The Virgin of Guadalupe

Expansionism (Unfolding Saga, Pt. 9)

We put our groceries in the car. In the adjacent parking lot was a liquor store and it was time we all admitted to ourselves that we were going to need something to get us through the night. Something warm. Something comforting. Something familiar. What would it be this time? Early Times? Virignia Gentleman? One trip, in Arizona, I'd spent most of the night quoting from Lost In Translation; "For a good time. . .Early Times" everytime I unscrewed the cap of that horrible bottle and took a swig. Not this time, I thought. The part of that movie where Bill Murray's wife is on the phone asking him to pick out the color of the carpet swatches sticks in my mind for some reason, while I'm looking at liquor bottles and thinking about what made sense to bring hiking. Just pick something, I thought. It's getting late, anyways, I thought. What time was it? Would we ever hike? It didn't seem like it.

Ryan had found wine, packaged in cardboard like a quart of milk. Merlot. Cabernet. I don't really care for either if I have the choice between those two and Shiraz, but I figure I like Merlot better. It didn't matter. All they had was Merlot and Cabernet. I think I like Merlot better. Wasn't Ryan getting one too?

"You think this is any good?" I ask him.

"I dunno," he said looking at it. "You should get some Early Times."

I was not going to get Early Times. I didn't even know if I was going to be able to hike, let alone drink. A box of wine was good enough for me, I thought. Dawn looked around for something of her own. Two bottles of wine? Not enough for the three of us, methinks.

"What are you gettin', Dawn?" Ryan asked.

"Oh," she thought for a second. "I don't know."

"Get some Jagermeister."

"Do you think so?" she asked him.

"Oh yeah. We can all do Jager bombs," he said laughing.

She stood staring at the bottles.

"Dooo it. Doooooo it."

She did and we all payed up. We were that much closer to hiking. We left the liquor store with our goods and piled in the car with the dogs, which by now smelled better than they had after drying out, and our groceries, and we all agreed that we were hungry and were going to need to get something to eat. We pulled out of the parking lot of the grocery store and into the parking lot of a Wendy's and Dawn tried to find a shady spot to park so the dogs wouldn't cook and we went inside, got our food quickly, and left. We were on the road towards our destination again, finally.

This Was My Homework Last Night

If anyone still cares, you can click on the map to see it. Blogger shrinks my maps too small to be visible on the page.

Jessica Hagy

She has a blog on Blogger called "Indexed" which is funny and clever. I bought her book which just came out.

Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of The Heart

You must watch the whole thing. Imagine a video with fencing, homoerotic dancing, football players, and weird kids with alien eyes. The end is like some deleted scene from Harry Potter.

Huh?

wha--say wha-- huh--how ex--i really don't ge--yikes.


**update** This whole thing has to be a fake story, right? The sheriff's name is Whipple, like this guy...

The Charmin toilet paper guy.

To be fair though, i can't count how many times i had to talk Amy out of the bathroom (mostly because Karen needed to get in there to purge, but still).

**update** After a thorough search of the law, authorities find what most closely resembles a charge they think might stick to his ass.

found on my video camera...

Fustercluck

The results from Ohio and Rhode Island look pathetic so far, and Texas keeps getting closer. I guess I need to get used to another few months of this garbage.

Made a participant in knowledge of something private or secret: was privy to classified information.

Sammy Moore Wuz Here

Ice

Feetal

Do you know what is under this rock?

It's interesting that in the vicinity of this facility my GPS receiver was registering coordinates over 2 miles off, and my brother's satellite radio would not work properly either.

For Water Only Do Not Apply Canteen To Open Flames Or Burner Plates

Feet Be Damned

Tommy

As If It Weren't Fo Shizzle

I Love What I'm About To Endure

Crossing Spout Run

Everytime we stopped to rest the sweat I was cloaked in began to chill me in time with the relentless wind. In the early stages of hypothermia my view of my surroundings began to dissolve, but then a long swig of gatorade made everything ok.

We Were To Begin Our Trek

Here We Go Again

This One Reminded Me of Jeremiah

Profile of Our Hurt Feet

Courtesy of the PATC.

Tomblin Hill doesn't look that bad, but it was the worst of them all.

Atop an Unnamed Mountain This Morning

Come evening the wind was howling and snowflakes were falling so we set up camp in the Sam Moore Shelter. This turned out to be a great decision. We slept well out of the breeze and flurries, and it never got cold in the tent. Other bonuses of this site include a crystal clear cold spring and a very clean privy. Oh yeah, Kevin snores.

8 Miles In (And When You Come Out You'll Find That It's Stranger Than Known

These pictures come from Reservoir Hollow along the Appalachian Trail, approximately 8.1 miles from the intersection with US 50.
The hike through the roller coaster was unlike anything I could've imagined in Northern Virginia. I'd never imagined that Clarke County had such extreme terrain.
To give an idea of the pain we endured over 15 miles-Yesterday we knocked off three miles in just over an hour. Upon reaching the roller coaster it then took us 6 hours to do the remaining 7.5 miles to our planned camp spot. It was straight up then straight down for 6 hours of blistering, back aching, quad burning fun.

We Forgot To Pack Food So Desperate Measures Were Called For

The Roller Coaster or We Decided 15 miles was Enough

"What do you wanna go and mess with that roller coaster for?"
"Because it's there."
"You get in there and can't get out you'll be wishing it wasn't there."