Date: 2018-06-23
From: Tom Floyd Wayside

To: Front Royal, VA
Miles today: 2.9

I woke up around 7 am but kept sleeping until 8. Rebel woke up and got ready. Apparently his sleeping bag got wet yesterday and he slept in his wet clothes. He was still in a good mood because of the miles we did yesterday and today was his birthday!  We only had 3 miles to go to the access road to Front Royal. I got up and ate a poptart and cheese it's for breakfast. The hike was pretty easy. There was an area where I had to ford a river. I just blasted through since my socks were already wet from the day before. I got to 522 and there was a shuttle already there. She was an older woman who had just dropped off some hikers. She told me no charge since she had to go back to Front Royal anyways. We passed a Smithsonian Institute research building. She mentioned that they had an open house every November that showed what they were working on. They did a lot of research on endangered species in the area. It seemed like an event to go back for. We rolled into Front Royal and she dropped me off at the post office.  I saw Rebel coming out of the post office and I made plans to get lunch with him. I picked up my general delivery package that had been bounced several times. The box looked like it was run over but the contents were mostly intact. It had my boots and lots of food. I grabbed all the food and shipped my boots to Harper's ferry since I wanted to keep rolling in the chacos. I met Rebel at the gas station and got a message from Kazi and Scissors that they were going to the post office and Walmart. They had stayed at an Airbnb right next to the trail. The woman driving them around was the owner and she reluctantly gave us a ride. We all resupplied at Walmart. I didn't have to buy much since I had lots of food from my resupply. The hostel owner dropped us off at the quality inn.  Kazi and Scissors were going to hike 5 miles today. Rebel got a room but we had to wait until 3 pm to check it.  Next door was a Thai restaurant that we were craving. I got Kao Soi chicken and Rebel got pad Thai. That food really hit the spot. I got a text from Kazi and Scissors saying that they didn't want to head out today because they were in a funk from the Airbnb they stayed at. We offered them the room at the quality inn which was $80 split between 5 people. Apparently the owners at the Airbnb had treated them like kids and were patronizing them. The one didn't like Theo dirtying the floor even though several other hikers were staying there. The owner told Kazi to get on her "hands and knees" to clean up the dirt. It was a depressing experience. We all got the room and their moods lifted.  We just hung out in the room for awhile drinking beer, watching the world cup, and doing our laundry. Rebel and Scissors saw a nice log rolling hill from across the street and decided to roll down it. Theo was with us and went crazy when they rolled down. I think he wanted to join them.  Afterwards we went to C&C ice cream. I got lemon cookie and brownie batter ice cream. We all headed over to the square with ice cream in hand. Theo was getting all riled up. He hadn't hiked today. A group of children came over and gave Theo pets. He was getting extra love today. Rebel, Lit, and I went to the local brewery. It was more like a gastropub with the prices to fit. It took a long time to get our appetizers. Rebel and I wanted to get second dinner but the brewery was keeping that from happening. Luckily the food came out at 9 pm. We devoured it then headed over to Pave mint for BBQ. It was close to closing time but we were still able to order. We struck up a conversation with a family next to us who were interested in thru hiking. They asked us all sorts of questions. We asked the woman how she knew we were thru hikers. She said we looked "athletic." Our spirits with lifted with that comment and we came to find out that they paid for our first round of drinks!  We had levelled up in the art of yogiing. I ate a french dip with brisket and Rebel got a cubano. We were stuffed. We hobbled back to the hotel room. It was still early but Rebel was done for today. I gave Theresa a call to catch up with her. She had been missing me more lately. I'm really excited to see her soon in Ohio. I talked until 12:30 am then headed off to bed. Rebel was taking up the whole bed and I had to push him over to make room for me.Tonight I almost got spooned by Rebel Yell.