Miles traveled: 1.1
Mile marker: 369.4
Today is a day to sleep in, but it’s 5:15 am when I start walking into my tent. The sun hasn’t appeared yet today, but after going to the bathroom (i.e. in nature), Bumper is setting up his tripod to take a photo of the morning sunrise.
I’m making a cappuccino when I turn and see the orange circle just above the horizon. Savannah and Lucie are also taking pictures.
My cappuccino is pretty watery, but Savannah has hot chocolate I can add to it. Much better, although I didn’t wash the pot the night before. I’m getting pretty bad with my dishes. It’s hard to wash dishes without water!
Truls (pronounced THRUCE) is still sleeping while everyone is moving around making comfortable morning drinks. I go to Dad’s store to offer him some hot chocolate. Apparently he ran out of coffee too!
Now we are almost all awake.
«Do you like the view?» Bumper asks.
Truls says, «I saw him yesterday.»
«I like being on top,» says Lucie.
I can’t get enough of these two.
We began the descent walk. It’s only about a mile before we reach the first parking lot. Dad greets the boys in their vehicles.
Not five minutes pass and we are in the second parking lot. The kids we just saw in the first parking lot walk past us.
Dad talks to them for a moment while a poodle-Chihuahua mix named Carbon barks at us like crazy.
Soon we were all piled into three vehicles. Dad, Lucie and I are in the back seat of our driver’s car. His name is Jai and he is from Washington. He lives here, in San Diego. Carbon sits up front, which is completely understandable and also makes me laugh when the three adults are crammed into the back seat.
We met Rafiki for breakfast with other hikers. I order my first breakfast burrito! It was actually a bit bland. The coffee was weak. I’m starting to see a trend in all these breakfast places with their weak coffee!
It’s not a big deal though.
We head to the Mountain Hardware store where I receive a package from Dad’s girlfriend, whose routing name is Brown Sugar. He sent me a tent! Also some homemade cookies, peanut M&M’s and snickers! Plus some awesome quotes that I really enjoy.
We hung out back at the hiker station. You can weigh your bag, load your stuff and just sit here!
We go to the bakery and buy a cinnamon bun. It’s the size of my face! Unfortunately it’s also a bit bland. I also have coffee here, which is better than the other coffee!
Finally we go up the road, which is long and uphill. We enter the Airbnb. It’s nice here! To the left is the kitchen with lemon decor and a yellow checkered tablecloth on the round table. To the right is the living room with a white shag rug (not good for hikers) and plush yellow stools.
We will go shopping soon. Everyone shares breakfast essentials and hot chocolates. My refill was $140. Much more expensive than I imagined!
We walk back to the Airbnb and everyone sets up their meal until dinner at a Mexican restaurant. The restaurant only accepts cash. This is the first time I have had to resort to my cash store. There are a lot of hikers here.
I buy a chimichanga burrito, even though I’m not very hungry. My two main choices were the chimichanga burrito and the salad. I should have bought some oranges at the store!
I’ve heard that you can get scurvy if you don’t eat fruits and vegetables.
We go back to the Airbnb and everyone hangs out. There is a French braid with Lucie braiding Savannah’s hair and Savannah braiding Bumper’s.
Rafiki goes to repair his mat, but the valve comes off completely! In his frustration, he tears it in half. I wasn’t here to witness this, but Bumper informs me.
Rafiki helps me repair my sleeping mat, but I’m sure I won’t make any stupid jokes. He’s pretty upset right now. Long hours on a cold floor lead to some sleepless nights.
Bumper and I sneak into bed while the girls sleep on the living room floor. Bumper and I stayed up late. He is working on his videos and I am working on my blog.
Later I will put moleskin on the back of my shoe. How bad can the back of my ankle get due to the high frame of my shoe?
Oh. And my Garmin In-Reach, the device with which I can communicate with the outside world on test and press an SOS button if necessary, I will activate it. For now, it’s just a useless weight.
So many things to do along the way!
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