Day 113:

Even though I was the last person to get out of bed, I could have slept all day.  That being said, I was thrilled to wake up in the same house as friends!  My first steps out of bed were painful - walking barefoot on the hardwood floor was a little rough on the feet and I shuffled around like an old woman again.  Hopefully these days off-trail will help.  

The four of us (Candee, Nick, Nick, and I) did a little shopping in the morning, where Nick bought a new hiking shirt.  He went with white again, although I'm not entirely sure why.  I chose not to replace my hiking shirt - that sucker is coming with me to the bitter end.  

In the afternoon we rented bikes and started our quest of completing the Bend Ale Trail.  It's still weird to know we're not going to return to the PCT for a while, but at least we are on a trail of sorts.. LOL.  I had a blast on the bike and have firmly decided that wherever we end up must be a bike friendly area - it would be nice to never have to drive in rush hour traffic again.

Despite all the time we spent in the hot tub this evening, there is STILL dirt under my toenails.  :) At least my fingernails are presentable again.

Day 114:

Slept in - again.  Shuffled around like an old woman when I first woke up again, too.  😕  Tried out paddle boarding for the first time, which was a lot of fun (I can see myself doing more paddle boarding somewhere warm and tropical, with a delightful salty breeze blowing in my hair) and then we visited a few more breweries on the Bend Ale Trail.  In the evening I watched the Olympics, although there are so many commercials I don't feel as if I got to see much.

Day 115:

Candee took my Nick to the airport early this morning (thank you, Candee!) so he could fly back to Illinois and report to drill.  Rather than stay in Bend, I made a last-minute decision to travel with Nick and Candee to see the Oregon coast, which turned out to be the right call.  Even though I'm never keen to sit in a vehicle for hours, how could I turn down an opportunity to be with friends?  It would be like turning down trail magic - completely ridiculous.  

Before leaving town we stopped at the Bend Visitor Center to claim our prizes for completing the Ale Trail: silicone cups bearing the Bend Ale Trail logo.  

The best part of the day was when we picked up two hitchhiking thru-hikers.  We saw them while driving through Sisters and Candee asked if we should stop and pick them up - of course!!  It was great! Toots and Aquaman rode with us all the way to Salem, where we dropped them off at the train station so they could get to Portland.  Talking with and helping other thru-hikers helped me feel connected to the trail again (as much as my body is enjoying this little break, my mind feels weird about it). 

The three of us are staying in Lincoln City.  We ate an early dinner, walked on the beautiful but cold beach, and spent the rest of the evening watching the Olympics.  I love the Olympics - getting the chance to watch almost makes me feel ok about being off-trail.

Day 116:

Drove down the coast to Newport.  It was such a beautiful drive! (see, Beth, being in a car isn't so bad)  In Newport we sought out some sea lions - they were so entertaining to watch!

Back in Lincoln City, we walked to the beach and watched an amazing sunset.  Watching the sunset made me hungry (I'm still eating like I'm on the trail), so Candee and I stopped for some pizza, took it back to the hotel, and ate it while watching the Olympics.  It feels great to be with such good friends!  Sadly, Candee and Nick are flying home tomorrow, so now I just need to figure out a cost-effective way to get back to Bend.

Day 117:

Renting a car from one location and returning it to another is definitely not cost-effective, so Candee and Nick graciously got up early and drove me to Salem so I could catch the Greyhound bus back to Bend.  The only challenge was all the luggage I had with me - I had to lug around my backpack, Nick's backpack, and the suitcase Mary brought from Texas, which I'm sure was comical to those watching me.  Life would have been so much easier if I only had my backpack to worry about (ahh, the joy of traveling light), but I managed.  The best part about taking the bus was getting to meet Alejandro, a very nice man who had just attended a Buddhist retreat.  I think I need to explore Buddhism - it's intriguing.

When the bus finally dropped me off in Bend, I made a valiant attempt to walk the 6 blocks to Enterprise to pick up my car rental (weekend special - $10 a day!).  I don't know what I was thinking - I didn't even make it out of the bus station before l decided to call Enterprise and have them pick me up (I felt so silly being unable to walk a mere 6 blocks when I've hiked over 1800 miles, but all that luggage was impossible!  Travel light and travel happy, people!)

I had planned on camping somewhere to save money, but my back was in pain (probably from all the sitting and from trying to manage all the luggage) so I found the cheapest accommodations I could, bought some groceries, and stayed in for the night watching the Olympics.  

Day 118:

Stayed at the motel.  Feel lazy.  My feet still hurt when I get up in the morning and my back is being a nuisance.  At least I have the Olympics to keep me occupied. :)

Day 119:

Moved to the house rental downtown, which I rented so my parents will have a nice place to stay when they get here.  I love it!  Spent the day exploring Bend a little more.  This is a great town.

Day 120:

Getting antsy.  Went to REI to look for new hiking poles (the tips are completely worn out on mine) and bumped into Hodge Podge, Shotgun, HeMan, and Zuke.  I loved loved loved seeing them, but it makes me feel so behind knowing they hiked here while Nick and I have to go back to Crater Lake.  HeMan solidified the feeling when he exclaimed, "oh wow, Crater was so long ago!".  LOL Oh well.  :) Mobius texted me (he's in Portland) and he reminded me it's not a race after I lamented how behind I feel.  Everyone tells me this but it IS a race!  I'm racing the snow!

Just as I was making my way to get a very overdue massage, my parents called and told me they were in town.  Yay!  The massage was great, although the masseuse said she could have worked on me all day - she said every time she moved to a different area she wished she could spend more time working out my 'kinks'.   We won't even talk about my feet - I should have just had her work on my feet the entire hour!  Its too bad they were so booked - I would have gotten a massage every day if there were openings. 

I spent the rest of the day walking around downtown with Mom and Dad.  We stopped at McMenamins for a drink, walked by the river, and ended up getting a pizza for dinner.  All the walking made my ankle hurt a little, which is a bit worrisome.  It's ok - I knew that this little break, although helpful, wasn't going to completely cure all my aches and pains (although I hoped it would).  

Day 121: 

Made breakfast and then went downtown to do some window shopping with Mom and Dad.   Following that, we went to the High Desert Museum, which was surprisingly great (sometimes museums disappoint me, but this one was good).  

On the way back to town I stopped at Jo-Ann Fabrics to get another patch for my shirt (like I said, I plan to hike in the same shirt until the end).  The ladies there were very helpful and very nice - they even let me use their iron to apply the patch in the store.  :)

Proton texted - he's in Washington. WASHINGTON!  I'm so jealous!  

Candee and Ryan, you'll appreciate this: my mom and I spent the evening putting together a puzzle.  :) 

Day 122:

Dad woke up with an unexplained painful, bloody eye, so we spent the morning driving to three, yes THREE, different Urgent Care facilities in the area.  The closest Urgent Care in Bend sent us across town because that's where the ophthalmologist was supposedly working.  The Urgent Care across town, although they did see him, sent us to the Urgent Care in Redmond to be sure that it was only a burst blood vessel (apparently the ophthalmologist was actually in Redmond today).  I must say that I am impressed not only with how quickly he was tended to but also with how wonderful and nice everyone was!  There is definitely something in the water out here and its wonderful!

By 1100 we were celebrating the bloody eye being nothing serious with some long overdue coffee and scones at a cute coffee shop in Redmond.  :)

I picked Nick up from the Redmond airport in the afternoon.  When picking up someone from Redmond, be sure to park at the cell phone lot across the street until your person is walking out the door - they are very strict about no waiting in the pick up/drop off area, even when nobody else is there.  I got kicked out twice (the security guard was nice about it) and the second time Nick's plane had already landed and everything.  :)

Nick told me all about his adventures back in Illinois. The biggest takeaway was that it's really hot and humid there (I have happily forgotten what humidity is like) and nothing like the trail.  He did get to see Theresa, John, and our niece Maddie, as well as friends from SLASH, the St. Louis saltwater aquarium club.  A huge hello to all of you!!! :)  [Note from Theresa- It was AMAZING seeing my brother! The only downside was not getting to see Beth as well.  Maddie even got up at 5am so she could go with us to take Nick back to the airport. Miss you both so much!]

Dinner tonight was at 10 Barrel, one of Nick's favorite breweries in town.  The food was excellent, the beer was delightful, and getting to spend time with my parents was wonderful.  I'm so grateful they made the time to drive out here (my dad doesn't like sitting in a car any more than I do).

Oh, and we finished the puzzle (and even found the missing piece under the futon!)