From: Damascus VA

To: Damascus VA
Miles today: 0.0

1720.0 miles to go.This Guy had gotten us spots in the teepee at the Woodchuck Hostel, which was interesting. There were no beds in the teepee, just a rough outdoor carpet over a pea gravel bed. I didn't need much, though: just a flat spot in the ground was enough for me after all of those miles.The next morning, This Guy and I enjoyed the Woodchuck's famous "all you can eat waffles" breakfast. I had some eggs, and some OJ, and more waffles than I care to admit. I put peanut butter and honey on the last two and ate them like a sandwich.I spent most of the day trying to take care of my resupply. Chuck, who runs the Woodchuck, was kind enough to drive me around town a little since I was trying to not put a lot of miles on my tender leg. My new top quilt from Hammock Gear had arrived; I'm very stoked to be shedding another pound of gear by switching to a lighter quilt. Unfortunately, ALL of my other boxes had gotten messed up - it's a good thing I was planning on zeroing in Damascus anyways!The new guitar and cooking pot that I had ordered off of Amazon got dumped at a FedEx warehouse in Blountville, TN. It took about an hour a several phone calls to track them down and make arrangements to have them sent out to the Woodchuck Hostel the next day at no charge. My resupply box from Momza had gotten shipped to Abingdon, VA, and they would have it at the Post Office in town for pickup the next day.With that all straightened out (sort of), I did some shopping at the outfitters in town. Chuck dropped me off and I took my time perusing the Sundog. After a lot of shopping and a couple of minor purchases, I wandered across the street for lunch at the cafe. While there, I texted a shuttle that was listed in the guidebook, who said he could give me a ride. As I was eating, a guy paid his check, then turned to me and asked "you wanted the shuttle?" He was eating lunch at the same place I was!He drove me across town to the other cluster of stores, and didn't even charge me for it. I did a little more shopping, ran into many other hikers that I knew, and then walked the .3 miles back to the hostel. It's fun going to a hostel, because you tend to bump into many of the people that you have crossed trails with, and this was no exception.One of the things that I had bought in town was a new t-shirt, so I took another shower and put it on, along with a change of shorts. This Guy and I put our dirty clothes in the laundry, and then I joined a group going to the local grocery store to stock up on food (Chuck drove us there and back again for free). I stocked up on trail food (bananas, apples, avocados, tuna packets, etc), along with a few items that were definitely town food (pack of Mt Dews and Reese's Cups).I had gotten some texts from other hikers that they were renting an entire house for two nights, and wanted us to join them. Back at the hostel, This Guy and I packed up and got ready to leave. Chuck gave us another ride to our new home away from the trail (we gave him a nice tip), and we settled in for the evening. Other hikers at the house included Big Sexxxy, Dinner Roll & Pumba, Sasquatch, Mama Long Legs, Sheldon, Jarhead, Quixote, and Braveheart .... I think that's all the hikers who stayed at the house. However, many more hikers came and hung out for the evening - word spread thru the bubble pretty quickly, and by the time dinner was done, we had quite a crowd at the house. Among us, we had three guitars, a harmonica, and an amateur singer, so we had some fun with an impromptu jam session on the front porch.In the morning, Quixote and I made breakfast for everyone: milk, orange juice, eggs, biscuits, bacon, sausage, and pancakes. The rest of the day we tried to relax and enjoy our zeros, but I did catch another ride to make the rounds and pick up all of my wayward packages. I now have my new guitar, my new pot, and my resupply box! I spent a good part of the evening sorting and repacking my bag, and getting my box of extras ready to mail home. Dinner Roll took charge of making a big, family style dinner, so all I had to do was show up, eat, and then wash some dishes afterwards - it was fantastic.Damascus must be the place on the trail where family comes and visits. I saw three hikers whose sisters had come out to either visit or even hike a little with them: Pumba, Doodlebug, and Yahtzee. Also, Twister got into Damascus and came to crash with us at the house - it was definitely a full house.