Date: 2010-05-10
From: Daleville, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Was up an out of the motel pretty early this morning hoping to get done what needed to get done early enough to have a full day of hiking, I didn't however expect the turn of events that occured. First thing in the morning I took Kelly down to the vet clinic, the vet was busy but the vet tech took a look at her paws and told me she could see that they were getting very soft and worn. I asked her if she thought she could make it sixty miles to our last town before Damascus, she wasn't sure so she went to the back to ask the vet and when she returned she told me she wouldn't make it sixty miles and she needed either booties or rest. I wasn't quite sure what to think since the vet hadn't actually seen her feet and she had already made 720 miles (including nearly 20 since I noticed her feet getting soft), but I didn't want to take any chances so I decided to see if there was an outfitter in town that had any dog booties in stock.I knew there was a Gander Mountain in town so I figured that would be the first place I would check. I was outside of a coffee shop petting Kelly and two ladies walked up and started talking to me. They were animal lovers and I explained the situation about Kelly's feet and they offered me a ride to Gander Mountain. Unfortunately, Gander Mountain did not have the right boots in stock and in a quest to find dog booties we called every outfitter and camping store in town with no luck. Nobody had dog booties and I was quoted $50 to overnight a pair plus the cost of a motel for another night in town.After weighing the options of staying in town for a few days waiting for booties to come in, I decided my best bet would be to head down to Damascus early for trail days and get a pair of booties there. I had heard the camping opens a week early for volunteers and figured if I could keep myself busy it might take away some of the anxiety of taking so many days off the trail. I was anxious to head out, but with Kelly's feet getting soft, I didn't want to take any chances. If Kelly's feet become raw and sore I might have to take several weeks off waiting for her to recover.The next problem I encountered was how to get down to Damascus. Unfortunately it's a bit early to get a ride down for Trail Days and the thought of hitching down the freeway by myself had me a bit freaked out to be honest. I called a few people and no one knew of anyone heading down that way or of any way I could get myself shuttled.Now, I have been keeping in contact with John and Jane throughout the trail and since John's daughter hiked a few years ago, he is quite knowledgable about the trail and the way things work so I called him up hoping he might have any ideas. Amazingly, he offered to pick me up all the way from South Carolina (six hours away), drive me either to their home until trail days, or drop me off in Damascus. It was extremely generous of him to offer, but it was just too long of a drive so I told him I would try to work something out and I would call him back with an hour to let him know. Unfortunately, nothing came up so I called him back up and he told me he would be there at 8:30. I really want to thank the people of Outdoor Trails in Daleville for letting me hang out in there store for so long. I was beggining to feel like an outfitter resident. Sarah, and employee at the outfitter, was heading to a friends house after work for dinner and invited Kelly and I along to join in. What a wonderful way to pass the last couple of hours, Sarah's friend Whitney made an awesome casserole and Kelly had a blast playing with her two dogs. Sarah got me back to the Wendy's parking lot just in time, John and his brother arrived at 8:30 on the dot and we made our way down to Damascus.Unfortunately, we got to Damascus around eleven at night and couldn't figure out a place for me to tent(wasn't sure where tent city was either at this point) so I ended up getting another motel room in Abingdon for the night and John will be driving Kelly and I back to Damascus in the morning