Date: 2014-05-14
From: Damascus, VA

To: zero day
Miles today: 0.0

AT day 40 WednesdayWe woke up at Woodchuck hostel and were treated to cereal, coffee, and tea for breakfast! Woodchuck includes that with the stay! It was great! Everyone was up early as usual, so we got to meet some new hikers and visit with a couple we've been hiking with. Sadly, Dave had to go home today. Jon was very sad. But we were so glad he got to come out and see us and experience the AT. I should have had him write a guest journal to say what he thought of the trail, but there wasn't time. On a happy note, Rachel and Ryan, Jon's cousins were coming to see us! We tried to get all of our "chores" done before they got there so we could enjoy their company. There's always lots to do in town like laundry, cleaning our gear, airing out sleeping bags, and tents, etcetera. Generally zero days are more tiring than hiking days just because of all the things we have to do while there's running water and electricity!Rachel and Ryan got to Damascus in time for lunch so we went to Dots Inn (a local restaurant). It was a small place with a big counter and a few booths. The counter was pretty packed so we grabbed a booth. There wasn't enough room for all five of us in it though so kent had to steal a stool and sit at the end in the middle of the walkway. But it was all good. It was great getting to visit with Jon's cousins. I had never met them before so it was even more exciting for me!We all got huge burgers and chewed down. They were delicious! As we were eating, the side door slams open and in runs a dog! Right on the dogs tail was an older man with no shirt on chasing behind the dog who ran behind the counter! The man was shouting, "She did it again! She got away"! It was hilarious! The lady behind the counter caught the dog by the collar and led her back to the topless man who took the dog outside. Two minutes later the guy comes back in with a half shirt on! I guess that's better than no shirt! The whole situation was rather entertaining! We were all laughing and stunned, thinking you couldn't even make this stuff up!After lunch we took Rachel and Ryan over to the outfitter and then back to the hostel where they got to meet some of our hiker buddies. After a lot of debate and going through various options, we decided that we would ride back to NC with Rachel and get a rental car from there to go home. So with a great deal of sadness, we said goodbye to everyone and promised to keep in touch. We will be coming back to the trail next week (hopefully) so we'll be pretty far behind the bubble if hikers we've been with. It was kind of surreal leaving what has been our life and community for the last five weeks. Taking five months off regular life is hard to do and no matter how much forethought and preparation is done, you can't foresee everything. So we will go home and take care of a few things, regroup, and hopefully get some much needed rest and recovery (for me at least) then come back out and finish the trail. I'll continue journaling once we get back out. Thanks again for everyone's support and comments. I hope you'll all continue to check in on us when we are back out. And a huge thank you to Rachel, Ryan and Jon (Rachel's husband) for all your help and letting us bombard you for the night! We appreciate your coming out and willingness to help in so many ways!