Town Delights!

(Luxuries are found in town: showers & laundry, good eats, a bit of sightseeing, and a comfy BED!)

We enjoy the beauty and the peace of our long-distance walk in the woods. But, ohhhhh, it’s good to spend time in town occasionally. So many things we take for granted at home assume the status of luxuries when compared to life on the trail.

We do just fine with no running water on the trail. (In fact, daughter is happy for an excuse to limit time wasted by washing hair every day!) Think of me when you take a long, hot, relaxing shower tomorrow—I can’t wait until I can enjoy the same luxury next time we are in town! (Just between you and me, clean hair, clean body and clean clothes tops our list of the first things to do when we hit town—otherwise folks might cross to the other side of the street to avoid that funky trail-odor!)

Next up is the food—fresh food, hot cooked food, even fast food… We carry and eat plenty of food to keep us strong and healthy to hike. But pouring hot water into a bag to rehydrate dried meals or snacking throughout the day on nuts and dried fruit just can’t compare to real cooked food! Yep, as soon as we are clean we often head straight for a treat. Will it be pizza? All-you-can eat meat and salad bar? Ice cream? Staying at a hostel with a kitchen (available in some towns) saves our wallet—we can use the community kitchen to get home-cooked taste without a restaurant tab for every meal.

Time in town is actually for food resupply and to catch up with online friends and blogs. Beyond that “work,” though, there is often an opportunity for a bit of sightseeing. On our most recent town day, we stopped by the ATC headquarters. Even though we are not “thru-hikers” (trying to complete the entire trail in one trip), we still get our photo taken to be added to the ongoing scrapbooks as long-distance hikers. Woohoo!

Have you thought recently about how wonderful it is to have a soft, cushy,bed to sleep in? That big thick mattress cannot possibly be compared to a 1 ½” thick air mattress laid on the hard, rocky ground under a tent. And don’t get me started on cool sheets and warm blankets…

Tomorrow we head back on the trail again. But for today? We are celebrating the delights of town-day!

(Read about the joys of NOT sitting on the ground HERE! Read about some of the “secret” ways we have fun HERE.)