a brief break before slogging on

I had a very late start today, despite having gotten up around 7:30AM: I left Millersylvania State Park a little after noon! Not good when you've got a 16.6-mile walk to Centralia ahead of you, but some things needed taking care of, including a proper airing-out of the tent and fly, a proper (if somewhat clumsy) takedown of same, some time to write the entries I wrote this morning, figuring out how self-registration at the camp was supposed to work, totally emptying and repacking my pack, and MapQuesting my current park-to-Centralia route (which has been one of the most gorgeous stretches I've walked, by the way; Tilley Road is something else).

I ran out of water with no shop or resto in sight and resigned myself to a few hours of mouth-dryness, but was saved from all that when my path took me by a gas station/grocery, which is where I am now. I've just guzzled some Mountain Dew Voltage (not bad, especially when you're thirsty), filled my Camebak with a 2:1 mixture of Gatorade and water, eaten some jerky, and downed a small bag of peanut M&Ms.

My buddy Tom called me while I was in a poor-signal area on Tillet Road, but it was great to hear from him. Tom and I have known each other since 1994, when we taught together at the same awful language institute in Seoul. Tom's the guy from whom I learned the expression "dingleberry dickhead," which has come in handy a few times over the years. He's been in the States almost a week and is leaving right around the Fourth of July. Have a good rest-of-stay in St. Louis, dude.

So now I need to tend to a few emails and text messages, then hit the road pronto. My host for this evening has already(!) called to check on my progress.


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