Another Beautiful Weekend

We were originally a little nervous about spending the weekend with our friend Stan at his parents' house near Carlisle, PA. He lives just minutes from the AT, and therefore was fully aware of the, err, aroma of hikers in the summer. He once told us that he was going to spray us off with a garden hose before letting us into the house. It was 95 degrees the day he picked us up, we hadn't had a proper shower in about 5 days, so we pretty much met his expectation in that category. We wondered briefly if we would be allowed in the house at all.

But the weekend has been absolutely fabulous, and Stan and his family showered us with outstanding hospitality.

Stan met us in Boiling Springs, and we were pleasantly surprised to see that our friend Jack was also with him. We stopped by Target to pick up a bathing suit for me, as well as some anti-itch cream - I've been eaten alive every night this week. (Those little buggers even bit me all over my butt, through my pants, while I was sleeping.)

Stan's mother, though she swears she had little experience cooking vegan food, whipped up some mighty delicious dishes for us...a bean salad, a spinach salad, some kind of rice dish, marinated roasted red peppers and mushrooms, and a fabulous corn salsa. Stan had an assortment of vegan hot dogs and prepared wonderful burritos for us. We even had vegan Belgian waffles for breakfast on Saturday. There was plenty of ice cold Straub and we spent a lot of time hanging out by the pool. Stan's parents, Stan and Jody, entertained us with stories from their time overseas.

On Friday night a huge storm blew through the area, and we were happy to watch the lightening from the front porch, instead of from the woods. In addition to Jack, we saw Jack's father, who came down from Huntington, PA. (For those of you who have known M & K a long time, you will remember that we got engaged on the Juniata River, while we were visiting Jack's parents.) Jack and his dad will be taking a trip through New England later this summer, so we're looking forward to seeing them again. We also saw an old friend from college, Dan, who lives out here now.

We put in a lot of miles in the heat to get here this weekend, but it was well worth it. We're feeling totally rejuvenated and ready to hit the trail again. Next stop is Duncannon by Monday, where we will have an unexpected rendez-vous with my parents.