Day 69: Trail Day Outfits and Hanging Out at the Kroger
Staying Another Day
The day started at 3:30 in the morning. I woke up to go pee and I just couldn’t go back to sleep. I instead read for an hour and a half until I could. I woke up two hours later and laid about until breakfast time got closer. Included in our price to stay was a homemade breakfast, which was very nice. When 8:00 rolled around, breakfast was served. They knew my allergy to eggs and had made a dish they have never made before: cheesy potato casserole with sausage. Man, was it good. The other dish was a bread pudding with peaches layering the bottom. I definitely ate my fill.
I asked Yeeha, who was serving breakfast, if they had any available bunks. He went to check and said yes. He had two. I took one. Since hiking on would be pointless, I took a zero. The person picking me up was arriving tomorrow and Daleville was a very accessible town to most. Everything was on hold because of Trail Days. I looked over at Duck and she said, “I need to make a decision.” I nodded. I left shortly after, though. Another older thru-hiker was giving out advice like he was all knowing. He wasn’t.
Duck’s Decision to Go
I did the usual zero day stuff of scrolling on my phone. I started the day on my bed before moving to a chair outside. Duck did decide to go. She figured that the whole Appalachian Trail experience was the socializing aspect. I agreed with that. I did say, “Another hiker said to me when I was on the fence was, ‘You won’t enjoy it when you’re there, but you’ll regret not going.’” That helped her like it helped me. Trail Days is going to be pure chaos and full of people partying. It’s not my scene, but it is my community. I texted the person who was giving me a ride to see if Duck could tag along and she could. It was all set.
As noon rolled around, I grew hungry. I went inside to see Duck listening to the older hiker from breakfast talk about a cougar encounter he had. His advice was to pee around camp because then the animals will stay away. He then proceeds into the story where a cougar shows up to camp because of his urine. And he claims that’s what kept him safe. No. Human urine attracts curious animals because it is new and they want to investigate. Or they want the salt content. You should actually pee a couple hundred feet away from your tent. I don’t do it because like hell am I wandering around into the woods at night to take a squat. With a bad case of the hiker wobble. Nope. I asked Duck if she wanted to head to Kroger to get lunch. She was on board and we left shortly after that.
Outside Kroger
The mile and a half hike felt longer than it should have. The up and downs, once again, sucked. Duck was in agreement. We did make it to Kroger, though. We stopped by the outfitters first, but nothing was interesting. Once at Kroger, we made the rounds. I got another salad. We stopped by the sushi section and saw that on Wednesday’s, sushi goes for six dollars. Duck got that and I decided to try some too. I’ve never had sushi – mainly because seafood is not my thing. I also got a Japanese soda. We headed outside to the little picnic table and ate lunch. Whamp was there too. I ate four of the ten sushi rolls and figured it wasn’t my thing. I gave the rest to Duck. The salad, though, was my jam. It was so good. During lunch, I showed Duck how to open a Japanese soda. The glass ball is such a cool addition.
After we finished eating, Duck and I were wanting ice cream. We did spend a solid five minutes just staring at the options earlier. I wanted those push pops that were popular when I was a kid, so I went in to grab just that. The problem was that they didn’t have any. I settled on some Fat Boy ice cream sandwiches. The smallest pack was a pack of twelve. I figured we’d eat them and hand some out. I came back and passed one to Duck and Whamp. Soon, more and more thru-hikers joined the table. I passed them out. My own trail magic if you will. There was a solid group of us. Two people came up and asked if we were headed to Trail Days. Those of us going said yes and that we had a ride. The people were offering one to leave right then and there if we didn’t. The trail provides.
Outfit Hunting
Rogie showed up, a hiker who I have seen off and on for the past several weeks. She mentioned that she was going to Goodwill to search for a Trail Day’s outfit. Apparently it is a thing. Duck and I followed. I didn’t know how Rogie wanted to dress, but Duck said she wanted to look nice. I was leaning towards the batshit crazy side. I looked through the dress selection, like the others were, and found three options. One was nice, the other was okay, and the last one was not. The ‘not’ one was the one I was hoping would work as a good base for me to add other articles of clothing. I kept searching and came across a prom dress. I debated on it, but decided to try it on.
I showed the others my current haul and their eyes landed on the prom dress. They said I should pick that one. Go figure. I went to an employee and asked where the dressing rooms were and she said that they got rid of them last year. I then asked how bad it would be if we tried them on in the bathroom. She didn’t care, so we did that. Duck went to the ladies room and instead of waiting around, I just went to the men’s. Why gender single occupancy bathrooms that both have a toilet and sink? I don’t understand.
The nice dress looked nice whereas the other two didn’t fit me at all. They were way too big. I then tried on the prom dress. It was big by at least two sizes, but I knew it was the one. It was just twenty dollars though. I walked back out and the others asked about the prom dress. Since it was easy to get on, I tried it on again and they begged me to wear it to Trail Days. I stewed over it. They found me a pair of sunglasses that went with it, and I said ‘fuck it’. I’ll walk around Trail Days in a prom dress. They were both very happy with the choice. I then went on a hunt for a tiara. I had to have one. I couldn’t find any, but Rogie said that I could make a flower crown. I decided that that would be cool and probably the best course of action. We left with our hauls.
Back at the Hostel
I called Beth, the owner of the hostel, the moment someone driving backed into another car. The person whos car was hit was yelling bloody murder and I could barely concentrate on what Beth was saying. I did manage to ask when the afternoon shuttle was coming into town. Duck and I did not want to walk back. She said 4:45 to 5:00. It was 4:00 then.
We went back to Kroger and grabbed dinner and lunch and snacks for tomorrow. I got more of that southwest chicken salad. It was a struggle to find it. I wiped that Kroger out. We then waited around for Beth to show up. When she did, she had to get groceries for tomorrow’s breakfast. After that, we were on our way. Beth was very interested in why we were at Goodwill and we told her why. She demanded we put our outfits on. So we did. It was a fun time.
I later called some folks, but I mainly sat and read. I did go and make dinner, but the evening was a relaxing one. I was tired, but it wasn’t until after ten that I went to bed.
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Comments 3
THIS LAST PHOTO – THIS!!!!
“Why gender single occupancy bathrooms that both have a toilet and sink? I don’t understand.” ME EITHER. But at Wally world. Dressing rooms full except for one maked WOMEN. Single occupancy. Latch on door and whole nine yards. The sales lady went APE SHIT. YOU cannot use the women’s dressing rooms.!
• I wondered why and WTF she thought I would be doing in there all offensive? Jeez Louise. goGDam silly
Love the prom dress!