The Walk - Day Two

Before you chastise me for skipping a day on my re-telling of the walk, let me just explain that yesterday I was knee-deep in farm animals and four-year-olds. That's what you get for volunteering for "Farm Days" at your niece's preschool. But I digress...

The first night of sleeping in the tents was interesting. I periodically woke up because a.) every time I moved, I found a new sore muscle, b.) any part of my pillow not covered by my head was freezing, c.) I keep having dreams I was being swallowed by a giant snake, only to wake up and realize it was my sleeping bag, and d.) one of my tent "neighbors" - who shall forever remain nameless - could beat Hotrod in a snoring competition.

When we finally got up (which is to say we returned to a vertical position, not to say we awoke), there was more fun. My sleeping bag had collected so much condensation, it was wet to the touch. Our breath was visible in the tent - odd, until we stepped outside and found the glistening sheen of fresh ice on all the tents. Apparently, "Hotlanta" it ain't.

Once we got on the road, we quickly made a stop at the QT. Having never been to one of these before, I must say I was fairly impressed with their selection of male-centric ball caps and soda selections. Our illustrious leader, Deidre "look at my crocheting" Knight, soon realized her already injured feet were in need of more medical attention. We (D, me and my brave tentmate, Lynne Simpson) flagged down a sweeper van to take us to the next pit stop. There D received some much needed medical attention (did I mention her baby toes were so badly hurt her toenails were separating?) From there, we decided to take the bus to lunch.

After some rest and lunch, we hit the road again, this time with the addition of American Title winner and team mate, Janice Lynn. (No one could keep up with the inhuman pace set by bionic wonder kids Elaine and Julie. Dastardly 23-year-olds!) Another mile or so and D was down for the count. I was amazed she made it as far as she did - if my toenails were falling off, I wouldn't have been on a bus back to camp, I would have been on a plane back home!

Lynne, Janice and I pushed on, walking through some pretty neighborhoods and amazing groups of people cheering us on. At one point, we had to stop and get some moleskin for my side since my sportsbra gave me a nasty abrasion, but other than that, the remaining eight miles were incident free. About half a mile from camp, a large contingent of walkers behind us veered off into the local sports bar. Tempting to say the least.

After a quick shower (no hair dryer this night!), some school cafeteria chicken for dinner and a little conversation with the team (it's amazing what one can do with washcloths and rubber bands when love motivates you, but that's not really a story I can share since it didn't originate with me), we were back in our sleeping bags by 7:40 pm.

But that night was not to be full of slumber either...stayed tuned for the dramatic conclusion!