Date: 2016-05-19
From: Rockfish Gap, Waynesboro

To: Rockfish Gap, Waynesboro
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I did not have a good nights sleep again. I cant wait to get back out on the trail. I got up at 6:45am and had 2 bowls of cereal and bananas, two toast with jelly and a cup of hot tea. We sat around and talked a bit...at least the ones who were awake Rafiki, Black Santa, Sweet Potato, Savage, McDoubles, Cool Dad, Aristotle and a section hiker. Rafiki is getting off the trail; he is finished for the year. He found out that he got a job at Berkely California that he had applied for and really wanted so he is very happy about that. Rafiki is a really soft spoken nice guy. I will miss him on the trail. Also Aristotle is getting off too. He said that he is tired and since he has already walked the whole trail before he is feeling good about it. I saw most hikers off including Sweet Potato. She will meet up with Juan Durer later today. I hope to catch up with them again some time in the future. I arranged for the rental car company to come pick me up at the church and I took my gear in case I get it all taken care of before noon. If I do, I will hit the trail. If not, then I will come back to the hostel. I offered anybody a ride who needed it once I get the car. I left and got my car. It was a Fiat...a very small car. When I got back to the hostel Rafiki, Aristotle and the section hiker needed rides. It was funny squeezing everybody in the car, Rafiki and Aristotle are both over 6ft tall but we did it. I dropped off Rafiki in town, took Aristotle to the outfitter and the Section hiker went with me to Buena Vista since he was getting picked up to get back to his car, this would save him $40. He was very appreciative. I got to Buena Vista and went to the Post Office but my UPS had not arrived yet. They said it would be soon so I went to the library where I am writing my blog.UPS came but they did not drop my package off!! It was about 11:00am by then. Here I go on the phone again, this time with UPS. They said he should have had it and they took my number and they tried to contact the driver. In the meantime I took advantage of my time and went to Historic Lexington which was only 7 miles away. Virginia Military Institute and another college are there. They have a nice historic downtown. I had lunch at a popular restaurant. The lamb meatballs were excellent! Finally the UPS driver called me and apologized because he still had the package but he would drop it off at the post office in 10 minutes. I got back to Buena Vista and GOT IT!!!! Everyone at the post office was out talking to me and having a good laugh, but they were very helpful and happy for me. I headed out of town back to Waynesboro and to the Verizon store where they synced my new phone. It did not take them long and they boxed the old one for me and I was gone again looking for a UPS mail center which I found further into town. Done! The phone saga is over, I hope! While I was in Buena Vista I decided to mail my cooking stove and pot home as an experiment of not cooking. Since I will be home in 2 weeks for a function I can bring it back if I miss it. This will also save my pack some weight. Of course I will have to resupply differently and really think of what I will be eating. I went to the outfitter and weighed my pack without food and water...18lbs 10oz... that is fantastic! I will stay at the hostel again tonight and get back to hiking in the morning. I cant wait.I went to the grocery store and got my food supplies...a large summer sausage, a lot of cheese(mozzarella and cheddar), olives and bagels. Thought I would try bagels instead of flat bread this time. Bagels are bulkier and heavier but are full of calories. While heading back to the car rental agency I saw Sea Biscuit(from Wales) walking on the side of the road. I picked him up and took him to the grocery store. He told me that was it for him, his heart was not in it anymore. He said he would like to come back and finish sometime in the future.I returned the car and got a ride back to the hostel. On Thursdays our hosts cook a meal for the hikers. We had vegetarian ziti, meatballs on the side, salad, garlic bread, cookies and ice cream. I am stuffed. There were only 6 hikers Rafiki, Ish(from Israel), Skebo, Nums and Mega Fauna(whom I met in Damascus but they had different names, Jeff(a flipflopper) and Karl(a biker doing the transamerica trail, which is coast to coast) and about 7 other people. Dinner was excellent and we got to talk to everybody, hikers and non hikers. I helped clean up later. Thanks to Irma, Marge and Moonwalker for cooking everything. I have a new phone and a big smile on my face. I am ready to hike and reach Harpers Ferry before I get off the trail.