Updates from a taco bell

Sorry for the lack of updates recently.  I haven't spent much time in town the past couple weeks and when I've been in town the internet situation hasn't been good.  I'm in hamburg PA right now at a taco bell.  It's raining outside and I'm drying off and taking advantage of their wifi.

The past couple weeks on the trail have been really great.  Last week the weather was cool, which made walking much more enjoyable.  Sometimes when its hot out, it feels like work just getting down the trail.  But once I got past harpers ferry and into maryland, things changed.  The terrraine leveled out, the quality of the trail improved and it seems like everyone wass in a better mood (me especially).

I've had a number of humorous (to me and other hikers anyway) encounters with non-thru-hikers recently:

*a couple days ago I passed a few young kids (~10 yrs old) who appeared to be hiking by themselves (their dads were maybe 15 min behind them).  One of the kids stops to chat with me: him- "hi.  Are you a thru-hiker?" Me-"yup" him- "ok.... good job".

*the day before, I was in duncannon at the grocery store and a mom and two little girls passed me.  Very audibly, one of the girls points at me and says "look, mom, there's a funny man".  The mom's jaw drops and she tells me "oh I'm so sorry.  She doesn't usually say things like that".  I guess my hair situation might be getting a little out of control.

*the day before yesterday, I came to a viewpoint where I found three highschool-age kids hanging out.  These guys were very clearly not sober and they were flipping out that I was hiking as far as I was.  "Dude, we thought only like 3 people have ever finished the trail and the rest died trying".  "Man, you're like a national hero or something.  You need to be on the news".  Playing along, I told them that I don't carry any food.  "I catch all of my meals with my bare hands."

* at a chinese buffet last week, I got the following fortune: "tomorrow morning, take a left turn as soon as you leave home".  I did NOT turn left the next morning and I will forever wonder what great fortunes I missed out on.

From AT 2012

I also had an embarrasing accident the other day.  I was walking down side of the road out of the town of Boiling Springs PA.  There was a sign on the side of the road talking about the history of the area and I figured I was capable of walking and reading at the same time.  Apparently not!  The was a chunk of shoulder missing and my left foot landed right in it.  The next thing I knew, I was sprawled out on my chest about 10 ft from the road.  Carrying all the weight on my back meant I had quite a bit of momentum once the falling process started.  After I got up and treated my wounds, I had a good chuckle.  After spending so much time walking over rough terraine, the one time I fall forward is on a road of all places.  No more walking and reading for me!

That's all for now.  I head into NJ this weekend.  The next few days are supposed to be especially difficult, so I look forward to crossing the border. 

Thanks for reading!