My Time in D.C.

So I’m back in Harpers Ferry right now. I couldn’t find any trains that stopped here and left before 3, so I just gave up on getting any miles done today. Instead I’m staying at the Harpers Ferry Hostel, about 2 miles down the trail from the train station. I expected complete chaos and not knowing anyone else here, I even made sure to reserve a bunk for tonight. Upon arrival I was surprised to see that I’d be sharing the entire hostel with just 4 others. It’s not that I don’t like meeting tons of new people, but peace and quiet is appreciated as well.

When I first got to my Aunt and Uncles house I was asked if I would care to join my Uncle and Cousin in a weekly meetup of Pathfinder (think D&D if you don’t know what that is). I very excitedly joined them and it was a little odd. Not because of the role-playing or being a geek, I love that stuff. But rather that I hadn’t thought about it since I left home. It made me actually miss being at home with my friends, playing magic, going to drafts, talking about table top games. Being on the trail has completely removed me from all of that. I guess it was the first time I really felt homesick. After staying up well past hiker midnight (9 pm), I was ready for some sleep.

The next day I wanted to take care of all the chores I had. Get my laundry done and ready for a treatment of permethrine. Permethrine is just an insecticide that when applied to clothes keeps bugs off you. It works really well, and it’s just about to be bug season. In fact I did find a tick on me here, luckily it hadn’t latched on yet so I wasn’t too concerned. Still, I mailed it to the free tick testing place, they like to get the data and I like to know if it had any tickborne diseases. I recommend checking them out: http://www.bayarealyme.org/lyme-disease-prevention/tick-testing/.

After this we all went to my other Aunt and Uncle’s house in Fairfax VA. There we had a delicious meal of salmon, roasted potatoes, and coleslaw. The salmon was perfectly cooked, and they also opened a really good bottle of stout, one of my favorite types of beer. Afterwards we watched two episodes of the original “Get Smart”. I like my family.

The next day Rick and I went to the National Gallery. There was so much to see, that I felt I should go back the next day. Gazing at such important works of art was definitely not what I expected while on the AT. Another thing I didn’t expect was going out to see the symphony. That night my Aunt and Uncle took me to see the National Philharmonic. They performed two pieces by Brahms as well as Tchaikovsky’s Symphony Pathetique. It was an awesome performance and made me really miss playing trombone.

Like I said, I felt like one day at the gallery just wasn’t enough. I had to go back the next day to see more. I was by myself this time and took one of the self guided audio tours. Learning about some of the more historic pieces was a lot of fun. At times I saw pieces that reminded me of works done by my great grandfather, Theodore Johnson. That was a really cool experience. Afterwards I took the metro back to Greenbelt and was picked up to go to a rib dinner. A half rack later I was extremely content. I surprised myself how easily it all went down, the hiker hunger is real!

Like I mentioned earlier, today I just did the 2 miles or so from the station to the hostel. Tomorrow I’ll be doing a bigger day to make up for the loss, and before I know it I’ll be done with Maryland. It only makes up about 40 miles of the AT, but I’ve been told it’s an extremely historic section. Monuments and plaques that signify major battles of the civil war line the trail. Honestly, it’s an area of U.S. history I’m a little rusty on, so hopefully I’ll learn something new.

Well it’s time I get to bed. I didn’t think I’d be doing this post but having such a nice computer at the hostel just made it so easy. Until next time,

-Orion