All day was up and down hills through sun and shade. I did find one little gas station store where I had coffee and sat for a bit making some calls on a pay phone. I talked with my sister for a good half an hour about her plans and travels then moved on.
Nothing really eventful happened; it was mainly a day of thinking as was the ups and downs of the day before. In mid-afternoon I was crossing a bridge and I heard sounds of people playing. I looked over the side and a whole family of about ten or twelve people were merrily splashing about and frolicking in the water. It was Meramac State Park so I decided I’d gone a good twelve or thirteen miles that day and would camp there for the evening in hopes of having people to chat with.
I met several people on my way in. Going into the visitor’s center at the front I met a family that was having a gathering there and had not only heard of but had met Steve Newman, the man who walked around the world and who’s book I’d read and been re-inspired by. Inside the visitors center I realized I was low on cash so I asked the lady if there was an ATM around or if I could charge it. I was sent to the park store.
I had noticed a charge machine at the visitor’s center and was told I could charge at the fee booth if I needed, but there was most likely an ATM at the park store which is why I went. Confident I could charge my stay, I bought a soda while chatting it up with the folks there despite being told there was no ATM. Finally, after a two mile hike to the campground, and over another big hill, I discovered you can’t charge, only cash or checks. A pickle I was in.
I dug through my bag, all the change in my wallet, all the change I’d scoured off the streets trying to keep with Ingrid’s tradition of picking up change. The bill was $8.00, I had $5.74. There was no deal.
The girl there tried contacting the manager of the park to see if they’d cut me a break, and at the same time I started thinking of ways to either hitch a ride to an ATM or wander around staring at the ground to scrounge up the missing $2.26. I had decided to stay and damn it I was going to. I went to the bathroom to think.
Coming out of the bathroom I did wander a little bit heading back to the fee booth staring at the ground for change. My plan at that point was start heading for the road again and if someone offers a ride take it to the nearest ATM and head back, if not I camp out on the road like a normal vagrant. As I wandered back a tiny little truck pulled up next to me and in it was the campground manager. They asked how much I was short, I told them, they told me not to worry about it and covered the whole thing. I pitched my tent in a lovely shaded area of the grounds.
Having settled this I decided to set out and meet some folks since I’d struggled so hard to stay for that purpose. Two days in the wilds was just a hair too long without talking with anyone. I’d been told of some New Yorkers in the park so I hunted them down and started talking with them.
They were a great bunch. Three Dead heads following the Dead in a pickup on their way back home to recoup before heading out again. With them also was a guy they’d met on the river tubing and were having beers with. Blah, Chris, and Sarah were the Dead heads.
We hung out for a good while exchanging travel stories. I took a break for supper then came back later for a fire. Sarah had lived in the city so we talked about different neighborhood spots while Blah tried figuring out what things were he’d heard of in the city. The other guy had gone home by then, and Chris was passed out from a late night the night before. Eventually Blah rustled up some girls from other campsites which added a strange somewhat uncomfortable twist to the end of the evening. One was a thirteen year old desperately seeking alcohol; the other was a sixteen year old waiting on a twenty two year old to come skinny dip with her. Not long after this I went back to my tent and went to bed.