Date: 2009-06-03
From: Bland, VA

To: Dublin, VA
Miles today: 0.0

Obviously, I didn't sleep too well, but it did get me through the night without to fork out too much money. I woke around 6:30 am and, as I literally camped 100 yards next to the Subway, I packed up my belongings and headed over to get a Subway breakfast sandwich. Yep, I didn't realize that Subway had breakfasts! I hung out again for a while, icing my leg. I had a pit-stop at the Dollar General to pick up some knock-off Icy Hot cream and met Phoenix Rising in the process. She is a massage therapist and talked to me about my injury for a short while. Due to the severity of the pain and knowing the muscles and tendons in the area, she initially thought that it might be a slight tearing of the muscle. I saw her at the post office later in the morning and she actually tested out my leg, trying to find a 'hot spot' in the area of where it hurt. The strange thing is that I can hike for about 7 miles without my leg hurting. Then, without much explanation, my leg completely swells up and the pain becomes excrutiating. Not sure if there is an explanation for this one. While at the Bland County Library, I uploaded some pictures, typed up some emails, and talked to some fellow thru-hikers who had just arrived into town. I knew that I had to take some days off in order to allow for my injury to heal, so I looked up people on 'CouchSurfing.com'. This is an internet site where people around the world can 'host' surfers and can 'surf' other people's couches. In this particular case, I was hoping to 'surf', or more simply put, REST! I emailed Robin White and her husband in Dublin, VA and she immediately responded stating that they would drive the 45 minutes to come and pick me up and that I could stay as long as I would like. I couldn't believe it! I then proceeded to give her a call to confirm the details and we arranged that she would pick me up at the library later on in the evening. Sure enough, Robin and her husband, Jeremy, picked me up around 5:30 pm and off we headed to Dublin, VA. On the way, thunderstorms dumped tons of rain on the highway and we chatted away about life on the trail and interesting tidbits of our personal lives. I couldn't thank them enough for picking me up and taking me in for the next few days. It was the greatest piece of generosity that I have had out on the trail. Robin and Jeremy are both 25 and just became married last fall. Robin works as a chemist in an explosive and ammunition research facility nearby Dublin, while Jeremy is self-employed in construction and handyman work. They both enjoy travel and have aspirations to not only join the Peace Corps, but also to hike the Appalachian Trail. Robin and Jeremy are both dog lovers and Robin participates in the Pound Pals organization, which rescues pups who are about to be euthanized as there is no longer room in animal shelters. They keep these dogs until they are able to find an owner to take in the dog. Sometimes, they have to drive all over the state just to pick up or drop off a pup. They have Jack, a beautiful mix of a pitbull/labrador, Marley, a yellow labrador named after the movie 'Marley and Me' and quite similar to my family's old dog, Copper, and, lastly, an absolutely wild young pup named Rocko, who is as dumb as a brick and constantly bites everything in site, including Jack's face and neck. On the first evening, we just relaxed, ate dinner and watched some TV, including watching Costa Rica demolish USA 3-1 in World Cup Qualifying. I was absolutely exhausted and soon fell asleep. I can't thank Jeremy and Robin enough for taking me in. It was wonderful to be with such great people, who were so helpful and generous for opening their home - and their hearts - to a stinky, dirty thru-hiker stranger.