The tension between really just wanting to sleep and eat all day, on one hand, and needing to Accomplish Things, on the other, is a perpetual feature of zeroes on the trail for us. Where does all the time go? It’s actually pretty easy: an hour and a half for breakfast, the same for lunch and dinner, as much as four or five hours to do gear maintenance and personal maintenance (including painting my toenails again) — and, particularly for me, move everything over to my brand-new backpack — and it all starts adding up really fast. Trying to fit in three or four more hours to post all these entries to my blog? Forget it. You’d think that an entire day, or especially two, where you don’t have to hike would be nothing but relaxing…but while it obviously is on a basic physical level, it can be anything but on a logistical level.
Yet it does feel really, really good to get all of this stuff done, too. I have a new backpack, new hat, new hiking shirt, new socks — and have figured out how to put it all together again, too. We also have three bottles of Permethrin sitting, waiting to be used on pretty much all our clothes tomorrow, too. (Permethrin is a substance you can spray on clothes that makes them repel mosquitoes pretty fiercely for several weeks, which is something we so badly need these days.)
We did even sneak in time for a nap…and, most importantly of all, a late afternoon showing of Inside Out, complete with popcorn, ice cream, and giant sodas. (Quick review: it is amazing — if it doesn’t bring tears to your eyes at times, I’m not sure if you’re human.) Yes, OK, sometimes zeroes are busy because of entertainment like that…but that entertainment can be so badly needed after weeks on the trail. 😉
We sit here tonight stuffed full of Thai take-out (and carrot cake and cheesecake, thanks to the local Whole Foods). I’ve been furiously getting blog entries ready to post, although I’m still uncertain how many I’ll be able to post before we hit the trail again — I have two dozen sitting ready, which is a ton.
Just like it was when we got to Reno, it seems really bizarre to imagine that we’ll be camped on the trail tomorrow evening again — almost impossible, given that we’re falling asleep on the 26th floor of a building in a giant, comfy king bed. But I know it’ll happen!
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