August 8, 2008 Pacific Crest Trail

Destination: Bob's House
Miles: 0

Adrian: One of my best friends and his wife brought a baby boy into this world yesterday. Steve and Saskia welcomed Conrad into the family yesterday. I'm so happy and proud of all three. God bless! I can't wait to see the youngster.

Thanks Tanya, Bostjan, and Mike for signing the guestbook. These three great people remind me of my home and heritage. Delafield, Kamnik, Slovenia, and Menomonee Falls...all great places with great people.

Sometimes you meet special people and special things happen. Bob has a wonderful home and made us feel quite welcome. His organic cattle pasture, pond and landscaping has made for a very comfortable stay. With Bob's persuasion, we are taking a zero here and staying for two nights. Thanks Bob!

Bob lent us his truck to resupply for Oregon. We are shipping four boxes to various points north because there simply are no towns close enough to the trail to resupply at. It was quite a job to buy so much food, box it up, and ship it out. Some shipment locations are only serviced by UPS and others by USPS. Yes, a logistical headache, but necessary.

Bob treated us to a wonderful dinner and opened a bottle of 1996 Paulliac that perfectly complimented the New York strip and shrimp.

Life is good right now...

Kirsten: Um, I'm not really sure what Adrian's implying. Special people? Special things happen? I'm picturing soft light and Hummel statues.

We have met some amazing PCTers and other folks including Bob Baumann. We met Bob at the Etna Brewery. He had just finished a hike with his friend, also named Bob. As dirty, smelly hikers we didn't exactly blend in. The two Bobs started asking us questions about our hike and before we knew it an invitation had been extended to stay at Bob No.1's house in Ashland. He handed us his business card and we went our separate ways. Enough trail magic has happened to us that we took his offer seriously. I no longer worry "Did he really mean it?" A common and cynical reaction many of us suffer from back in the real world.

When we arrived in Ashland I gave Bob a call and left a message. Within a couple hours Bob had returned our call and offered up his house and car. This morning Adrian, Moonpie and I shopped for our Oregon resupplies, about 470 miles of food, which we will ship ahead to various lodges and towns.

After we shopped and shipped, Adrian, Moonpie, Rooster, Clearwater and I went to Bob's, where we spoiled with wine, dinner, real beds and laundry. Nothing short of a miracle.