Date: 2008-04-14
From: LambertÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Meadow Campsite VA

To: Comfort Inn Daleville VA
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: light rain

Day 57 ¢ Monday April 14 ¢ Comfort Inn Daleville VA ¢ Miles Today: 9.1 Total Miles: 716.7We woke to 34 degrees and gray skies. We had a bit of light hail last night for a few minutes. Today was a short 9 miles to town with just a few rock scrambles. By the time we arrived in Daleville a little after 11:00, it had warmed to 44 degrees but was still gray. First stop, Outfitter. We were able to get the clip that we needed for the filter handle for free - they had some spare parts hanging around so that was cool. When we got the new cartridge in Damascus, there was a lot of confusion as they swapped out our older casing for a new one. In the process, they neglected to put the clip on the filter handle so that it did not come off when pulled all the way. I guess when you get things for free, you can¢t complain. We¢ve just had to be diligent on not pulling the pump handle too far out when we pumped water for the past few weeks. We bought a new pair of liner gloves for Brakeman that are not wool hoping they are much more durable. His Smart Wool liners are just full of holes in the fingers due to abrasion from daily activities. As we were walking out the door, Grasshopper just happened to mention to the manager that the Brakeman¢s Smart Wool gloves have three fingers that have already blown out and asked if Smart Wool had a warranty policy. The manager looked at his blown out gloves and looked at the ones on the rack and noticed that ours were obviously an older model, but he ended up just handing us a pair of Smart Wool gloves for free. So now Brakeman has 2 new pairs of liner gloves. We¢ll have to ship one pair home eventually. We also bought Brakeman a mid-weight pair of socks so hopefully in this hotter weather, he won't have as many foot blisters. Next stop, grocery store. Not so sure if it¢s a good idea to go to the grocery store with Hiker Hunger. We spent nearly $100 for 1.5 days in town and 3 days on the trail. We bought way too much food. Just for the 1.5 days in town, we bought: a full carrot cake, a gallon of chocolate milk, a liter of coke, 1 package of Oreos, 2 pints of ice cream, a large Hershey¢s chocolate bar, some M&Ms, 6 yogurts, 10 pieces of fruit and the makings for 16 sandwiches!   We have decided that we like to stock up on food to eat in the motel room rather than running around to restaurants for all our meals. Well, I guess you can say we did a good job of stocking up on food! The 2 pints of ice cream were eaten immediately! Life is so dang good!   While in the grocery store, Brakeman decided to ask the bakery lady if they had any baked goods past their sell date for two hungry hikers! She laughed and said no, that the food bank people have already come by and picked it up and that they are not allowed to give out that kind of food to customers. Good idea Brakeman, but no dice. He actually thought of that idea because a co-worker used to bring past-sell-date food items to work for everyone to nibble on. Oh well.After we bought all the food, we wheeled our cart full of food out to the parking lot and then had a panic attack. How in the heck were we going to carry all this food one mile to our motel room? Anxiety was beginning to kick in, as our ice cream melted and we realized we had too much to carry. Our thought process was interrupted by a middle-aged man who came up to us and said, "All right, I've being seeing your type in this grocery store all the time and I've got to know what on earth are you doing?" So, at first, Grasshopper was thinking, ¢Oh gosh, just let us get this stuff packed and humped to the motel before the ice cream melts.¢ However, while Brakeman was patiently answering the man¢s questions, a light bulb suddenly went off in Grasshoppers head ¢ he¢s our ride to the motel room! So as soon as Brakeman finished his explanation, Grasshopper said, "Would you by any chance be going to town and could you give us a ride to the Comfort Inn?" "Well, sure", he responded. As we headed towards the parking lot, he said, "I just wonder where I parked the BMW. It's a green color. Do you see one?" Our hearts sank. Oh no, we were going to get a ride in a BMW. Are we clean and presentable enough for a BMW? Luckily, the trail was not wet and muddy today so we were relatively clean and dry and did not feel we would do too much damage to his car. Actually, it turns out that his BMW could have done more damage to us. It was old, dirty and in bad shape. He said he bought it for $3000 and it was leaking oil. There was oil all over the trunk, which luckily somehow managed to not get on our backpacks. Another easy hitch to the motel. So very cool. Our ice cream was even still mostly frozen when we got to our room!We're spending two nights in the motel - our nero today and a full day tomorrow. We don't really have any huge aches and pains but there are just enough little aches and pains in our lower legs, feet and knees that a day and a half of rest would be good. The rocks have been brutal over the past 2 weeks. It's actually amazing to watch body issues surface and then disappear. First one of us may have an issue with the left lower leg that will hang around for 2 days and just disappear and resurface on the right side and then disappear and resurface on the hiking partner! We think the rocks are the reason for all of our aching body parts; they just surface at different times. We arrived to our motel room a little after 1:00 and began the shower and clothes wash process. The clothes wash process entails throwing the clothes in the tub while showering, letting them soak throughout the day, eventually hand washing each item and laying them in front of the fan to dry. There's no washer or dryer at the motel so that's the best we can do without walking around town trying to find a laundromat, which means we're not resting and staying off our feet. Grasshopper, who has been threatening to get a buzz cut, decided that the time had finally arrived. She scored a pair of scissors from the front desk and handed them over to Brakeman to do the honors. His first cut - not short enough; second attempt slightly better. It's about 2" max, maybe l.5" on the top with the sides and back a little bit shorter. She¢s hoping to avoid the hat hair mess and have hair that is easier to keep clean.   She's quite psyched about the new hair do. Brakeman is still trying to determine if this was a good thing or not. Who knows, when we get to Waynesboro, time permitting, she might even make it shorter!The phone call to Mr. & Mrs. Grasshopper to announce the new haircut was quite interesting. Mrs. Grasshopper: Oh, Marcy, you mean you look like a cancer patient?Grasshopper: Yeah, I guess you could say that. Mrs. Grasshopper: Will it have grown out by the time we see you in Pennsylvania?Grasshopper: (laughing) No.And then the conversation started all over again. It was so funny. Of course, Mrs. Grasshopper adamantly denies ever having asked Grasshopper if she looked like a cancer patient!That¢s it for the excitement today. It¢s a balmy 70 degrees in the motel room. We¢re not used to sleeping when it¢s that hot but we're not able to get the A/C to go cooler! We¢re probably the only people in this whole motel that have the A/C on! Guess we'll just need to hang tough despite the temps. Goodnight from nice comforts of a motel in Daleville.