How Can You Drink Out of That?!!!!!

   I had a scheduled food pickup on July 19, 1980 in Cornwall Bridge Connecticut. I was still running behind schedule because of my foot. I was able to walk very well now, but I would have to put on an extra effort at some point to get back on track.
   I continued to hike with the "Canadian Crawler". One of the things I noticed about him was his large water bottle. The inside of it had some ugly black scum. I asked him about it and he said it was permanent and wouldn't come out. I shuddered to think of drinking from that nasty water bottle.
   One day we crossed a road and hit the jackpot. Well...not literally...but we did find a small convenience store with ice cream, snacks, and cold drinks! After munching on some snacks we began to get ready to go. I remembered that my water bottle was a little low so I grabbed it and decided to fill it up. I asked the Canadian Crawler if I could fill his bottle for him. He pulled out the large, nasty bottle and handed it to me. I went up to the store clerk and asked where I could get some water. He directed me to a small area at the back of the store. There was a large sink along with some soap and wash rags. I used hot water to clean out my water bottle, wadding up a wash rag and shoving it inside the wide mouth of the bottle. After some soap was added and some vigorous shaking my bottle was clean as a whistle. I rinsed it thoroughly and filled it with cold water.
   Then came time for me to fill up the water bottle for the Canadian Crawler. I decided to wash it out the same way, with soap and a wash rag and hot water. As I began to vigorously shake the bottle, the wash rag started peeling off all of that black scum! Oh! It was gross! Ten minutes later that water bottle was completely clean. (I had to wash my hands three times after this nasty adventure). The Canadian Crawler was shocked that I was able to get it clean. All he had ever done was rinse it was water. I hate to think of him drinking water from that scummy bottle for all of those weeks on the trail! How could he drink out of that bottle?!!!!

   2011 update: I weighed in at 171.0 pounds this morning. More jogging today and trying to eat right. I had a bowl of fresh strawberries last night (yum!) Time for another salad tonight and a CLEAN glass of water!