Running into the Hiker Who Trail Named Me

This morning we woke up at the pot farm around 8am. There was no need to wake up at the crack of dawn since we are going to be taking a zero day today. Though I was getting hungry so eventually, Syrup and I began packing up and getting ready to head out.

We left the pot farm and headed to the nearby McDonald’s. There were a couple other hikers there hanging out. And after sitting around for an hour or two a ton more hikers arrived. We couldn’t check into our hotel until later in the day, so we just stayed at the McDonald’s and chilled out for a while. I was able to get some work done on my phone while we were there.

Waking up at the gated in pot farm this morning.

While we were sitting there at the McDonald’s all of the sudden I looked up and saw a guy in plain clothing who looked familiar. It took me a second to realize who he was because he wasn’t wearing hiking clothes. But it was Troubadour, a hiker who I met on the PCT in 2022. He was the hiker who gave me my trail name when he saw me limping down the trail with no bend in my knee because of terrible IT band problems. I only saw him a couple of times on the PCT that year. But this was just the craziest coincidence in the entire world. 

No better way to start the day than with McDonald’s breakfast.

I called over to him and I think he was just surprised as I was. He recognize that there was a group of hikers hanging out in the corner of the McDonald’s. But he hadn’t come over to say anything just yet. Obviously, hikers are always drawn to other hikers. But he didn’t think that he knew anyone in the group in particular until I said something.

Troubadour and myself at McDonald’s.

That was a super cool coincidence and totally made my day. It’s crazy how small of a world it is, especially in the thru hiking community. After we talked to him, we hung out at McDonald’s for a little while longer. Then it was about time to go check into our room. I figured that if we went over earlier, they might just let us check in early. Which they did! And for only $12 more, they let us upgrade to a room that had a kitchenette which I was super excited about.

It dumped rain on us while we did our town chores. But we were rewarded with a rainbow!

A road runner statue in town. Road runners hold special meaning to my family and I, so this was really cool to see.

The room wound up being ridiculously nice, and it only cost about $80. The roomh had a bed in the living room with one TV and then a separate room with a bed and another TV. And on top of that it had a full kitchenette which was amazing and I was excited to use the oven to cook some things. This is probably the nicest room that we’ve gotten along the entire trail, especially for the cost.

The Frontier Motel in Cuba. I could not recommend this place more! The kitchenette room was enormous and quite affordable.

Ice cream cookie sandwiches, courtesy of the oven in our motel room.

We showered so that we could do our laundry at the laundromat down the street. Sadly, the laundromat was pretty far away from the motel, but that’s fine. We headed over to do that. Then we also did our resupplying and I got some things to make in our oven later on today. Then once all of our chores were done, we headed back to the room to relax for the rest of the day. I also got a message from Sparkle saying that her and James were likely going to be getting into Cuba tonight or tomorrow!Which is so exciting because I would love to reunite and finish this trail together.

Nothing like eating burritos and queso in bed. I love a zero day.

Back at the room, I chilled out and got a ridiculous amount of work done. I’ well overdue to catch up on blog work and video work, so that was a relief. Then I used our oven to make some cookies and made ice cream cookies sandwiches, which were killer.

A very happy hiker! I love a zero day.

I worked on writing and videos for a few hours pretty relentlessly before taking a break. Then I heard from Sparkle that her and James had gotten into town and checked into the same motel. So she came over to say hi later on in the evening which was lovely. I’m so looking forward to us hiking together, leaving Cuba. Her and James are also going to take a zero day tomorrow so we can all hang out and then hike out together the next day.