Harpers Ferry, June 25th

I got such a great nights sleep last night but I woke up with my feet still in pain from the previous day. I will not be getting back on trail until I have new shoes. period. The hostel was very nice but we were all rather irritated that the hostel owner was shocked that we made it in last night. We told him that we were down the street and were coming but he just assumed that we were going to be no shows for some reason. Heck, I had my pack sent ahead to his hostel. I'm just pretty angry because he sounded like since we didn't get in earlier he didn't want us being checked in at all. It's not like we had anywhere else to stay.

I stopped by the Appalachian Trail Center today and got my official photo taken! It's such an accomplishment to make it this far. I feel so happy.

We stopped at a café for lunch downtown. The town was so cute but the service we had not so much. The outfitters in town was extremely small and only one guy was working so I never got any shoe help. The guide book says that they have a great selection of shoes which is quite disappointing because they only had 2 brands and maybe 7 shoes total. I just walked over to an ice cream shop to get a scoop of homemade ice cream before waiting for the train.

Scout, FDR, Dirty Duck, Illegal, and I are taking the Amtrak train into DC for a side trip. Harpers Ferry is close to the city and it's a popular thing to do out here. The train ride was really nice and went by quickly. We got to check out the viewing car.

The first stop on the list of things for the day was REI. I got a cream for my back from all the chafing with my pack. I went shoe shopping and it went a bit rocky, most of the shoes that I wanted to try they were out of my size! It was really frustrating. I found the perfect pair of shoes but they only had a pair larger and a pair smaller. I really wanted those shoes, I'll probably end up ordering them. In the meantime I ended up choosing a pair of Altras. They had a number of sizes and the 11s were the ones that fit me best. So essentially a woman's 13. I've gained 3 sizes while out here. I ended up picking up a new pair of socks and an ExOfficio hiking dress. I didn't plan on it but the dress and shoe match! I was told by 2 employees that the dress was from the clearance rack but when checking out I was told that it wasn't but she ended up giving me the discount anyways because I had been told that it was.

My new shoes

Next we checked into the hostel. We found a hostel called Duo that's conveniently located downtown. The place was really nice. It's a lot like all the hostels that I stayed in in Ireland.

We went out for dinner at a ramen restaurant in China Town which was nearby called Daikaya, it was delicious. I also found some taro bubble tea. Not the best but I have finally fed my bubble tea addiction!

Scout met up with a friend so Illegal, FDR, Dirty Duck, and I wandered toward the National Mall. It turned out they were having a taste festival like the Taste of Chicago. They were starting to pack down so we were able to sneak in without wrist bands. We got all sorts of free food that you normally needed tickets for because the booths were packing up and wanting to get rid of the last of their food. I got 3 bars of chocolate, lactose free milk, Greek yogurt popsicles, jerky and meat bars. It was great.

cow duck

We found our way out and ended up renting bikes through a system exactly like Divvy in Chicago. We ended the day by riding around the mall checking out the museums and monuments.

FDR, Ilegal, Duck, Mishap

the white house

man on top of the white house