June 28th It's all good!

Got the results from all my tests and I am, according to the results, the picture of health. Excellent! I can only guess I got a stomach bug, either from some food source or from the ethers, or aliens ;-) Whatever. But it's all good and confirms my plan to begin again on August 1st. Woohoo!

June 25th Going back out there

Angela tells me I should announce when I plan to get back on the trail so I guess I'll let you all in on the plans, as they stand now.

Assuming I get my gut issues resolved I am planning to head back out to the trail on August 1st, or thereabouts. I'll drive my truck to Ashland, Oregon and leave it at my cousins house just off of Hwy 5 and take off east on the PCT. Oregon is relatively flat, and I've never hiked there, so it seems a good spot to re-enter the trip. I will have close to two months to work my way up and see just how far I can get before the snows fly in the north. Hopefully all the way to Canada.

As for my health status I should get the results of my tests this Thursday and I'll post the outcome here as soon as I know what is up. I feel better now than I've felt in a couple of weeks but that doesn't mean I'm done with it, whatever "it" is. But hey, at least I'm home and having fun while I figure this out.

June 23rd IKEA Snafu

Yesterday we went to IKEA to buy cabinets for the Toolery. As usual we had fun looking at all the stuff and thinking of what we must have but fortunately I don't have a home to put stuff in so I was able to resist purchasing things.

The fun stopped after we paid for the the stuff and began the long and boring wait to have the cabinets pulled from the warehouse. It must have taken an hour to get the goodies but finally we were done and on the road home. Back at the Toolery we managed to get the first three cabinets done and installed with ease but when we broke open the last box what did we see but that the cabinet had been previously assembled, then disassembled and put back in the box. That was a bit irritating in itself but when we went to hang the cabinet, the necessary hardware was MIA. WTF? Not only did they sell us something used as new, but it wasn't even complete! Grrrrrr.

I got on the phone and called the customer service line only to be told my two options were to drive back to IKEA (100 mile round trip) or we could wait for two weeks to have the parts shipped from Sweden. As much as I like some of their products, this kind of thing is way more common with this company than I like. This is a perfect example of the worst kind of customer service and outcome. I'm still cranky about it.

Pictures of A at IKEA and the cabinets completed. I know none of this has anything to do with backpacking but it is what I'm up to right now.

June 21st The Toolery

I love making stuff. Angela and I hit the studio first thing this morning with the intent of getting her casting set up working and workable. Of course what I think can get done in one day will take twice that time I think we'll get done pretty soon.

Went to the doc today and he ordered tests which I will take tomorrow. Hopefully by next week the test results will say something helpful and I'll be able to fix this thing. I'd sure like to be done with it.

Off to Capitola Book Cafe tonight to hear the woman speak who wrote The book "Wild". Everyone seems excited to hear her speak. It seems strange to be just off the trail and be listening to her speak of it... we will see.

Pictures of A and some of her tools at the Toolery.

June 20 Summer Solstice

I am packed and ready to climb in Beth's car when she arrives. The plan is for us to camp for the night, possibly in Tuolumne Meadows, then head home in the morning. I made an appointment with my doc for tomorrow afternoon as my sx have returned. If I'm correct in my assumptions I'll get some Flagel and all will be well within a day or two. I'm just hoping my energy returns.

I won't be activating my spot tonight as its buried inside my pack and I'm too lazy to get it out. Made it home to SCz safe and sound. Beth is my knightess in shining armor.

June 19th ML day 2

I stayed at the New Shady Rest campground last night and even though it was right off the highway coming into town, it wasn't loud or bothersome in any way. It helped that it was windy so whatever other noises might have been present were covered by the sighing of the wind.

I'm pretty lucky to have been invited to stay at my friend Robins house tonight. Unfortunately she is deep into a state audit at her work so I don't know if I'll get to see her much. I will get to meet her newest dog though. A black poodleish kind of creature... a puppy I believe. Looking forward to that. Robins friend Erika will be picking me up around 12:30 this afternoon and haul my sorry ass back to the house.

Of course the evening was grand. When I arrived at R's place, Erika was cooking up a storm and the doggies were wild child's. In no time there was a phone call and folks arrived via RV. John Sandich and family, also known as Sleepy John of KPIG radio. Fun times ensued and finally dinner was done, folks off to bed. Me, I'll haul myself to bed.

Razz and the new puppy Tallulah.

June 18th Mammoth Lakes

It seems there are interesting people where ever I go. Today while sitting on the bus stop bench in Lone Pine I re-met a woman I had first met a couple of days ago on the trail. She is an Australian and an avid hiker, having hiked the AT the past two years. Her trail name is Gipc Girl and she also is struggling with motivation. It was good to meet someone else who is experiencing the same conflicts. She was going to decide in the next couple days if she will continue on with the PCT or travel east and join a friend who is hiking the AT this year. I mentioned to her that I was thinking of coming back to the PCT later in the summer and we both agreed it would be nice to hike together so if she continues on that might happen. I liked her.

The second interesting person I met on the bus stop bench in front of Kmart in Bishop. His name is Mark and we talked about the nature of reality, physics, the American psyche and religion. A truly interesting three hour event and if I hadn't decided to leave the trail for a while I would not have met either of them and had such nice connections. I guess it just goes to show me again that not doing one thing means I get to do something else worthwhile. Good to remember.

The photo is of Gipc Girl.