[pct-l] How long to do initial shopping ??

[saskia.home@wanadoo.nl (Saskia)]

Hi Phil!

>
>My first question is:
>	Can a jet-lagged Australian actually do his initial shopping, then
>mail off one resupply and one drift box in a single day in LA ?
>
>I know I could do this here at home in Sydney.  But I can see myself pushing
>a trolley about some vast, cavernous supermarket in LA desparately trying to
>understand American food items and wondering if I can find the checkout
>again :-)  Then working out how the US postal system operates.

The answer is: preparation. Figure out what you need in advance, 
figure out what you need to put on the box (the address of the post 
office, 'hold for PCT hiker', estimated arrival date...).

Still, being jet lagged and going through supermarkets is not the 
best way to spend your first day in the US! And I hope you have a 
car. Resupplying in Yakima after leaving the trail in White Pass took 
us a full day. Figuring out where things were, then finding out that 
there was a better place to get stuff and then walking in between 
those places where it is evidently all planned for car-owners... We 
were also fooled by the post office, as it said 'open 07:00', but 
that was just the lobby. What do we know, in my post office here in 
Amsterdam there is no lobby...!

Oh, and a tip: bring already the necessary 'mail' items with you, 
like tape and a good black marker pen.
In any case: take care with the jet lag and getting dehydrated and 
overexerted! It takes a while to sleep normally and it is such a pity 
if you spend the first ten days of your trip hung over, tired and 
sleepy. It's hard enough to get into the rhythm of hiking as it is.

>Which raises my second question:
>	what is ramen ? 
>apparently it's edible to US hikers.  I keep seeing mention of it.

Ramen is edible at the start of your trip. After four weeks it - as 
we say over here - comes out of your nose! Noodles with a very very 
high dose of salt and soupy stuff. I never hated any food as much as 
ramen at the end of the trip.

>
>
>thanks in advance
>phil

groetjes,
Saskia

-- 
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Jan Heideveld & Saskia Daru
janpalm@wanadoo.nl
saskia.home@wanadoo.nl
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