This a time for luxury and being looked after by Stickbuilt and Sandy. We are fairly exhausted and it is so nice to actually STOP WALKING for 2 whole days. We don't have the energy to be tourists or to do stuff. We just want to 'be' here, and not walk.
On Saturday Stickbuilt and Sandy take us shopping. We go to the most amazing organic grocer foodstore with absolutely everything organic that you could ever want. We decide to cook them an 'aussie' roast dinner and we buy a leg of lamb for $US45 and make a pavlova with berries on top. It is so long since I cooked that it is great to be in the kitchen doing stuff at a bench and a sink instead of grovelling around in the dirt.
Stickbuilt takes us cruising the department stores so Digby can buy some new underpants. Digby wears 'jocks' - male bikini knickers. He needs new ones after 3 months on the trail. In a small town at about the 850 mile mark he could not find any replacements in the 'Dollar General' store (like Target) so he buys some ladies bikini knickers instead. He needs underpants which are low cut and do not interfere with the pack waist belt. It is not a pleasant sight - imagine a male trying to squash all his gear into a space designed for girls. He walks in ladies underwear for 150 miles and discovers it to be all right at a pinch but not really comfortable.
Three department stores later, we finally find a small rack of Calvin Klein hipster briefs. American males do not wear hipster briefs - they wear daggy high waisted and long legged boxers. Rack after rack of male underpants with short legs, long legs, and thick elastic waist bands, but none with no legs. The burning question - why don't American males wear budgie smugglers? - even Tony Abbott wears budgie smugglers so it can't be an old man conservative thing. After walking 2150 miles I still don't know the answer.
Stickbuilt takes us down to the basement to show us his trail food supplies, and invites us to 'shop' for our food here, so we do. There are loads and loads of dehydrated meals, snacks, and everything else a hiker could possible need. We feel guilty - we are still hiking the trail - Stickbuilt had to leave the trail because of injury, and now we are eating all his supplies that he had planned to support his hike for the 6 months. So much energy, commitment and enthusiasm, not to mention the planning and forethought invested.
We meet Stickbuilt's no.2 daughter, Lyndsay at dinner with her German boyfriend. And watch the most amazing DVD of daughter no.1 singing an operatic aria at her college graduation ceremony. The power of her voice still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. She was desperate to have a singing career, but the openings have not been there for her. I will never forget that voice.
On Sunday morning we are taken to a nearby farmers market to meet Stickbuilt's brother who is an agricultural lecturer with his own orchard, and he sells his produce at the market on weekends. We would have loved to see the farm but time is short. In the afternoon, Stickbuilt and Sandy drive us around the central part of the city - so we have the guided tour and drive past the Whitehouse, Capitol Hill, loads of monuments and all the museums, and parklands. We are very impressed and hope to come back one day and 'do' the Smithsonian. Not today - we are not up to anything much. Just focus on the main goal and don't get sidetracked.
The result of this indepth research into mens undies is that today I am still wearing KC hipster briefs. The discovery that these are the mens equivalent to a bra for support is life changing.
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