DAY 76: 4TH OF JULY DONE RIGHT

Border collies - everywhere.

 miles: 0

Woops, we took a zero day. As you may recall, I posted a special 4th of July update for you all and here I will briefly recap one of the best zero days we've experienced.

The best breakfast I've had on trail.

 Breakfast done right. Pancakes so huge that even the waitress apologizes for their size. "Sorry he made them that big..." as she sat them down. We took our time eating breakfast, people watched, and digested, finally leaving the comfort of the porch at 1:00pm.

So many border collies. Can we take a second to talk about dogs? Ben and I love animals (cats, duh, dogs, yes) and go through serious animal withdrawal out here. We accept any opportunity to pet a dog or meet a cat and this place offered an abundance of... border collies! Got our fill of puppy love today.

Ben and Rags.

 Rags was one of our favorites...

My view of Ben all day.

 I took my first, official, nap today. Yes - I've taken many on trail naps, but I never have time in town to relax enough to actually NAP in a BED. This was even an UNINTENTIONAL nap! It was superb! Ben and I hunkered down in our dorm room for most of the afternoon, lazing, napping, internet-ing, people watching through the window... it was a real d-r-e-a-m.

 A lazy day here at Kennedy Meadows.

Some non-real cowboys going for a ride.

Eating.

 Other hikers began to arrive and we had great reunions! Pony, St. Alfonso, Pepperflake, Dance Party, Focus, and others trickled in and we rejoiced. Dinner was a thanksgiving style dinner, turkey with all the fixin's. I had my fill of french fries. The dining room and patio were PACKED to the brim with tourists and we weren't aware we were supposed to make reservations, but the waitress was kind enough to let us sit at a table outside and eat, regardless.

Bird Dog, Focus, Rocky and I had a feast, took more showers, and people watched some more.

I must say, this is probably one of the best zero days I have had in a while. An unplanned zero can be really nice! We were pretty tired, wet, and needing some down time and what a better place and time to do so. We deserved a real holiday... pshhhhh.