Day 142- Actually Thankful For Some Rain

Aug 21, 2015

US 2 Gorham, NH(1890.9) 0 Miles

This is the first time that I can think of that I've been excited for bad weather. I knew last night that I'd have to take a zero day today. My ankle and foot are so swollen that I can't even get my shoe on. I fully expected everyone to hike on without me. We had just taken a zero day and I figured they would be chomping at the bit to make it into Maine today. Unfortunately for them, but lucky for me, the weather had different plans. It was going to rain and storm all day. When we woke up this morning every hiker staying at the hostel decided to zero. There were a ton of people here too. Rusty, Zen, Huckleberry Thug, Forever, Easy Strider, Modo, Miami Vice, Hands, Tornado Tim, and a bunch of other hikers I've never met before. With everyone deciding to stay, the place was packed. I was just happy that I didn't have to say goodbye to my friends. 

It was an exceptionally boring day for me. I felt like I was grounded and forced to stay inside, while all of my friends were playing outside of my window. Everyone was in and out all day, while I laid in bed icing and my ankle and keeping it elevated. At least they took care of me. When Outro went to the store she bought me Oreos and Snickers that I had forgot to buy the other day. Adios was nice enough to walk down to the pharmacy to buy me an ankle brace. When South Paw decided to go get subway, she offered to bring back a sub for me. I did walk with everyone to go get ice cream, but that was just to test my ankle out :-)

As the day drug on, I got extremely bored. After being active for twelve hours a day, I can't just lay around all day doing nothing. Everyone was really excited to go see AntMan at the local cinema across the street. They only have one theatre, with one show time per day, 7 pm. I decided that I would go along too. After all, sitting in a movie theatre is pretty much the same as sitting in bed. I have had several opportunities to see movies along the trail, but I have always resisted. Seeing a movie seemed like cheating to me. I think I saw it as too luxurious. After sitting around all day bored out of my mind, any qualms I had about seeing a movie quickly disintegrated. 

Before the movie: Me, Adios, South Paw, Fiddler, Neemor, Outro, Rue, Huckleberry Thug

Rusty playing with my camera

Like a lot of the Marvel movies, AntMan, was weak on plot, but really funny. The best thing was the trailers before the movie. They showed the previews for Superman vs. Batman, 007 Spectre, Star Wars, and Hunger Games films. I am excited to see them all. Another awesome thing about seeing a movie in such a small town, is it only cost $10. That included my ticket and a 16 oz beer. Back home that would have cost $20-25. 

After the movie everyone else went to the local pub, while Outro, South Paw, Adios, Fiddler, Neemor, and I went back to the hostel. We hungout for a little while before heading off to bed. I'm not sure what my plans are for tomorrow. I'm 50-50 on hiking versus taking another zero. I'll probably just wait until the morning to decide. 

"If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your path.” – Buddha