Date: 2018-05-15
From: Campsite with Views

To: Lickskillet Hollow
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 41 - Rocket was the first one to get up that morning but we weren¢t too far behind. Broken Seal had a terrific night of sleep; one of the best he¢s had in awhile. I could hear Dad groaning as he was stretching and waking up. He was feeling great as well even after we had kind of kicked his butt the day before. The news that Rocket had given us the night before about a potential cafe just 3 miles down the trail motivated us to get moving down the trail. Dad started his breakfast with a Sprite and coffee;  then we had some amazing biscuits and gravy along with sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches. The trail leaving the cafe took us over I-77 and then back into the woods. It was our longest stretch of road walking but still wasn¢t much. Dad was getting a great snapshot of different aspects of the trail and some of the infrastructure around it. We didn¢t know we would also be facing some of the longer dry sections on the trail so far. It was nothing major but it made us take a 0.6 mile side trail to a water source so we could refill before a 9 mile drive section; Dad kept hiking on. At the source, we saw two deers hopping around enjoying life. It took a long time for us to catch Dad on the flats; he¢s a pretty speedy guy but I learned my lesson the day before and didn¢t scare myself with how long it took us to catch him. The terrain was really enjoyable; there wasn¢t anything too remarkable about it. We found a nice, flat spot to have lunch and Big Mac told me embarrassing stories which always helps the time fly by. We wrapped up eating just as a huge clap of thunder rolled through. Luckily we saw the flash of lightning nearby so it didn¢t scare us out of our skin is completely. On went the rain jackets just as it started pouring on the trail. There¢s something about thunder- it can be really fun when you know you¢re in a somewhat safe location. We knew this was just the first wave of the storm that was coming our way and we made it to the road where Ellen and Benny, Broken Seal's parents, were supposed to pick us up. Finding these random road crossings in the backwoods of a place you¢ve never been before can be very tricky but they found it on their first try and were there waiting for us right before the heavy downpour commenced. We were all absolutely elated to see them on so many levels. They were exhausted understandably having spent the whole day and most of the night traveling but were such troopers. We guided them down wet, windy country roads as the really heavy rain started. First we needed to return to Burkes Garden to retrieve dad¢s car from the hostel and then get to a nice hotel in Bluefield to set Broken Seal up for success the next day in regards to his graduate school online interview. The skies were scary shades of dark gray and black and I think we were all excited to be in a car rather than on the trail or hiding out in some shelter. By the time we made it to the hotel, everyone was exhausted so we ordered a huge meal from the local pizza place. We set up a faux dining table in the lobby and we ate our hearts out. We were all dry, we were all well fed, and, most importantly, we were all together!