Odds and Ends

This has been one of those days when we had several little things to get done and then at the end of the day you wonder what you did all day.

We’ve been busy with our little shuttle for the past several days and haven’t had much time for exercise.  Our bodies can really tell it when we sit around too much.  Exercise was way up there at the top of our list for today.  However, when Gene checked the weather forecast, he found a good chance of rain for the morning and clearing for the afternoon.  We changed our plans around shifting the exercise to after lunch.  As it turned out, we didn’t get any rain all day.  Sometimes I wonder why we even bother with the forecast.

Since we moved the exercise to the afternoon, we wanted something quick.  We did another section of the Rail Trail, this time farther west of any section we have already done.  We were away from the river and back in the woods.  It was a very pleasant walk.  With showers, preparing and eating dinner, and cleaning up the mess afterwards, that just about used up all of the afternoon.

We had errands to run this morning.  First, we made a stop by the hiker hostel to drop off a few things for the hiker box.  A hiker box is an interesting feature about the trail.  Along the entire length of the trail in towns where hikers go in to resupply and clean up, hiker boxes can be found at the hostels and hotels and usually the local outfitters.  It’s just a box (cardboard, plastic, wood, whatever) sitting on the floor or porch where hikers can deposit items they don’t want any longer.  We have seen an old pair of boots, but that’s a rare item.  Usually, there are packages of food--ramen noodles, lipton noodles, instant oatmeal.  Occasionally there are items of clothing--gloves, socks, hats.  Sometimes, you can find equipment--flashlights or head lamps, stuff sacks, plastic cups or bowls.

Most of the stuff in the hiker box is slightly used or new.  Food gets in the box because a hiker just gets tired of eating oatmeal (or whatever) every day. He puts the packages of oatmeal he can’t stand to eat (or is too busy or lazy to cook) in the box and buys pop-tarts (or whatever) for breakfast instead.  A lot of food gets in the box because of the way it’s packaged when purchased.  If you want hot chocolate (or herbal tea) and you want enough for 4 days, but it is packaged in a box of 6 or 8, you toss what you don’t want to carry on your back for the next 75 miles in the hiker box.  The same is true for stuff like batteries and tea light.  Gear and clothing may get in the box because the hiker found he doesn’t use some of the things he’s carrying.

What we took to the hiker box today was a half can of alcohol fuel left over from what Cody didn’t need which was what was left over from what Herb didn’t use, and a half bag of dog food that Belle didn’t want to carry.  The hiker box is sorta like a recycling bin.

After that we made a run to the post office, filled up the truck with fuel, and stopped for a muffin.  Back at the old home place, I did a load of laundry.  That just about used up all the morning.

We got a lot done today, but not that you’d really notice.

That’s all for today.