Miles: 436 to 444
Mantra: why are we walking away from the KOA? (As the PCT wound for miles around the mountain side with a clear view of our destination below.)
Climate: hot as heck by 6:30am
"It's important not to buy too much chocolate. You also need to buy gummy bears." -Animal Style
It makes perfect sense to me that the Acton, CA KOA was our oasis today, but apparently KOAs are creepy to foreigners. We woke up at 5:30am to hike as fast as possible for 8 miles before the heat of the day to the KOA, where we would meet up with our group and camp. And this is a NICE KOA. Really nice. Clean bathrooms, laundry facilities, a huge shaded field for tent camping, and some swanky RVs... The Czech couple we hiked in with commented that they had never seen such a thing, except for in the movies, and Animal Style whispered as if making a subtle but unfavorable observation "did you see all those RVs over there? Is every KOA this trashy?" To which we responded "...that's what KOAs are for!" and all the Americans professed their love for KOAs.
We arrived by 10am, got pizza delivery, and have been lounging about ever since. God bless America.
[Just those morning views; drying laundry; all the clothes are in the washer; ice cream time!; What the what? Vadim and Kendra!]
In the middle of this lazy day we were visited by the one and only VADIM and his beautiful lady friend, Kendra. Vadim just moved to LA to join Kendra, who is doing her MFA in acting at UCLA. They met briefly a few years ago when Vadim was on a business trip and have been talking on the phone ever since, and today they brought us lots of snacks and beer. We loved their company and hope to see A LOT more of them.
[Group shot!; Pretty much how we were all day; Lazy!; Tents in the field; mas sunset]
