Date: 2014-08-17
From: Appalachian Trail Lodge

To: Zero Day 14: Millinocket, ME
Miles today: 0.0

Family reunion today! Hello Kitty, Trail Mamma, and Big Dawg survived the long drive from Indiana and are finally here to celebrate the near completion of this journey. It is truly great to see them again and have them here for this momentous occasion - the journey's end draws near!Although I planned on sleeping in I still woke up early - the trail has conditioned me to wake up with the sun! I laid down for a little bit to see if I would fall back asleep. Since I didn't I decided it was breakfast time! Walked down to the AT Cafe and had a delicious breakfast - stuffed French toast! I sat in the cafe waiting for the upper level to open up so I could get some work done on the computer.The upstairs lounge was nice! I got to work in a nice relaxing quiet environment while enjoying a smoothie and running into other hikers! Ace, Mac, and Bubba stopped by before heading out of town - they summited yesterday and we exchanged congrats and they wished me good luck on my summit day. So far it looks like nice weather and it sounds like Big Dawg's foot is doing better so it should be great! Shroomer and AZ stopped by before heading out and I was able to get my work done - journals and photos and all!Still had a bunch of time to kill before the parents arrived so I walked back to the hostel for lunch. Trip the Light and I walked down to the nearby convenience store to pick up some snacks and then we had a nice lunch in the hostel chatting and catching up - it had been a while since we last saw him.While waiting around I heard Hass's voice downstairs in the gear shop so I walked down and greeted him and DFI - they had taken a zero day near Abol Bridge and came into town to relax before hiking on. They settled in and we all started chatting and then it happened - my folks arrived!So good to see them again! Everyone was doing well and they were a little tired after the 21 hour drive from Indiana. Big Dawg was walking around fairly well with a little limp but not near as bad as before. Hello Kitty was coming off of skydiving recently and started her marathon training - I will be helping her with that soon. Trail Mamma's hip infection was getting a lot better and she was really happy to see me! The feeling was mutual I was really glad to see everyone too!I introduced the Mom and Stef to the thru-hikers around the room and then we went to the Baxter Park Inn to get settled in. A decent hotel room and it will be our home for a couple of days as we finish up this hike - 10 miles tomorrow and then 5.2 the next day! Stef went out for a run and we all chilled waiting for her to return.Then off to dinner at the Pelletier's Restaurant! Named after a logging company in the area it was a nice place to eat and a friendly atmosphere. Ran into Pussel-Gut and his brother and dad after their successful summit then enjoyed a beer with Hass and DFI - good times near the bar area! Talked about many topics ranging from running to tris to skydiving to hiking to careers! A good time all around and we set up to take them up to Abol Bridge in the morning with us - they decided to hike to the Birches and ride with back with us. Gotta help fellow hikers out!With plans made we returned to the room to relax and chat - getting ready for Big Dawg's return to the trail to test out his foot tomorrow. Hope it goes well or we find out quickly he can't summit Katahdin - really don't want to get halfway up and find out he cannot finish the hike. But thinking positive thoughts!