The stock music of her phone alarm rang, and with a small jolt she reached to turn it off, she was awake. With a foggy mind she took her phone off the charger and hid under the warm blankets, fighting the daily battle of whether or not to leave her blanket cocoon on cold mornings like today. Made only slightly less cold because whoever got up 1st in the morning had to turn on the shared heater, house rule #4. Attempts to capture memories of mysterious music fading as fast as any other morning with half remembered dreams, she sighed, and did a mental check of events.
She had brought the receipts back to the office as she was told the next day. While Mr. Starnes wasn't thrilled to immediately have to deal with them so soon, he took them with a nod and said he'd head to accounting to have her money reimbursed into her account by the end of the day. Taking his word for it, she went about her day trying to prepare further for the trip. She printed out maps and some directions in case service was too bad in some spots, as well as unpacked and repacked her camp a few more times each day. She even bought and charged 2 power banks just in case, all while trying to keep up with her studies as she let each of her instructors know she'd need to be exempt for about a week and why.
Some days passed, and while she should be getting ready for classes, doing odd jobs like she was soon to burn her weekend doing counted higher for her end of semester credit. In fact, she was confident that she could use this particular opportunity as material for her dissertation given the circumstances if she put the right spin on it, whether or not the old lady had some kind of power. Exemption from other assignments and class attendance in the meantime was nice, though she'd need to still study the material.
Without much other than the moment at hand to consider, her mind began to think ahead of time to just how much her back and feet would hurt by tonight, before she exhaled a defeated sigh. "Well damn... let's hope you're worth the time and trouble Miss Weatherly, wouldn't want to dissapoint fate and happenstance." Mentioning fate with a smirk, she reluctantly embraced the cold as she removed her blankets and sat on the edge of the bed with a stretch before getting up and dressed to start the day... after she moved the heater closer, being last to leave had its perks.
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Settling for wool socks with hiking boots, jeans, a simple t-shirt under a long sleeve blue flannel shirt and a grey toboggan. She flashed a rare smile after rechecking her gear, her supplies, and having everything packed in her large backpack ready to trudge through the slightly tamed wilderness. As she looked at the backpack a sudden issue revealed itself in all it's arduous glory, causing her smile to fade. The pack was... heavy... and she wasn't at the mountains... and she didn't have a ride since everyone with a car was either in class for the next many hours, or at work. Returning her face to her practiced mutual expression she sighed, and put her phone back on the charger to check for bus stops.
Hours later, with some trouble since the weight was manageable but she'd need to take breaks, Rita was almost at her destination to then, begin her adventure. Taking a lunch break just after 2 at one of the last diner/gas station/truck stops before the marginally civilized mountains, she sat at a booth with her bag on the opposite side.
The trip so far was not as arduous as she had feared, though having not yet walked the mountain, she was sure she'd feel differently later. Aware of the looks she was getting, sitting alone with her large bag, she leaned in to look through the menu for what to have. She was starving, since she hadn't eaten from the time she woke up a little after 9, and had left by 1030 to catch the 1st bus on her trek. The menu was a typical laminated letter fold with the name on the front read as, "Barkley's Diner." Looking through the "Lunch" section trying to decide between what kind of burger to have with fries she hears a small voice say, "Don't eat the Burger of Earthly Delights, they're psycho-dealic mushrooms."