Date: 2006-09-18
From: fontana 

To: fontana village cabin
Miles today: 0.0

======2003====== march 8, day 15,   ZERO DAY!well, we¢re here in fontana!.....i¢ve been here before (when i was a kid¢¦.remembering uncle gene and aunt edith¢¦..gene liked to bring date nut bread and cream cheese for the big pinic by the lake!......[ things seemed a lot greener then] )¢¦¢¦but it¢s hard to believe we WALKED here!...i would have never thought i could have done it!.....our Lord has been so gracious to us¢¦..has helped us so much¢¦.i¢m counting on his help daily¢¦and that¢s the bottom line¢¦..even when i¢m not hikin¢, i¢m realizin¢ more and more the cry of my deepest life : ¢ i need Him!¢¢¦.i¢m so happy i decided to carry my ol¢ heavy bible¢¦..it has been such a source of joy and strength to me¢¦¢¦at breakfast this AM , we enjoyed a huge plateful of eggs, bisquits, gravy, apples, grits, potatoes, even bacon!* (guess we¢ll be doin¢ the ¢meat thing¢ for the next few months)¢¦and, THEN we went back to the bar and did it all over again a SECOND time! (amazing! i don¢t even feel really stuffed! weird!)¢¦.i think susan¢s bringin¢ food today¢¦..we¢ll move to a cabin here that has a kitchen so we¢ll probably cook¢¦..mostly i hope we can stay off our feet!*....i¢m wonderin¢ if this nice weather is gonna hold on for the smokies¢¦..bill and diana say they¢ve always done rain in the smokies (or SNOW!)¢¦.but it¢s only a week¢¦Lord willin¢¢¦..it¢ll be hard, though¢¦..i¢m prayin¢ for a little extra strength for our weary ol¢ bodies¢¦..we¢re excited about this section, however¢¦.lots to look forward to¢¦..then, after we meet tim again at davenport gap¢¦..we¢ll be REALLY on our own¢¦..it¢ll be, in a way, the true beginning of our journey¢¦.it¢s a little scary, getting so far away from home and family and friends¢¦.but i have charlie ¢¦..what an encouragement he¢s been to me already¢¦.i hope i can help him at least as much as he¢s helped me¢¦(it¢s GREAT having a partner* out here!)¢¦..i hope he can find the things he¢s needing at the outfitters to make himself more comfortable¢¦..we¢re headed to some of the most beautiful country on the trail, i think, and i really want him to be able to enjoy it¢¦.we talked a while to the couple who cooked our breakfast this AM¢¦.they¢re hikers and he showed us his pack¢¦.he was interested in ¢all-things-going-lite¢¢¦.it was a nice visit (and perhaps a bit of ¢mutual¢ help)¢¦.i think vic and irish may be rollin¢ in here today¢¦i believe their folks have a place over here¢¦maybe we¢ll see them*¢¦¢¦fontana village has seen its better days, i guess¢¦.. it¢s a little ¢frayed around the edges¢¢¦¢¦but to us it¢s HEAVEN!....funny the little things you learn to appreciate¢¦.still tryin¢ to work the ¢bugs¢ out of mail drops and food ¢¦..our food for the most part still seems like too much and we still are havin¢ a little difficulty figuring out what exactly we need and when (per our schedule)¢¦.i¢m still tryin¢ to calculate ordering my ¢monthlies¢ so i don¢t hafta carry them around forever¢¦.also wonderin¢ if i should send some gear home yet¢¦i dunno¢¦. i think we¢ll encounter plenty more cold weather¢¦.in fact, i just talked to a guy here in the lobby who is hiking all of the trails of the smokies (he lives above knoxville) and he says it¢s supposed to be cooler* next week¢¦.so maybe i¢ll hold on to my warm clothes for a while*¢¦¢¦i¢m waiting here (in this hotel lobby) while charlie¢s at the laundromat¢¦.even out on the trail he gets stuck with this job! ha ha!....hope we can move on over to the cabin soon¢¦..we need to make repairs, etc¢¦¢¦and maybe REST a little more before the tuckers come¢¦..proverbs 14:11¢¦¢the tent of the upright shall flourish!¢¢¦¢¦=======2006======Lord¢s day, february 26, day 15 (ZERO today! at the inn)didn¢t finish that thought last evening about the umbrella, because we became entrenched in a wonderful visit with two fellows there (at the ¢hilton¢) who we now consider to be friends¢¦.once again, we have been Providencially Provided for!...(i will try to relate this story in a way that honors that Providence¢¦..which it DOES whether i write or speak about it or not!)¢¦..but for the record, here goes¢¦.as i had written (while trying to stay warm there in the breezeway of the shelter), i had been thinking and praying about an umbrella (since wayah bald ¢ate¢ mine)¢¦i was really tryin¢ not to worry, but rather to believe that my prayers would be answered¢¦these petitions always seemed to come out not so much in the form of asking that the next store would have one that i could purchase (though, i reckon i covered that ground, too), but more that i might think in different, less ¢american consumer¢-type terms¢¦.my prayers kept ¢morphing¢ into very vivid thoughts that God would indeed provide, but not in the way i thought¢¦..i began to think in terms of finding a ¢dumpster umbrella¢ or meeting a heavily-ladened-umbrella-hiker who wanted to get rid of some extra weight ¢¦.but it¢s been so incredibly lonesome out here, that i confess i didn¢t really see that happening¢¦..paw-ee and i have been pretty much alone the last few days, with the ¢blueberry patch¢ gang a couple of days behind us and the earlier hikers ahead of us a week or so¢¦¢¦it was really different coming into the shelter at fontana¢¦.almost spooky¢¦..so deserted¢¦.(last time the shelter was full of all kinds of fun, crazy folks enjoying the nice weather)¢¦.but this time we were alone it seemed, except for a couple of guys in a fishing boat down below on the cold, gray lake¢¦.in a little while however, paw-ee said, ¢someone¢s coming¢¦.listen¢¦¢¢¦¢¦i said,¢that can¢t be¢¦.. there weren¢t any hikers out there today¢¢¦.(there weren¢t even any cars at the marina¢¦maybe a work truck or two¢¦.but i figured maybe someone had pulled in the parkin¢ lot just up the hill)¢¦but for a long while no one came so i thought paw was mistaken ¢¦..just then, however, 2 guys did come sauntering down the ¢sidewalk¢(yes, the ¢hilton¢ has an ASPHALT trail!)¢¦..but they had no packs¢¦.one fella was older than the other¢¦.it became obvious as they approached that they were father and son¢¦.paw-ee had headed off up to the phone at this point (to see about a room for us at the inn), so i greeted these men and we began to engage in a little small talk¢¦.it ended up that jeff, the son, was a ¢go-lite advocate/enthusiast¢ and had made much of his own gear (as we had)¢¦.so we had a lot in common right off the bat¢¦¢¦but more than that, it soon became apparent that we were kindred spirits in another way¢¦.these guys were Christians!....(it¢s so neat how you sometimes just KNOW these things!....it¢s not like they had to introduce themselves: ¢hi, we¢re the father/son christians from atlanta¢!)¢¦.but this became most obvious when jeff made me an unbelievably generous offer¢¦¢¦.we had been comparing gear and so forth when he asked if paw-ee and i carried umbrellas¢¦..well, naturally that led to my sad tale of how the wind at wayah had disintegrated my ¢brollie¢, but that, yes, we normally did carry them¢¦..that was all that was said on the umbrella subject and we went on to discuss other ¢ray jardine techniques and gear¢¢¦..jeff and gary (his dad, who was a bit under the weather) then asked if we minded if they bunked in there with us for the night¢¦we, of course, expressed our joy at finally having some company¢¦.so they went back up the walk to get their gear out of the car¢¦..when they came back, jeff was carrying an umbrella¢¦.not just any ol¢ umbrella, but a real, live ¢golite¢ umbrella!.....imagine my surprise when he handed it to me and said, ¢here ¢¦i want you to have this¢!well, of course, i was flabber-gasted!....nobody just hands over a $30 umbrella to a perfect stranger!....i was initially speechless¢¦..but when i recovered from my shock, i respectfully tried to refuse his unbelievably kind offer¢¦..he was so insistent, however, that (to make a long story short) we did end up PURCHASING (at our insistence) this beautiful, miraculous umbrella!*as they brought us here to the hotel this morning (yes¢¦they also gave us a ride!), i mentioned to jeff that i had been studying psalm 91 and that the umbrella would be a tangible reminder of those ¢wings of protection¢ over us¢¦and then he said, ¢yeah¢¦i was thinkin¢ you could add onto that ¢go-lite¢ logo: ¢your world¢!)¢¦(it took me a second, too!)¢¦. ¢you know¢¦go light your world!¢..and then to my amazement, he said the exact thing i had been reading and thinking about from the book of matthew: ¢a city on a hill CANNOT be hid!¢¢¦..all this to say i believe God is at work in our hike¢¦..i sense this so keenly!....i don¢t know what He¢s about to do exactly, but i think He will show Himself to be very much alive and, somehow, honored through our weaknesses and needs¢¦.afterall¢¦this is really HIS hike¢¦.it¢s these beautiful and unusual, kindred ¢connections¢ with folks that makes me consider this¢¦.like meeting gary and lenny poteet at the blueberry patch¢¦.and then these 2 fine men¢¦through these people our Creator seems to have particularly strengthened us¢¦is He preparing us for something?¢¦particularly?....my prayer is that we¢ll be faithful to Him, to His honor, no matter what happens out here¢¦.and ya never know!....as we talked at the shelter last night with jeff and his dad about hiking and gear, etc., jeff¢s incredible story finally spilled out¢¦though he has the youthful appearance of someone who might have just gotten their driver¢s license, he is a school teacher in atlanta and far exceeds his years in experience, maturity and wisdom¢¦.he told us of his wife and his 4 12 month son, noah¢¦¢¦and that noah is a twin¢¦jeff continued to relate how noah¢s brother, joshua, didn¢t make it at birth, but with tears in his eyes spoke of God¢s grace in sustaining his family through it all¢¦¢¦to see his confidence that God is sovereign and holding their hands through each difficult step gives me courage and hope as well, that the Holy Spirit really can and does live in us to ¢ work all things together for good¢ and for the glory He so richly deserves!....our prayer continues to be that this ¢recreation¢ on the AT will be a ¢RE- CREATION¢ for both of us¢¦.that we will be shaped and molded to be more like our Lord Jesus, ¢awakened¢ to be more what He has in mind we can be¢¦..long phone conversations this evening, but seeing God¢s hand at work at home , too!.....carli had her wallet stolen, but miraculously no one used any of the cards (one of which was ours!)¢¦mom will be by herself till wednesday¢¦.please keep her safe and well, Lord¢¦and we ask your blessings on us as well, as we try to be strong and remember your words as you¢ve given them today¢¦.. *NOTES/OBSERVATIONS/COMPARISONS-------*bacon¢¦at home we had enjoyed what i guess you¢d call an ¢ovo-vegetarian¢ diet¢¦.out on the trail we ate everything in sight! (sometimes even our shoelaces looked appetizing!)*staying off our feet¢¦..in ¢03 our ¢off days¢ really became ¢off our feet¢ days¢¦.we never relished the thought of walking much once we got into town¢¦(we really ¢hobbled¢ more than walked anyway and it took a LONG time after we got back home to be able to walk normally again)¢¦but in ¢06 it was MUCH different!....the ¢hobble¢ was gone and we enjoyed plenty of walking in towns like manchester center, vermont where we walked the mile back and forth to town to get meals, shop and even go to a movie¢¦there was never a question of whether or not to go a mile or two out of the way for food or whatever in ¢06¢¦.our feet and legs always seemed to be able to carry us wherever we needed to go¢¦..*partner¢¦¢¦there are so many things that are easier and more enjoyable WITH someone!....still, like it is in any area of life, it requires patience to work together toward a common goal¢¦.we learned not to sweat the small stuff¢¦you HAVE to!...and the victories you celebrate together are worth any obstacles you have to overcome¢¦.*vic and irish¢¦.i don¢t think we ever saw them again¢¦.this is a painful reality that occurs often in the lives of thru-hikers¢¦.though many folks make an effort to stay in touch, it doesn¢t always happen¢¦.you have this unique and automatic bond with nearly everyone you meet out there, even if it¢s only in passing¢¦.you remember these folks forever, but unfortunately have no way to ever contact some of them again¢¦.that¢s why events like ALDHA are good¢¦you never know who you might run into again! (by the way, vic and irish, if you¢re out there we¢d love to hear from you!)*cooler weather¢¦..we eventually learned to take ¢weather predictions¢ with a grain of salt¢¦..seemed like it was never the same in the mountains!*warm clothes¢¦.i don¢t think we sent most of our winter gear home until waynesboro, va¢¦.(paw-ee would usually send one or two things home before i would ¢¦i¢m kinda cold natured)¢¦.there¢s a thrift shop by the laundromat across from ¢weezies¢ in waynesboro, too, that helped us out with some cooler pieces of clothing¢¦.more on waynesboro (GREAT town!) later¢¦..*golite umbrella¢¦. i¢ve been very pleased with this ¢unconventional¢ purchase!...(thanks again, jeff!)¢¦.this is a very strong, very durable ¢brollie¢ and light-weight to boot¢¦.normally i wouldn¢t splurge on an ¢outfitter-type¢ purchase like this, but i¢m glad i did and would recommend this product¢¦.(i did see one other guy [¢10-speed¢] carrying the same umbrella and he really loved his, too!)