Great intentions to leave town and not take a zero mile day were thwarted by an unreliable bus system and too many temptations to stay. We had a large crew of hikers eat breakfast together at Thelma’s Restaurant in Big Bear City. After breakfast the hikers dispersed; Phantom, Good To Go, Little Foot and I all caught the bus to Big Bear Lake to go run errands. K-Mart, Von’s Grocery Store, Sav Way and Radio Shack were all visited in about an hour. Good To Go and I managed to run across two parking lots on both sides of the highway to catch the return bus, which was not on schedule. Phantom missed it and ended up walking a couple of miles back to the room at the Nature Inn.
Doodlebug and Nitro were lounging comfortably on the queen bed when we returned, maintaining that they were going to leave town and start hiking at any moment. Time passed, I worked to get my outgoing mail ready as well as some letters and postcards, and it became apparent that we were going to be getting out of town no earlier than late afternoon. Since we were already two hours late checking out, we finally decided to stay for the rest of the day and to leave town early tomorrow morning. Little Foot decided to leave, but Doodlebug and Nitro continued to lounge on the bed as the afternoon wore on. They finally decided to stay another night and leave early tomorrow as well.
We finished our post office errands then walked to the convenience store for snacks and beer, returning to the room by dinnertime. Brian from Santa Monica was staying with us, so we split the room charge by the six of us. Everyone wanted pizza but me. I was in the mood for authentic Mexican food again, so I joined Grilled Cheese and Ladyface for dinner before returning to the room to find the gang all there eating pizza delivered in. The balance of the evening we had a lot of fun hanging out watching TV. I shot a little pool with Ladyface, got the backpack ready for an early departure, and called it a night. I really needed the day off as I have several blister-related problems on the right foot, including a painful heel blister and a couple of others under the big toe and on the pinky toe. Besides, there were lots of hiker friends in town, and staying at the Nature Inn and town stops are a great time! Thanks go out to trail angels back home in North Carolina for sending letters and packages of food for my hungry stomach for the trail!!! I really appreciate all the wonderful support for the East Coast!!
