Q: Tell
me truthfully, how awful was the bathroom situation?
lisa: Ah yes, the "Great wall o' porta-potties."
No getting around it - you'll have to use 'em. I didn't think it was
that bad, although by the third day... At some of the stops, the crew
actually decorated them, and posted "reading material" on the
inside walls.
The shower situation was excellent: they bring in
these big tractor/trailer things with hot running water, and real
showers. Inside the truck, there is an aisle down the middle - on one
side are shelves and hooks to put your stuff. The other side is shower
stalls (yes, with curtains). Not large and spacious, not glamorous, but
hey, what do you expect? Soap, shampoo, etc. was provided - after all,
this is AVON in charge here. Outside of the trucks are those big
heaters-on-poles that you find on some restaurant patios - they'll work
to dry your hair. It's better to plan on a shower in the afternoon
or evening. The mornings are pretty rushed, and you'll want to sleep in
as long as possible (like until 5:30!).
Outside of the shower trucks, were sink and mirror
combinations - hot & cold running water. No electricity so don't
even think of bringing your blow-dryer. However, you can certainly wash
your face, brush your teeth, and apply make-up, if you insist.
Q: What did they feed you?
lisa: The food service was fantastic, all things
considered. I don't eat red meat, and didn't have any problems (I did
not sign up vegetarian). You do have the option of going vegetarian - if
you sign up for that option, you get a green wrist-band and they check
it when there are special vegetarian meals. They tend to stick with
chicken and turkey for the meat anyway.
Breakfasts are buffet style, with the typical eggs,
potatoes, sausage, bacon, oatmeal, cold cereal, bagels, fruit, etc.
Something for everyone. Lunches were box-lunch style. Turkey sandwiches
with fruit salad or potato salad, your choice of chips, cookies, drinks.
Lots of Snackwells and Oreos. For vegetarians, lunch was a different
sandwich (eggplant, avocado, etc.). Dinners were typically things like a
build-your-own-burrito affair, so you could choose to have chicken,
beef, or no meat at all; and pasta with a choice of
sauces, so again you could choose not to have meat (or at least you
could pick the hamburger out of the sauce!). Desserts were pie,
cake, cookies, etc. I have to say, we totally rationalized eating lots
of stuff we would not have normally eaten!
Snacks included granola bars, trail mix, fruit, snack
bars, raisins, chex mix, goldfish crackers, etc. No shortage of "healthy" snacks. The
hands-down favorite was the PB & J sandwiches, which were actually
more like ice-cream sandwiches, with graham crackers as the
"bread." Those were always the first thing to be grabbed at the
morning pit stop.
Q: What if you have
never slept in (or put up) a tent?
marcia: I fell
into that category! I learned all about the tents at the walker
expo. It was very informative and I had a chance to practice (with
Sherry, my tent-mate) putting up and taking down the tent. It looked
complicated, but she and I got it up and down in 5 minutes! That
really helped ease my fears.
As for sleeping in the tent, it was as I expected. You hear pretty much
everything that goes on outside the tent. Bring earplugs and a piece
of PLASTIC TARP to put inside the tent. It kept our things dry at
night and also helped with the wind.
lisa: You will be so tired, you could probably
fall asleep in the parking lot. I didn't have any problems, although I
have certainly camped before. I had a small air mattress that is
the self-inflating kind. I brought a small pillow which my mom had
"borrowed" from some nice airline years before. Some people didn't even bring a pillow - just piled up
their bag, jacket, towels etc.
and that worked well.
If you can't put up a tent, there will be plenty of
people who can. One night we slept at a Junior High, and many of the
students were there to help us put up tents. In some cities, Boy Scout
troops or other volunteers come to set up tents. The Cheerios set up tents
when we visited other cities.
Be sure to bring several Hefty trash bags - use them
to line the inside of your tent, as the dew will make it very wet by
morning - anything near the edge of the tent will be sopping wet!
Q: What did you do
in the evenings (or are you so tired you just sleep)?
lisa:
Q: Has
anyone ever stayed in a nearby motel instead of sleeping in the tents?
lisa: Yes, some people did stay in
motels or hotels, but
then you miss so much of the fun! Honestly, the camping arrangements
were great, and you'll enjoy it. The mobile showers were totally
adequate. If you really insist on staying in a motel (for whatever
reason), still hang out at camp during the evening, so you can have
dinner with the group, and see the entertainment. Also, plan to be at
camp for breakfast, as there are announcements, etc.
In the opening video, there were numerous mentions of
"the 3-day experience." Let's just say that the people staying
in hotels probably had a "different" 3-day experience than
those who were camping!
Q: How
do I find my stuff among the other 2,999 suitcases and sleeping bags?
lisa: You will be given a luggage tag with your
walker number on it. That goes on your bag. If possible, your sleeping
bag should fit inside your other bag, since you only have one tag.
When you sign up for a tent, you will get a small round tag with the
tent number on it. That goes on the lanyard with your badge. You also
write your tent number on your luggage tag. Tent numbers are one letter
and 2 or 3 digits. Last year my tent was B33.
When your gear is packed, it goes on a truck labeled
with the letter of your tent. So all of my gear always went in the B truck. My tent was always in the
B area of the camp. The tent locations
are actually marked on the ground when you get to camp. There is a small
tag on a stick, and they are placed in order. So if you sign up with
others to be in adjacent tents, it will happen. We were with a large
group, and
we had to sign up at the same time to get a number of tents together.
When we got to camp each night, the truck crew had
actually taken our stuff out of the truck, and lined it up right in
front, in number order. So it was easy to find our stuff. It also helps
to have your bag somehow clearly marked (but not with a pink ribbon).
At the end, the gear will again be sorted out by
letter, and you can find it easily enough.
Q: Did they
provide for those of us who are caffeine addicts?
lisa: Relax, there was coffee at breakfast, and
all sorts of sodas at lunch and dinner, including Coke and other
derivatives. Most of the time, you'll be drinking water or
Gatorade, but I think they knew that with 3,000 walkers, some of
them were bound to be helpless without their caffeine. Personally,
I avoid caffeine, and I'd recommend that you don't drink too much on the
walk. For one thing, you want to be able to go to bed at 9:00 and fall
asleep! Also, caffeine is a diuretic, and you'll want to avoid those
porta-potties at midnight if you can.
Q: How does the
massage/chiropractor/physical therapy work? How much does it cost?
Do you sign up ahead of time? Are there long lines?
lisa: Massage,
Chiropractor, Physical Therapy, Medical, Blister Clinic, etc. are
largely staffed by crew members, so basically they are volunteers and
it's free. The only tip you need to give is a smile and a "thank
you." Yes, the people are professionals at whatever they are doing,
so you aren't getting medical advice from someone unqualified! In past
years, everyone was limited to one massage during the event, about 15
minutes. You can sign up for a massage as soon as you get into camp on
Day 1. At that time you can sign up for a timeslot on either Day 1 or
Day 2, so some people planned ahead for the next evening.
The various "medical" tents are all together in a big open
area. Most are first-come, first-served, except massages, which are
scheduled as above. There was a general triage area where someone asks
you enough questions to get you into the correct line. So then you sign
in to whatever medical area you need, wait in line and make friends with
whoever is sitting next to you. I think the longest lines were at the
blister clinic. I wanted to see a PT, and waited about 45 minutes in
line - it was cold and foggy at Skyline and most of us were under the
thermal blankets.
Also part of that tent city: a press tent, a concierge tent, and a
general store, in case you forgot something critical or just want to buy
even MORE 3-day gear &:-)
