Yesterday we decided we’d zero today. I really like yesterday’s me, she’s much less of an evil task master than normal me. It has been a week since our last zero, although we neroed into Unionville with just 8 miles because it was insanely hot that day and neroed yesterday when Nancy picked us up. We still hiked 96.3 miles since our last zero, so it was time. Plus, y’all might recall, my feet have really been hurting and they really need a rest and Flamethrower has been physically exhausted lately.

We start our day by not starting. Early mornings can shove off. We stay in bed till at least 10. My feet hurt when I try to stand up. I remember pain like this from early on but I hate that it’s back. I blame the rocks and the bad shoes. I hope my new shoes help, but I’m not going to find out today, because today I’m wearing my new camp shoes. The other ones stretched and the velcro wasn’t working well. These are the same style, just white. I look like I should put on a sundress and head to the pool.

Our first order of business is to go to a diner on a Sunday late morning. No way they’ll be completely packed… of course they were, but we still managed to get parking and a table. I order corned beef hash and poached eggs and a bagel. I don’t remember to specify ‘soft’ poach, but they still managed to come out runny. Wow, I missed being in the north. Down south, I had to beg for runny eggs and it was still hit or miss. We eat our breakfast. I even add some syrup to my potatoes to add a few more calories.

On the way home, we run a few hiker errands at ShopRite (trail snacks) and CVS (bug spray). We come home and do laundry then go out to visit the second Yogied pool. This pool is larger, inground, and about 80°F. It belongs to a friend of Nancy’s who was cool with us coming by while she was gone so long as we were diligent about closing the pool gate. We bring a feast of berries and a few hydrating beverages.

I don’t know it when I go to get in, but the liner is a bit slick. So as soon as I step down, my foot goes out from under me. Tara sees, but Nancy was looking away. When Nancy looks back up, she asks if I’m posing, as I’m sitting leaning back on the edge with one foot dangling in the pool. I went down fairly slow, I couldn’t catch myself but I controlled the fall. It wasn’t much worse than misjudging the distance to a chair and falling a bit longer than planned. So I was fine, and this doesn’t count as fall number 5 because I wasn’t hiking at the time. But don’t worry that’ll happen soon enough. Last time I fell was May 1 and I tore my plantar fascia. So the outcome of this fall is significantly better.

I eventually worked my wimpy self into the pool, and it was awesome. It feels so good to not have to fight gravity for a little while. I hang out in the deep end and just tread water. Two pools in two days—I could get used to this. We don’t have bathing suits, but sports bras and sport shorts work, and the best part is the extended soak in treated water helps remove stuck-in thru-hiker stink. At least for a day or so.

Once we get back, we start yet another load of laundry while the three of us walk to the Tavern restaurant for dinner. The food here was amazing. Onion rings with horseradish sauce as an appetizer. Followed by an individual extra cheese pizza. Followed by a large extra cheese pizza. Wait, what? They made the wrong size by mistake, so I got two. I ate the first one in about 7 seconds. The second one took a bit longer, despite the fact that I shared. I did take a minute to explain to the waitress that I was eating a huge pizza because I hiked 1200 miles to get here. Ya know, hiker hunger is real. Oh, and there was so much cheese, OMG, I was in cheese heaven. From what I could tell the other meals that came were pretty tasty too.

We walk back to the house, it’s past sunset, hiker midnight approaches. I don’t even shower, but I do visit the Harry Potter toilet. The Harry Potter toilet is a hilarious carryover from some in-house construction by a prior owner. The first-floor bathroom needed to be usurped for an in-house staircase to the basement, otherwise, they would have had to access the new wood-burning stove from the outside. So it seems they took part of the bathroom and built a full-sized staircase to the basement. But it would have been foolish to have lost the only first-floor bathroom, so the toilet sits a bit back, but really, on top of the basement stairs. It was weird at first, but I’ve grown to really like the Harry Potter toilet—and, as you can imagine, as a thru-hiker, I’ve peed in a lot of interesting places.

Anyway, it’s late and we are hiking tomorrow but we’re slack packing, so we only need limited gear because we’ll be coming back tomorrow night. Nancy reminds us that she can drive faster than we can walk, and she tells us she is happy to slackpack us for a few days. I feel bad imposing, but it’s been a lot of fun, so we’re game as long as she is.