Date: 2003-06-20
From: McAfee Knob

To: Front Royal -Gooney Greek 
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: moderate rain

"Go comfortably in the direction of your dreams - live the life that you have imagined."         Henry David Thoreau On the road today...left Dixie Caverns in drizzle and fog. Started out feeling like I was wasting time, so I decided to do something with it. Headed north on I-81, an awful truck filled road, so I headed east to Glasgow or any hiker friendly town that would have me. Intention...trail magic! Cruised through Buchanan, Glasgow and Buena Vista and nary a hiker to be found. Decided to head north on the Blue Ridge Parkway. A beautiful road, clear at the crest of the Blue Ridge. Stopped to see nearly every vista, took a lot of pictures too! Hit the Kroger in Waynesboro, picked up some dog food and a sack of oranges. Then onto Skyline Drive. I had to see a friendly hiker face. Cruised maybe 30 miles and saw some folks road walking. Looked like Indiana Slim and a couple of girls I didnt recognize. Ah well. I had to be in Front Royal this evening so I pulled over at an overlook to figure out where to go next. Sure enough, the hikers I didnt recognize were 2 Dogs, Pipes, Moxie and Windtalker. They were slacking. I gave them each an orange, dylan {dog} got a Scoobie snack and gave them a ride to Lewis Mtn. Campground. I didnt recognize 2 dogs at first because she had a head net on and also because Cade was missing. She sent him home a few weeks ago. He wasn't doing very well. We chatted a bit and they were thankful. We talked about Groundhog and his gift of gab, how Carolina Cruiser was videotaping in the Shenandoahs and other silly trail stuff. Trail magic is good for the soul. I had a lot of time to think while driving and I thought a lot about yesterday and Mc Afee Knob. I realized I am living my dream! I dreamt for so long about posing buck naked on Mc Afee and I did it. I realize,if you want something badly enough, you have to do it. If not you'll live your life constantly disapointing yourself. Ah, a bit of an epiphany!Now I had to head north in earnest. Had to be in Front Royal this evening to meet the cousins! It was already 4:30. I am meeting Susan and Keith. Excellent fun to be had. Got to Gooney Creek Campground around 6:30, set-up camp right next to the raging Gooney and hung out and chatted over cold beers, chips and dip! Dip is key! YUMMY. Keith cooked excellent burgers and Susan grilled potatos and zucchini - extra yummy. I drank some beer and yelled at Chloe who broke her 2nd leash of the day. She chewed the retractable part on the retractable leash and busted the snap on her canvas leash, all for an adorable 6 week old deer. Thankfully she had the leash trailing her and got hung up in some brush! Deer ok, Chloe very bad dog! But she's doing what comes naturally! After dinner we chatted til late! Gotta work on trail names for Susan and Keith. Earlier I said Keith was Burger and Susan Zucchini. Now, I think Keith should be "Hey Beer Man". He loves his beer! Tomorow we'll hike in the northern Shenandoahs!Peace, MolassesPS: I can't believe that there are over 32,000 hits on my page of Trail Journals. I would love to know and hear from the many nice folks who are following my adventure. I think that a good number of the hits are from my mom & dad, several cousins, aunts and uncles and other assorted friends. Please drop me a note on "View". Thank you to everyone who has written so far and for your kind words - they mean alot to me.PeaceMolasses