Date: 2003-05-04
From: Rockfish Gap

To: Waynesboro
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I got my lab results back from my last round of chemo and everything was fine, so Laura, Carey and I took advantage of the good news and drove up to Waynesboro, VA to meet up with Luke. We took off Friday night and stayed in NC and then drove the rest of the way to Waynesboro on Saturday. We had sent Luke a mail drop for Montebello, VA, which arrived the day after he went through Montebello. Since we had sent him new boots, we needed to get the mail drop picked up on the way up to Waynesboro. I had called the Montebello post office and spoke with a very nice lady, Dixie, who informed me that Luke had some other packages he did pick up, but the big box did not come until the day after Luke was there. Dixie did know that Luke had gone up to the B&B for lunch and had called the owner, Earl to see if Luke had spent the night of if Earl knew where Luke was going next. These folks are all very friendly! Since the post office would close before we got there on Saturday, Earl nicely went to the post office and got Luke's mail drop and held it at his place for us to pick up on Saturday. We got to Montebello around 3:00 and had a great visit with Earl and Louis...very friendly people who love the AT hikers. We got to Waynesboro around 4:30 and met Luke and Paul at the Kroger parking lot. Since we had all of our stuff in the Volvo, Laura and I went and got two hotel rooms and unloaded the car and went back and picked up Luke and Paul. They showered and we all went out for Mexican food....those boys can sure eat!Went back to the hotel and spent Saturday talking and listening to Luke's adventures. He looks great, though his feet are nasty. Some of the highlights:- Really enjoyed the wild ponies back at Grayson Highlands State Park- Eating at The Homeplace in Catawba, VA- Car ride to the teepees- Playing with someone's "pet" goat. Luke said this goat had a collar on and it would stand up on it's back legs.- ZERO Days- Enjoyed the snow in Damascus, VA and was thankful he did not encounter too many snow days.- So far he has enjoyed hiking in Virginia the most...I can see why, it is absolutely beautiful driving through Virginia.- Trail magicLuke has been hiking with Paul as well as Grunt, Java, Dimples, A-Train, Hot Poles, and Pop Tart and is really enjoying himself. He is thinking about doing the 4-State Challenge, which is hiking 47 through 4 states (Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Penn)in 24 hours.We talked until around midnight and then Luke, Paul and Carey went swimming and used the jacuzzi and did laundry.Luke's Mother's Day and Birthday gift for Laura was going to 11:00 mass at St. John's Catholic Church in Waynesboro. Great church! We then went by the Kroger and picked up apples, organes and Big K and drove through SNP to the Pinefield Hut where we left the trail magic. Beautiful day and drive along Skyline Drive. Went out to dinner for Italian and then back to the hotel.I have posted some new pictures to this web-site and have updated Luke's daily stops. It was great seeing him and was hard saying good-bye the next day.The weather forecast called for rain the next 4 days. (We have had heavy rains and tornado warnings this whole week, I hope the weather was not as bad for Luke, et al in Virginia).