The 19th

Left the Friary this morning rather late, 0830ish. It was raining pretty hard when we woke up. The womenfolk went on an adventure with a lady they'd met the previous night and ended up in Brooklyn. 

I just hiked. Through wet trails. Kind of a miserable morning. New York is apparently one giant swamp. Who knew? All kinds of interesting tidbits you pick up on this trail. Mosquitoes are cruel and insidious little buggers. And picaridin repellent needs to be reapplied every 7-8 hours. 

On the plus side, there were a lot of planks and boardwalks. I don't want to imagine the misery this part of the trail would have been before those were emplaced. Shudder. 

Around late afternoon I came by a lake/state park. Concession stands weren't open today, but I thought I'd take the short detour to see what was up. There was supposed to be a shower, and I really wanted to be clean. At the worst I figured I'd jump into the lake. 

Well, the place was closed. Even the restrooms were locked up, and the water fountains were turned off. However, there was a shower. One of those outdoor jobs like you see commonly at beaches. I pushed the button half-heartedly, expecting it to be turned off also. Wonder of wonders, not only water came out, but hot water came rushing out. 

Now I had a dilemma. I wanted a shower, but this was right in the open. Sure, no one was around, but I could see a busy road, though pretty far away. And this was beside the parking area, as well. Heck with it, I wanted to be clean. I prepped my stuff for a quick get-a-way, looked for cameras, then stripped down and got clean. Hot water is amazing, and for my readers who haven't gone without, there's no way you can understand that satisfying feeling of washing off the grime without being miserably cold. 

I cleaned up without incident, and hiked on down the road. A few miles farther down was the RPH shelter, one of those ones you can order pizza from. It was a nice place, bunks, and even a door and windows. Which was mildly amusing since one wall was missing. 

When I got to the shelter, Ro Sham Bo had already ordered pizza, but I got him to call back and add a root beer and Gatorade onto the order for me. Also worked out cuz Shakespeare gave me a slice of pizza he couldn't eat.

Peppa showed up, covered in hives. She was stung in the morning and broke out. She had taken some Benadryl and was much better. She probably should have gone to the hospital, but she took some more Benadryl. I was trying to figure out what I had on hand to perform a cric with if I had to, and what legal problems would occur. Simba had an Epi-pen prepped. So you're not in suspense, she lived. 

Waiting out the rain in the morning. 

The rain burning off. 

More swamp. 

Just thought the sky looked pretty. 

Nice and smooth. 

RPH shelter.