The Best of Surprises

The world works in weird ways, sometimes to your advantage and sometimes not. Thankfully, the world decided that Adam needed to come visit me and cancelled the class he was supposed to be teaching on Saturday. A dreary Friday suddenly got much better. 

Let me back up; it wasn't THAT dreary. I did wake up feeling under the weather, though, and I was certain I had caught "THE DAVE", aka the sickness that has been spreading around our group since training started (Dave started it). After training ended we slowly packed up and went into town to do laundry, the first time I had done it since leaving home. It was glorious. We got mistaken for thruhikers, which is probably the best sign that laundry day was very necessary. 

We got out to Noble View and into the old farmhouse where we would be staying until our tent were set up. 

The HAUNTED farmhouse. Why is there a wooden rocking chair sitting in the middle of the room? Because that's where the old man ghost sits, probably. Adam was set to get in around midnight, and I was so beat that I'm surprised I stayed up that late. Dave and I watched a movie on his computer, and about 30 minutes in we realized how weird of a scene it was: me, struggling to adjust my sleeping bag on a ratty old church-pew-looking-"couch" in an old haunted farmhouse watching District 9.  

Adam and I had a late night and early morning. We drove over to Great Barrington to putz around Main St., eat some food, and rescue my bike from the KCC. Then we hiked around a small section of the AT so he could see some of the work we had done. Before we knew it it was back to Noble View to cook dinner on the mildly dangerous gas "stovetop" in the farmhouse. I say mildly dangerous because I have yet to light it without burning off my knuckle hair. Luckily our propane cooktop for the summer is a little less terrifying. 

Goodbyes suck, even if they are just "see you soon"s. Even so, it came at a time when I was worn out, not feeling well, and in need of a familiar face (specifically, Adam's familiar face). I know this summer will go fast and slow at the same time. The first three weeks are done, but the first day feels like a distant memory. Three more weeks will go by and then my family and Adam will be back for 4th of July weekend. After that I'll only have 6 weeks of crews left + 1 wrap up week. It's not long, but the quiet moments here make it feel long. Luckily my quiet moments will be few and far between with our first crew arriving in a few short hours. Tomorrow is OFFICIALLY the start of the season!