With a little help from our friends.

April 21-23

After a great weekend with Becky and Kelly, we are back on the trail. They found us under an Exxon awning via GPS coordinates almost like GeoCacheing. Kelly said we looked like homeless people. I guess the cardboard sign didn't help. The days off helped us get back in the right frame of mind. For a while there we were turning this into a job. Clocking in and clocking out everyday. Good friends can help put things into prospective. We spent Thursday playing like a bunch of kids. We glided down the Virginia Creeper Trail on bikes, stopping to play and fish in the creek. Dinner was grilled on the porch of our little cabins overlooking the river.  Life was good. After a meat and three stop for lunch today, we were on our way. On our climb to Big Bald we meet a guy without a trail name. We were chilling at the top, enjoying the view before we headed down when a lady came walking up the hill with two dogs off leash. The guy without a name started freaking out! He ran behind me and said he would pepper spray the dogs. Needless to say he has a trail name...Pepper. Big Bald has an interesting story. A hermit once lived in a cave-like structure on top of the mountain. He declared it his and shot a man that climbed it, only to be acquitted because of insanity. Later a local blacksmith killed the hermit and was never charged. Erwin tomorrow for our last supper with Joyce, then Damascus next week. There is something to be said for taking time to feel the sun on your face, the wind at your back, and the incredible views from the top. This journey will be over before we know it.

"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intentions of arriving safety in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather skid in sideways, body throughly used up, totally worn out and screaming, "Woo Hoo, what a ride!"

View from the Virginia Creeper Trail

The Fisherman

Big Bald