I awoke as the sun crested the hill tops around 7am. Why I was waking so early these days I know not, but I was and I sort of liked it. Of course it took me a bit to get up and going so I managed to leave the site around 9:30 or so.
Down the road the trees came back a bit and the morning sun was far less brutal than the day before's afternoon blaze. About a mile or so in I ran across a general store. In the hamlet of Fly there sat the gang. About six old guys on a bench with one little boy and another teen girl sat hanging out all eyes fixed on me in country silence as I approached. My howdy spurned only a few nods and as I entered the store the girl, Candace, came in and started talking with me.
She made me a nice bologna and cheese sandwich to go with my root beer as I told her what I was up to. Then I returned outside with her to see what the boys were up to and again received no chatter, just listened in to occasional local talk that popped up and then went away. After the sandwich more guys showed up, and a few asked about me, but I wrapped up my breakfast with a pint of sherbet then shoved off with a friendly goodbye. Surprisingly, I got smiles and friendly good lucks as I left.
Another four miles in I switched counties and the road went back to its old ways of being wide and shadeless. I found a little convenience store and stopped in there for a very warm hello. I got another sandwich and had some more root beer with a can of peas as I chatted with the cashier and another customer. I stayed for a good hour and a half just to talk before heading off and managed to get the skinny on a lot of what was going on in town.
The rest of the day was sweat drenchingly hot. I sat every now and again wishing I had remembered to refresh my Clif Bar supply in Columbia so I just sucked on my water. Around 5 I hit the twin towns of Lyles and Bon Aqua that was booming with gas stations. I pushed my luck and held out for a restaurant and found it.
By now the skies were clouding, so it wasn’t as hot, and I even got a bit of a drizzle in there, so I had donned the rain gear. Entering the little Country Kitchen restaurant all eyes went on me again, some followed me to the table, but after settling in they went back to their meals. I got to chatting with a few of the tables around me of elderly couples curious about my get up. Feeling the day had been too long and too hot I treated myself to a Sirloin steak and many cups of coffee for the night.
At about 6:30 I went back out for the last leg of the day and felt a little pressured since the clouds were regathering for another strike. After a mile they decided to get their game on. First a little drizzle, and I debated whether I should push on or find a spot, then I remembered my misfortune the night before and made for the nearest patch of land. The clouds thought it was funny that I was running away from them so they let loose a little stronger as I started setting up the tent. Going as fast as I could I got that thing up with only a few puddles inside before the tarp went up.
Once inside, I sponged down the floor with my chamois thing and noticed three holes in the netting. It was here that I tried my hand at sewing for the first time since eighth grade. My seamstressing friends back in New York would giggle at my stitching, but by the light of my flashlight I stitched away. It became rather cathartic after a while and I got to like it. I had a few run ins with how to cut the thread (which I burned apart with my Zippo) and how to tie it off, but I think I did fairly well for a novice. I tried Ingrid once more after that to no avail, then sat up on my coffee high looking at maps for a long while.