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Country Roads

This was supposed to be a triumphant entry! But the fact I am awake at 2 am, waiting for the latest dose of antihistamines to kick in speaks volumes… Note to Cath, it didn’t worsen until Friday night, and by then Urgent Care Was closed.

In retrospect, I probably should have postponed a few days and recuperated at home, but I truly thought it was just a cold (which it might yet be), and I was hyperfocused on getting going! Too singleminded. Fortunately, my insurance is good through April.

When I hit Harper’s Ferry, I will find an Urgent Care, there’s one that is open on Sundays. If I have to spend a few days here, well, I can do that, it’s a very historic town, lots to see. Friends, the hike will go on! Never doubt that! This is just a minor setback. For the kind of flipflop hike I am doing, early April is actually early to start, so I have some leeway.

Please keep pouring prayers my way! They are much needed right now! I will try to sleep again soon… I have some Dayquil I can take later.

Ciao.

THE pack, THE cold, and THE Betsy are sitting around chilling (literally) in the first class lounge in the Windy City… At least they have a lit fireplace here, it’s cold!

I have never been in Chicago before. It appears to be a large city. With an underground. And luggage lockers.

A few notes about the train trip:

• Just past Osceola, IA is a rotten place to remember the hiking poles are still leaning against the door by the show rack!
• There was a voice whispering over the intercom about ice cold beer – four times. I feel subliminalized!
• In another burst of inspiration, I realized my maps also failed to catch the train
• At least the backpack made it. I think. I know the cold did!

I wasn’t planning to start out the trip with this cold. Unwelcome companion. It had better be gone by Monday! I promised Dad that I had enough common sense to not start hiking until I feel better; I still think it is just a cold plus allergies, but there is an urgent care place in Harpers Ferry open on Sundays until 5, if I need it.

Blast it all. Well, it can only get better from here! Pack’s loaded, bounce box is shipped, train’s actually almost on time, and I even snatched two hours of sleep last night!

A train!

Hello there! I’m Betsy Hagen of the Midwest, and I’m going on an adventure!

You see, this complete and total stranger (who in no way, shape or form resembles my brother Tom), well, this complete stranger slipped me this curious ring in the middle of the quesadilla course. He swore me to an oath to carry the thing from the darkest wilds of West Virginia to the legendary forests of Maine, and then into the deepest recesses atop Springer Mountain in the mystical land of Georgia!

“Am I to hurl it from the mountain?”, asked I, “for this peak lacks the traditional method of disposing of such rings.”

“No.”, cameth the answer, “You must carry it the length of the Eastern Seaboard, saving only Florida, then you must return it to the keychain from whence it came! Do you accept the quest?”

I answered him without words, by slipping the ring of base metal upon my finger… and suddenly all the quesadillas vanished!

So, friends, I will set out upon this most serious of quests before the sun rises tomorrow. I must make preparations! Yes! Sleep will not come tonight…

Ciao!

P.S. Has anyone seen my clean pocket handkerchieves?

One day more…

Tomorrow is going to be absolutely crazy. Today was… Well, I got some errands done in the morning, but I relied heavily on the bro and the dad to get some crucial things done, like refilling prescriptions and mailing off the bounce box. Which was pricier than I thought. OUCH!

While we are on the subject of the bounce box… What the heck is wrong with tape these days??? I had to truss the bloody box up like a turkey, and even then, Tom and I weren’t sure it’d stay sealed, so he double-trussed it with another kind of tape. We’ve tried multiple brands and types with the same result – this, I’m pretty sure, is not on us – I know how to deal a box! So what’s the deal?

Anyway, the rest of the day, not much energy; resting, getting over the last of it. Tomorrow, like I said, crazy, trying to cram two days work into one. At least the blasted box is gone, but naturally, I realized stuff didn’t get into it that should have – after I sealed it. That is always the way.

Repacking of backpack is in order as well. Maybe I can do it better. My train’s a-coming…

Ciao!

… I’m sick, I can’t sleep, and I never did explain why ‘Ziptie’.

Don’t blame me. Blame a certain group of Nebraska geocachers who regularly attend the annual geocache picnic/camping trip in Kearney… and who exist to torment me!

There was the one year I was out caching, and came back… I could not get into my tent. Ziptied!

There was the one year the Dad and I decided to motel-camp in town, but left our chairs out for the cobbler feast that night. We were out walking and came back… The chairs were all clustered by a tree. Ziptied!

The NEXT year, nothing happened. Perhaps it was due to my brand-new kitchen scissor necklace. I also appointed a BIG bodyguard from foreign states to help keep guard.

I will not be at the picnic this year. They will think of me. I know it.

Friends shouldn’t let friends tempt date by boasting about good timing! Yesterday, God sent me a chest cold as a lesson – I should be over it by Saturday, but I catch the point… His doing on timing, not mine! I regret missing catching a movie with one of my friends very much though.

Between doses of cold medicine and diet ginger ale, more cleaning, packing, moving. This is finally almost done though. The bro has started grocery shopping with an eye to when I am gone and REARRANGING MY PANTRY! I can’t find anything anymore!

The bounce box only awaits the 90 day supply of various medications, and the written prescriptions covering the next 180 days. That will be completed tomorrow and mailed out.

I need to find a very sturdy comb. As a kid, my hair would break brushes unless I used conditioner. It has not changed that much!

Ciao for now!

*sigh* I’d almost welcome panic to the feeling of biting off more than I can chew! Most everything fit into the backpack, barely, but I’m still staring at it glumly. The ten day forecast for the Harpers Ferry area gives 50’s and 60’s during the day, around 40 at night; can’t yet ditch all the cold weather gear. Some of what is in the pack, I’ll be wearing; that should help. It’s still stuffed to the gills. I’ll get better at packing. I will. Without water, but with food in it, it weighed in at 26.5 lbs, which isn’t too bad. Part of that weight comes from the heavy waterproof, odorproof (I hope) food bag.

I am packing the bounce box as well. It is heavier than I expected. I hope to mail it out tomorrow.

A lot of people have asked where they can send things along – thank you! Particularly sought at this point are notes of encouragement! What I plan to do when I hit a scheduled “maildrop town” is to figure out and announce what I think the next one will be… plan on them being 5 or 6 days apart.

So, my first “maildrop” after Harpers Ferry will be the US Post Office in Blue Ridge Summit, PA; I should be there by Friday, April 15. The address is:

Elisabeth Hagen
General Delivery
Blue Ridge Summit Post Office
14959 Buchanan Trl E
Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17214-9999

Bear with me. I’ll get out of the dumps soon enough. That number up there keeps getting smaller… and smaller…

Ciao!