Had a good hike [Saturday 28]

Will post updates to it tomorrow because need a lot of search and replace in my personal notes to protect the innocents

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10.50. Sb left his glasses went down to get them, twenty minutes of downward walk.  We'll Stop for Sb at 11.35

10.50. We stop at 11.42, no sign of Sb. It's gonna be a long climb at this pace. PB s jacket is causing her to be sweaty and making her cold. Hopefully Sb has t shirts

Sb got in at 11.46 it's 11.50 now, still a couple of minutes to go

1.55. Reached a major peak at 1.30, think we'll reach up at 2.45. planning to take the shuttle down. We're in a strange high altitude forest. My stomach hurts and I know why.

3.50. Got to the top at 2.50. it's 3.50 now. Sb met his MIT brother who lives on Highland ave and his friend the husband of classmate ES's sister BS. We had pancakes and chiura and Sb PB had other things. I got a small Coke -- only 140 calories! -- but I can't finish it

It started raining fifteen minutes ago, just as Sb and the brothers started heading down. PB and I are waiting for the shuttle to the parking spot, Sb and the brothers are walking down. I told them the rain was gonna be bad, Sb said it's only gonna rain in the peak. I said yes and your body will be wet throughout, and the downhill climb will be slippery. They laughed and left. I said I'll make fun of them by laughing when they come down all wet.

3.55. and PB and I are just chilling at the visitor center. It's cold outside but warm in here. The shuttle is at 5.30, all the previous shuttles were sold out. There is no internet here so we can't even YouTube or listen to podcasts. PB says she enjoys ambient noise sometimes. I have nothing to do. I wish I had an ebook or something. I'm gonna guess Sb is going to get to the car sometime between 8 and 8.30. What are we gonna do about the dinner, I wonder, not yet hungry.

4.03. it's foggy and cold and swampy outside. Sb and the brothers are gone. PB s trying to take a nap on the table. This was a good climb! And I bet I made people jealous with the pics!

4.53. it's getting cold even inside. I napped for maybe twenty minutes, PB a little more. The kids here are really noisy and disruptive. Also how are there so many Indians here??? And how come none of them walk up?

4.57. there's internet now! Cell connection anyway. I sent a bunch of pics to Shivani Pratap and Sabrina to make them jealous. I'll take a photo in the fog, that'll just killl them haa.

5.05. the network connection is gone?!? I went outside to take a couple of pics and I could barely see my hands. It's so cold and goddamn foggy outside. Dirty and noisy as the inside is, at least it's not outside.

5.10 forgot to mention earlier, I met the cutest 8 year old girl and her father who was making her climb to the top. She came up with the most ridiculous of my excuses (my legs are gonna breaaakk noww) and he saw right through them (well the helicopters can't land here, so you'll just be stuck here). I took a couple of photos for them and texted it to him, since he was out of battery for his phone.

5.13 The shuttle's in 17 mins now and PB wants to go near the shuttles. The drive downhill is apparently 30 mins long. And kinda expensive for what it is. Still better than getting wet in the rain and dying of pneumonia or breaking head on the sharp wet rocks after slipping on them.

5.33. gonna be an interesting ride down in the fog. The roads are closed but apparently some people are coming up to see the foliage which makes the life of shuttle drivers hard. This is by far the foggiest ride in the US that I've had, and the foggiest ride without fog lights ever.

6.02. Got to the parking lot. Didn't tip the driver cos no cash. Whatever.

6.08. in the car safe and sound, still no signal. PB thinks sbk and the brothers are gonna be back 7-7.30, I'd be impressed if they were back by 8.30. we discovered on our downhill ride that it had been raining on the entire mountain and not just the top. So it's 1) fog and related visibility issues 2) rain and related coldness related issues and 3) slipperiness of the rocks, that's going to cause problems. Hope they take it slow and easy.

6.36. Sb is back! Pretty ridiculous. He screwed his knees up, but damn that's pretty damb impressive! Lent my shorts to him because he's wet to the bones. Apparently his top half isn't wet with water, so that's great. I didn't laugh, by the way.

6.42. We're heading out already! Gonna get dinner at someplace -- Sb really wants to get to get Thai and has been getting vetoed for the past three months, we'll see. Probably gonna end up somewhere in Conway.

7.24. we're at a full Thai restaurant in conway. Sb and I ordered different kinds of fried rice w tofu, PB ordered curry with tofu. This place looks legit, hopefully the food is good.

7.30. Used the restroom for the first time today, and feel several pounds lighter. The restroom was really clean and comfortable. Highly recommended.

7.55. the best thing about this Thai restaurant, by far, is their clean and comfortable restroom. I can count in fingers of one hand how many times I've seen such a comically bad service. sbk and I forced through our last few spoonfuls, just to not waste food.

8.05 At least I made a long and great use of their toilet (again). Super satisfied by the toilet experience honestly. This bumps up the rating for this restaurant by at least a star in my book.

8.57. On the drive back and I desperately hope my intestinal integrity has not been compromised by the Thai food. I'm starting to think there might be evidence to the contrary.

10.41 Got to Sbs apartment complex. His knees are wrecked and he can barely walk. So are his heels too.

10.49. Settled down and getting ready for sleep. Might be the last post.