The Ants Go Marching Two by Two: I haven't quit yet.

Hiiiiii. JLa has requested that I write in her blog once a month. It probably won't happen, but this post has coincided with a Bloody Mary incentive. Updates:

We've had way more phone service than we thought we would, which has been good and bad. Bad because I'm continuing my social media addiction and good because I get to hear/see my pups and boyfriend I miss so terribly. I guess it's also great for JLa's parents to know we're OK because I don't think they found my knife very convincing.

A surprising number of people have been concerned about my knee, which is really endearing. It's finally manageable - thanks to too much rest and super nice angels giving me oils, wraps, and a brace. Also thanks to JLa for putting up with my dramatic episodes. At one day's end, I threw my expensive sticks down, sat on a rock-couch, and huffed at JLa that I was done for the day. Poor pal was nice enough to clear a couple dead trees for our camp that night because I refused to walk the 0.2 miles to the next campsite. Pretty sure her journal that night read, "Casey woke up salty. Casey continued to be salty throughout the day. Casey went to bed salty." If it weren't for my nightly mashed potatoes I'm sure she would've already sent me home. It has been discovered that dinner time is really the only time I smile.

Last week, we left our comfy cabin with our beloved Trail Family in hopes that we will soon see them again. It was so nice to hang out with such cool people, because most suck. From there we had our very own personal Trail Angel in Jenna. She brought us food, remedies for our injuries, and drove us way out of her way to pass the fire closures. The Midwestern compassion and Hoosier company was much appreciated.

Back on the trail we immediately met a super-cute family that gave us high fives for being unemployed and talked about their own hopes to hike the PCT. Though JLa does most of the talking with all of our encounters, it's a flattering change of pace for people to be so interested our daily lives.

Most umportant update:

We finally walked 20 miles in one day! Our initial goal was to do this everyday. Nope. Fuuuck that. It was 20 miles uphill- the whole time. It also made me come to terms with my psychosis. Poor JLa. Also ( because we were 20 miles uphill), I saw snow for the first time in two years. I was indifferent.

Trail names are apparently a big deal out here. We started this journey trying to avoid them. Avoidance is futile, so we've come up with a solution! We feel if we combine our powers, we could be Beyoncé. If any hikers happen to read this, please spread the word.

In conclusion, this sucks- because it's hard and because I have a bad attitude. That being said, my attitude will change on account of not wanting JLa to kick me off the trail- and this shit is beautiful. As negative as I am, it's still better than any job I've had and way better than watching nature outside my car window because my shotgun wedding kept me in my hometown (shoutout to Planned Parent Hood for my cheap birth control and bare uterus!)

The best part about this trip to date is the amount of love we have gotten. I actually just cried to a letter I read two hours ago making sure we were receiving our morning hugs, and was accompanied by a beautiful new ring. Trail mail love is the best and will keep us going!