Day 107: End of the Trail

The Fool was getting tired and in need of some downtime as he slowly walked his way north on the trail. The first 10 miles were tough — no towns with services and not much shade. The last 7-8 miles into the town of Jefferson were more shaded, but infested with nasty bugs, so the Fool moved more quickly.

He went through Jefferson and hit the DQ for a late lunch. After he finished his hamburger meal, he started to put on his pack and realized all the folks in the dining area were curiously staring at him. So he jovially announced, "YES! I AM PUTTING ON MY BACKPACK!" and tried to get a round of applause started by clapping his hands. All he got was blank stares and one half-smile — and that was from the smiling cartoon graphic on the trash can.

He finally retired at the Super 8, just north of town. Although, he almost didn't get a room.

He arrived mid-afternoon to a nearly empty parking lot and strolled into the Super 8 lobby, confident that he'd easily be able to book a room for the next two days. The young lady behind the counter gave the Fool a panicked look and she explained that there was only one room left in the entire place. Pointing out the sound of crickets, the WF asked how that could be. She told him that a construction crew working on a local job had taken over 90% of the hotel for the next week, so rooms booked up fast. She was able to get him in a 3-bed suite for a single-room rate (score!), but he'd then have to move to regular room tomorrow (bummer!) since the suite was booked for that day.

On top of this, Mark did manage to get a small discount... and the comfort of knowing that 250 lb. intoxicated men with class C building licenses were always just a holler away.