1162 miles

Dusty Pennsylvania (and Maryland). I'm waiting for the shower at the Hostelling International hostel just a hop, skip, and jump away from Harpers Ferry, WV. Yes, I've been moving, I've been pushing myself. So I don't know if my feet are talking because of the pounding they got on these rocks and the long days or because I've been walking on them for three and a half months and they're trying to say, "Okay, Lily, we've been faithful and taken it well, but when are we going to take a break?"

My legs have been tanned, dried, and cured by the sun until they feel like hide. My socks have big holes on the undersides. My shirt's got permanent gray shoulder strap marks. But my spirits are still high, thank goodness. By the register entries, I'm glad I'm walking this section at the onset of fall, not during the heat of the summer. And I'm over halfway done!

Tomorrow and the next day will have to be 20-mile days, but then Jess picks me up for a few days off the trail. I'm feeling like the road weary traveler returning home, and really looking forward to it. Hopefully, I can catch up with a former life while I'm there. I'm also thinking about watching Star Trek DS9 with her dad and maybe even the UF-LSU game Saturday evening if I can get to ESPN....

"Lily you're going to shit a brick," Jess had said during our last phone conversation.

"What do you mean?" I'm thinking that of course I'll love what she's done fixing up this house of hers.

"Well, I've inherited a few things. To give you an example, I now own a whole wall of teacups. And glass lamps."

You're right, Jess. :-P Just make sure the house is child-proof before I get there.