, my purse accidentally got knocked into the trash can. Karma...I thought, BJs was getting me back for abandoning my cart a month ago when I walked out because I realized I could get Ramen for much less at WallyWorld.

Since then I bought nuts, grains, and legumes from a local natural food store. However, they tend to cater to vegans.

Hypocrite or not I know that I am a hungry prospective thru-hiker that needs her jerky.