Another Long Walk: Day 33: Ernie tries on a scarf

April 2: The shockingly loud prayer call from the mosque next door wasn't quite as shocking the second time around, but it definitely woke everyone up. We had a normal 7:00am breakfast which surprised me since we had a bus ride back to where we got off the trail. We usually wake up earlier to account for the bus ride, but for whatever reason, that didn't happen today.

Ernie tries on one of my scarves.

I've been trying to convince Ernie to buy a scarf for himself this whole trip but he'd been holding off, and I had a new idea this morning: I should let him try on one of my scarves for the day. He'd like it so much, he'd finally be convinced to buy his own scarf!

So I gave him a selection of scarves to choose from (I had five of them, after all!), and helped him wrap it around his head properly. It looked good. I took a photo and showed it to him, and he approved of the look as well. I also quietly talked to a few people asking them to compliment Ernie on his look look to help with the cause. ;o)

But it meant we didn't actually start hiking until nearly 9:00 in the morning. When we arrived at the trail, I realized that I was missing my trekking pole. I distinctly remember putting it in front of my tent at the woman's cooperative and somehow, I must have just missed it in my departure. In the meantime, George had a spare trekking pole that he lent me and they'd make a point of looking for mine at the cooperative.

The day started beautiful and clear--definitely a nice change in the weather--but the trail was still wet and muddy not having recovered yet from the recent storms. Later in the day, the trail headed back up on paved roads and it was nice to escape the mud.

As the afternoon progressed, dark clouds rolled in, but the rain held off.

Today's hike would take us into downtown As-Salt where a "surprise" was in store. Salt was the former capital of Jordan and probably the biggest city along the trail. It was also a new addition to the Jordan Trail having been rerouted in the past year and this was the first year hikers would be going through it. So the surprise consisted of an appearance by the major of Salt, a couple of short speeches that several reporters covered, and it kind of bored the rest of us. We'd rather have been hiking, or head to our hotel for the night and relax at our own pace. It was more a publicity stunt than anything for our benefit, which I could understand, but it doesn't make it anymore fun. At the very least, it would have been nice to have been fed. Hikers always love food!

After the speeches and photos, we were taken on a guided tour of the Harmony Trail through town before arriving at a bus to take us to our hotel. I was really disappointed at another bus ride. Argh! No more buses! We were spending the night in Salt at a hotel and I had mistakenly assumed we'd walk to our hotel on or near the Jordan Trail. I didn't realize it was so far off trail that we needed another bus ride. That was a big disappointment for me.

But we got on the bus because what other choice did we have? At least it was a relatively short bus ride to the hotel (the Saltus Hotel), and I spent the evening washing my clothes in the shower and binge-watching Netflix.

At dinner, Ernie returned my scarf to me saying that he did like it, but it was so late in the trip that he felt it was too late. He wouldn't have enough time to use it much before we left then what would he do with it? I suggested that it was perfectly good to wear when he returned to Canada (I planned to wear mine back in the states on occasion--especially on cold days!) Or he could use it as a Halloween costume. Or as a table cloth! It had a million uses! He had to get one!

I wasn't sure if I convinced him, but he really needed a scarf. *nodding*