Day 110: May the Force Be With You

August 18, 2015
Elk Lake Resort – Bend (1958.4)
0 PCT miles today
2001.7 miles total
Today’s Elevation Gain/Loss: + 0 ft, – 0 ft

For years Pickles has gotten a kick out of telling everyone that we meet that I have never seen a single Star Wars movie. He always says it as if it is a huge disappointment, but nowadays I like to point out that it is mostly his fault, since we’ve been together almost 4 years and he’s never shown me the movies. But today that all changed. I am no longer a Star Wars virgin. Not only did We watch the first movie, A New Hope, this morning after indulging in a huge homemade breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and bacon, but tonight when we got home from running some errands, we all sat down for the second film, “The Empire Strikes Back”. To be honest, the movies were better than I expected, and I am actually a little bummed to not see the 3rd one right away. Erika and Troy are big Star Wars fans, so we knew they’d have the films and be willing to watch them (probably for their hundredth time) along with us.

Troy had to work this afternoon (as a fly-fishing guide), but Erika had the day off and let us borrow her car to run some errands in the afternoon. It’s never as much fun as we think it will be to drive around town and get stuff done (we have to remember this next time we complain about our feet…at least it is peaceful and there isn’t traffic), but it had to get done and we were incredibly grateful for Erika’s trust in us with her vehicle.

For dinner, before starting the second Star Wars, Erika, Pickles and I went to Longboard Louie’s, a great little tex-mex restaurant where we indulged in surf-and-turf burritos and enchiladas.

It has been as good of a zero as we could hope for, but I have spent much of the day battling various mixed feelings about our hike. For one, I had long-awaited the new shoes that I got to pick up here in Bend, hoping that the worsening foot pain was mostly attributed to old shoes, but I’ve worn my new ones all day and my feet have hurt worse than ever. They are extra swollen and numb and since I don’t really have much of an option besides making these new shoes work, I am feeling a little anxious about heading back out. Also, I’m just kind of sick of hiking right now. I think this last stretch we may have pushed too many miles, so we’ve now agreed that from here to Portland we’re just going to do what feels best each day and not worry about when it will get us to town. We have also agreed to make tomorrow a nero, since the idea of waking up early, packing, and getting in 25 or so miles tomorrow was becoming far too overwhelming and not at all fun. We tossed around the idea of another zero, but after Ashland’s experience, decided against getting too comfortable.

Tomorrow we’ll take the morning to relax and get a few more things checked off the list before we head out on trail and spend the afternoon hiking. It is never enough time when you stop through to catch up with friends, but fortunately we’ll see these two in a couple months when they come to Tahoe for our wedding. Now I’m off to bed for another great night of sleep in the comfort of a house. With nerfherders, droids, and The Force on my mind, I’m happy to say that I am finally the cultured Stars Wars fan Pickles has always longed for me to be.