Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Hiking is really a pretty easy business. Wake up, walk, eat, walk, sleep, repeat. There are, however, things I miss while on the trail. Here's my top five:

1. Family and friends, of course (boring).
2. Cold coffee beverages. I gave up on my instant coffee awhile ago because it didn't taste very good and wasn't really worth the time it took to boil the water (the Starbucks Via packets I got as a gift are in my packages in OR or WA). I've gotten at least one large, expensive coffee beverage in every town we've hit.
3. Trash cans. You really don't know how much trash you make until you have to carry a week's worth of it (especially when all your food is individually packaged). Luckily, a lot of the areas we've been walking through recently are parks, complete with outhouses and trash cans.
4. Showers. I'm used to going a few days without bathing, but at least on the river we have unlimited access to water for bucket baths. It's especially bad in the hot, dusty desert. Baby wipes help, but they're just not the same.
5. I honestly can't think of a solid 5th. It's probably something along the lines of clean clothes, a change of socks, or going barefoot.

I think it's a pretty good sign that I couldn't even think of five things I really miss.