a barn
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a barn
I was amazed later that day when i walked a startleing 30 kms in the blistering heat to clarenville. it was painful though. i could barely raise my head enough to enjoy the scenery i was passing. But after a quick dip in a refreshing brook i felt much better and i could manage the walk to some degree. Upon arriving at clarenville i bid haste to the closest eatery, which happened to be a gas bar on the side of the highway. I supped on lays potato chips, gatorade, and two cans of chef boyardee. not your most exquisite meal but refined non the less. the gas attendant looked at me kinda funny as i sat on his porch eating, but i could care less. it was just getting on to dark then so i called it a day and looked for a convenient place to lay my tarp. the gas bar seemed to be doubleing as a School Bus graveyard so i slipped into one of those and fell asleep imediately.
I woke at the crack of dawn, and bid a hastey exit before the gasbar opened. It was a bit of a hike back to the trail but there was a Tim Hortons on the way so i broke my fast with a coffee and some doughnuts. My goal for the day was Thorburn lake so i struck out as soon and the last drop drained from the paper cup. It was a lovely peice of trail. much smoother than anything i had encountered to date. almost groomed. AND they had taken the time to grade away that large train rock that had become such an ankle twister after St. John's. I was passed by many an ATV as it was the weekend and everyone and there dog was out on the trail. Its a funny site to see a large man riding an ATV with a little Pomerainian in his lap. I made it to Throburn lake at about 3:00 or so and i was feeling great, the sun was shining and wow what a day.
I continued on right past the lake on to Port Blandford. I stopped briefly at Rudy's gasbar, and aquired some more canned goodness, and still i wasn't feeling it. so i continued on some more. On to a bridge that allowed the Trans Can to cross the path un-interrrupted. I called it quits at the bridge and sat down to some Peanut butter, soda crackers and the chef, oh and a little chocolate. A squirrel started pestering me so i threw him some crackers and he disappeared. I had just gotten into the chocolate when he came back with a small army of friends. Being a fair sort of person, i dispensed a little more to my furry fellows. then a squadron of grey jays flew in. i ended up handing out a tube and a half of crackers for the beggars. they hung around for 20 minutes more but i had reserved the last tube for me so i didn't dispense.
it was an alright sleep. the grassy patch i chose turned out to be a feathery bed.
it started misting sometime in the early morning and i groaned in my half wakfulness at the thought of another wet day.
I woke the next morn to discover that i had been slimed once again.
Not by the large black slugs, but those tiny little ones that are light grey.
my first 10 seconds of being awake was spent flinging their gooeyness as far as i could flick.
then a search of my body revealed that i had killed one in my hair.
i couldn't bear the thought and let out a long string of obscenities of which i will not repeat.
Oh how i despise those greasy varmints. My kingdom for some slug dope to banish their evilness from my imediate presence.
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