Day 146 - Daleville Super 8 to Lambert Meadow Shelter

October  1
miles: 10
total: 1471
Typing on a keyboard while sitting up in a shelter sure feels weird, but oh man is it more efficient!  Props to the Zagg company!  The space bar isn't very responsive, though. 
Anyways!  Today we woke up at 8:30 and enjoyed another morning of the Super 8's super continental breakfast (complete with make your own Belgian waffles, delish!).  After setting up a plan for the next few days we made our way up to our room to pack everything up.  I know that we carry everything that we have in 50 liter backpacks, but I am continually amazed at how much stuff we have and how much space it can take up when removed from said bags.
After packing everything up and triple checking the room for remaining articles, we made our way back down to the outdoor store so Shannon could trade in her Darn Tough socks for a new pair (oh man, can't stop raving about this sock company, seriously a good investment).  We also had to swing back into Kroger's for some breakfast foods for the next few days (we'll just have to suffer through some LUCKY CHARMS, oh and why not some POWDERED MILK to go with it).  We then went to the coffee shop to further our caffeination for the day and pack everything up. 
Well...by the time we were done with that it was lunch, and there was a Wendy's on the way back to the trail.  And really, when else can we put this amount of terrible foods into our bodies with no fear of accumulating fat?  I feel like I'm in a comedy movie sometimes when we order at these fast food places because the amount should make a normal person sick.
So after we fuelled ourselves up we finally managed to get back on trail.  The weather wasn't so great today from the get go and it was raining off and on all morning, but I'd say we lucked out for the ten miles we did from town to the shelter;  it came down a couple times, but really by the time we got our rain jackets on it had already started to dissipate.
During our two nights stay at the Super 8, Jamie managed to watch a good bit of TV and retold an episode that he watched after Shannon had fallen asleep of the show "Leverage".  It seemed like a pretty good show of modern day Robin Hoods and it made a good retelling. 
The shelter is an old one but in pretty good condition.  A hole in the floor had been patched with a Virginia license plate (and they did a pretty good job of it, the edges are flush with the floor, but over time the center of it has become indented).  Banjo, a trail friend we met back in the Shenandoahs has caught up with us and is here tonight.  He seems to be going about the same pace as us.  The other two residents in here tonight are former scoutmasters so we talked a bit about scouting with them, nice guys.
Shannon is still breaking in her new boots and she had a little discomfort when we set out, but made it OK the ten miles.  We are planning a 24 tomorrow, but perhaps we'll cut that down depending on what happens with her feet.  It is supposed to continue to rain until Wednesday so that might complicate matters further!
Well, off to sleep now - it is a chilly night, but I think our sleeping bags will suffice and we won't have to sacrifice our pillows (aka all of our clothes). 

Lambert Meadow Shelter

Wendy's!

AT Day 144 Bobbletts Shelter to Daleville Super 8

September 29th

Miles 18.5
Total: 1461
Sights: Lots of Dark

Know how much we love a hotel stay?  So much.   So much that we woke up at 3am to get to town so we could check into the super 8 as early as possible.   Awhile back we commented on how waking up at 5am isn't so different from waking up at 6am.  Not so for 3am.  It felt like 3am,  we were both a bit groggy. However, knowing we would feel this way,  Jamie set our phone alarm to wake us up with the Bohemian Rhapsody.  Instantly we jumped up and started head-banging.   Well, banging our heads into the wall because we were so tired.   Honestly, it wasn't that bad.  We were both so excited we got up easily.  (more or less)
The walk was fine and uneventful.  Dark for the first half so there's not much to say. We stopped in for second breakfast at the next shelter as everyone else was eating and packing up their things.  We met 2 other thru-hikers-Split and Two-Step.  That was nice as we haven't met to many, but they were also anxious to get going so they left soon after our arrival. We ate breakfast with a retired couple who is hiking the whole trail sections.  They come out twice a year, spring and fall, and will continue to do so until they're done.  They were eating biscuits and gravy (they inspired us to make some for ourselves).   There was another thru-hiker there-BearBait who had hiked the trail in 2009.   A nice breakfast.  After eating we booked it the rest of the way.
Now comes the exciting part!
Our hotel was practically in view of the trail so we stopped here first check in and shower.   Next we walked down to the Outdoor Trails outdoor store (with a detour to Bojangles) to get our maildrops and buy some things.  The store is excellent.  They had everything we needed and the staff was exceptionally helpful.  Things that made this store stand out for me: they carry both Soles and Superfeet, they do DarnTough sock exchange, the staff let us take over a corner of their store to sort through our mail boxes and didn't complain when I accidentally spilt instant rice all over the carpet.    As you can see, a great place. 
We had 4 boxes at this store. 
1. a food drop from dad lyon.
2. a cord from Steripen because ours had broken. (replaced freely)
3.  a tent from Duffer (loaned because he was horrified at the idea of us sleeping in a leaky tent)
4. new shoes from solomon (replaced freely)
We bought: a pair of soles, fuel for the stove, a camp towel.   Overall an excellent trip to the store.
After leaving the outdoor store we went to the coffee shop were a group of guitar players were sitting around singing and chatting to hikers in preparation for their 500 mile hike next year.  After awhile Split and Two-step wandered by.  They're a married couple from California, recently retired.  (We had met them earlier that morning at the shelter).  They made us feel mildly bad about our plan to hike 10 miles tomorrow. Their plan was 20 miles because the weather Sunday is supposed to be gorgeous and Monday is supposed to be crappy.   But, meh.  We pushed through the guilt.
Finally we wandered over to the Krogers, bought beer and supplies and came back here to order Chinese food and take baths.
Let me tell you, there is nothing better than a bath after hiking.  Being able to soak off the dirt is a true (and disgusting) joy.
Our clothes are just about done in the wash and the food will be here soon!  Looking forward to an excellent night of relaxation!

New Boots!

Our new Tent!

The rececption desk ladies. I hope they didn't notice that I took 4 extra cinnamon buns.

Unfortunate name for a shelter

Bojangles!