Date: 2008-05-16
From: Trail Days

To: Trail Days, Damascus, VA--Day 2
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

We packed up early out of our hotel room out on I-81 and headed into Damascus. Our first stop was by the campground in search of the vet clinic. The Vet was late so we headed back into town to the laundry. We're getting pretty good at doing laundry efficiently.After laundry we found our way over to the First Baptist Church. They were hosting a med clinic for the hikers in their parking lot. As we were checking in we told them our story. Pretty soon we were known throughout the tent as the church ladies. :o) Later in the car we were all doing our best SNL Church Lady imitations... we weren't very good. Anyway, Tigger made friends with everyone talking about her plans with Mercy Ships.The folks running the med tent were from Birmingham with some help from a group from Virginia Beach. They were all incredibly nice and very helpful. They have done this ministry to hikers for four years now. I hope they keep it up, it is a fantastic ministry. Two things I must include here... We were sitting in this section where they wash and massage your feet. Owl had just had hers done and this NOBO hiker sitting next to her said "you've hiked over 500 miles... your feet are amazing!" Since then she has taken great pleasure in pointing out that she has amazing feet. Also, Tigger was having a conversation with a gentleman. She told him she had been a Marine. He assumed she had just been in for a couple years and had just gotten out. He was surprised to find out she had retired after 22 years. She's had a lot of fun pointing out that that means he thought she was 24. :o)While I'm on the subject... we met a hiker awhile back. Can't remember his name. The others saw him again at trail days. He was recalling to them who we were. Apparently he has trouble with long term memory so he associates something with people he meets. He remembered me as 'perfect nose'. (My grandmother always said so).So Owl has amazing feet, Tigger is 24 and I have a perfect nose. Still waiting on Soaring's designation.From the med tent we went back in search of the vet and found him this time. He took a quick look over Roo and listened to her heart and declared her in excellent shape. We asked him about supplementing her food. He suggested puppy food or even human baby food. He said she needs lots of carbs. (And I was pushing the proteins) He said the advice he gives at trail days is completely different from anything he would say in his clinic. These dogs are getting so much exercise he recommended feeding them whatever they want (except grapes and avacados).We also asked him about additional tick protection beyond Advantix. He said if the Advantix or Frontline Plus is not enough he would recommend a Preventix tick collar. So on our way out of town later we picked up the tick collar and some puppy food. Roo's all set.From the Vet clinic we headed over to walk through the vendors. We stopped at the Trailjournals.com tent and signed our names on the 2008 TJ t-shirt. We were disappointed that Lief and ZipDrive were away when we stopped by. Would have liked to thank them for all their work.We had a great time browsing around and we kept running into familiar faces. Once more we saw Babu Simba (he had a nametag this time so I got the spelling) at the ATC tent. I said hello to Starlite at the ALDHA tent who I had corresponded with through the Women Hikers Yahoo group. We also met up with some other trail dogs we had met out on the trail and at the dog show. Funny how they seem to remember each other.After that we headed out of town. We had to make a stop at a glasses shop. I had lost a screw and my glasses were being held together with a paper clip... not only dorky looking, but it really messed with my field of vision. Then a little shopping and we stopped by a theater to check the showing times for Prince Caspian... BIG priority.Quick trip back to the hotel, sort through drop boxes, get Roo tucked in for the night and we were back out to the movie. That was the best movie popcorn I've had in a long time! We're still talking about it. We're also still talking about the movie. I think they did a good job, but it seems like some of the story line was changed. It'd been awhile since any of us read the book, so we weren't sure. Owl is now in search of the book to reread it. It was so nice to go out to a movie though...like normal people. We don't feel much like normal people anymore.Swing through Wendy's for a potato and salad and back to the room to work on packing and organizing for tomorrow. What a full day!Rabbit, Owl and RooJoshua 1:9