This morning I slept again until 8am. Last night, a group of hikers arrived in town. A friend of mine approached me and then some hikers approached Steam Engine. We were all planning to have breakfast this morning at Denny’s around 9am So I wasn’t exactly rushing out of town. Besides, there really is a lot of time.
I finally got up and got ready. Then I had to make the decision about whether or not I wanted to renovate my room. Last night I briefly let the idea come to mind. And the idea of staying in the city is really like a contagion. It just grows and grows. She knew she had to decide before he went to breakfast. My two options were to leave today and then ground out in Lordsburg in a couple of days. Or just stay here today and then get zero at Lordsburg.
Nothing really happens in the town of Lordsburg. They have a motel and maybe a couple places to eat. But it’s not really a center of any kind. So if I wanted to take a day off, it definitely made more sense to do it here in Silver City. Also, all the hikers who arrived last night plan to zero out today. Maybe even for something more than today.
Before going to breakfast, I finally made the decision to simply renovate the room. Why not? It doesn’t change my end dates at all. At this point my end date is pretty concrete. After doing that, I walked to Denny’s with Steam Engine. We met some other hikers there; Roadrunner, Meemaw, Stew and Dusty. It was really nice to see you all again! The weather is crazy here. It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long, and yet it really has been.
It was very nice to have breakfast with this whole team.
I ended up having a delicious specialty iced coffee with my breakfast. In fact, I noticed them on the menu after I ordered my shake yesterday. But I probably would have been tempted to order the delicious iced coffee. It was really good today. I thought about having more than one, but it seemed a little crazy. That’s a lot of caffeine and sugar. Today I ended up receiving a double order of the crêpes I bought yesterday. The red fruit and cream crepes are delicious.
I love the berry and cream crepes from Denny’s or IHOP.
It was really nice to hang out with everyone, talk and laugh over breakfast. This group is great! It would have been great to surround this bubble for longer this year. But I’m happy for all the time I’ve had. This year I was able to enjoy the company of hikers much more than I ever imagined. Especially in the CDT. I thought this last week or two would have been very lonely for me. And it’s been exactly the opposite, so I couldn’t be happier.
After we all had breakfast together, we decided to walk down the street and try to find a place to drink bubble tea. I had seen there were a couple of places in town. But it turned out to be quite far away, so we walked to a place called June June’s that sold ice cream. We were hoping they would make Boba too. As we were walking towards that place, a car ended up stopping. At first, I really wasn’t sure what was going on.
Walking through the city of Plata.
I noticed the car from the beginning because it honked. I assumed the car was honking at some of the hikers we were with because they darted across the road. Then the car pulled into the parking lot near us and took a quick turn. We then started driving back in the direction we were heading. I had a feeling it would turn into some kind of interaction. I can’t explain why, but I was pretty sure it would be. Then the car came and stopped in front of me and another hiker, I was gone! Fighter flight, honey.
But as he ran past the car, the person inside came out and yelled, «Peg Leg?» And everything made much more sense. They must have been honking to get my attention. And they turned around quickly because we were going in the opposite direction. Everything made a lot more sense now. The guy was very friendly and was local to the area. It’s been following us for most of the year. Seems. We all talked to him for a while, which was very nice. It’s always great to meet you in person! I felt bad for running away initially. But I guess part of me had the right idea. My intuition was quite correct: the vehicle was paying attention to us. I was simply wrong in intention!
After talking to that good man for a few minutes, we continued towards the ice cream shop. And I am very happy to have entered this place. They had a ton of special ice cream flavors that I had never heard of before. I tried one that had cardamom. Then I tried a London Mist flavored one. I was definitely leaning towards getting it in a smoothie. But I ended up buying a homemade waffle cone with candied pistachio ice cream. And it was the best choice I have ever made. However, the funniest part was after I ordered the next two hikers to order it too. It was contagious.
After hanging out with everyone, I spent the rest of the day locked in my room working.
While we were there, a couple more hikers came by and joined us. It was so nice to hang out with everyone and grab some treats. This large group of hikers got an Airbnb closer to the city center. Pretty close to where we were at the moment. Finally, everyone finished their ice cream and then the rest of the group will head back to Airbnb. I planned to return to the motel so I could get a lot of work done. It was late and he hadn’t done anything. And I was aiming to stay in the city, to a certain extent.
When I got back to the room, it was time to work. I had a lot of things to do and I really had to focus. I worked for about an hour and then ended up ordering some lunch. Then I ate something and finally went back to editing. I did a lot of things. Although I definitely still have more to do. Fortunately, I plan to have a little more free time before finishing this trail. It should work perfectly for me to catch up.
I wasn’t brave enough to pack a big bottle of champagne. But I will carry this medium-sized bottle of champagne for the next 130 kilometers to the border. Otherwise, there is no store in Lordsburg to purchase libations from.
I worked hard and really stayed focused until 5 or 6 pm. Earlier in the day he had received a message from that larger group of hikers. They were having dinner together and they invited me. So at night I walked down the street to meet all of them at their Airbnb. It was between a half mile and a mile away. Definitely a little far, but not too bad. If I don’t have to carry a backpack I don’t care. Plus, it’s worth the walk to see all those people.
When I got there, everyone was just hanging out and hanging out. It was a nice, calm vibe. Some people were preparing dinner. A hiker had prepared a dessert for later. And a handful of us are watching Netflix. I joined everyone and we hung out for the next few hours. Finally, eating a really delicious dinner. They practically made Chipotle Hiker night. But much better than chipotle.
I ended up staying at the Airbnb with everyone until 9 pm Then Steam Engine and another hiker, Dusty, planned to leave and get their own room. So we were all able to walk back to Motel Six together. That was good because Silver City definitely has some places that might not be the nicest. It’s the kind of area where I would definitely walk down a main, lit street if it were nighttime. It was nice not to have to worry about it because I was with the kids.
On the way back to the hotel we stopped at CVS. I was dying for ice cream or something. Then I return to the motel and relax for the rest of the night. I crushed a bunch of ice cream and a couple of drinks. Then I worked a little more before calling it a night. Tomorrow I’m really going on a hike! Let’s hope the sooner the better. It is approximately 46 miles from Silver City to Lordsburg. So I don’t plan to do it in one go. So there’s no huge pressure to do a huge mile day tomorrow. I just want to get out as soon as possible.
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