Date: 2008-09-08
From: VA Rt. 16 Mt. Rogers HQ

To: New Market, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

In spite of the fact that I managed to steal over an hour's sleep last night in the car on the way back while Bill drove, I was still the last one up this morning, well after 9:00 am which is incredibly late for me. I must have been tired after all the walking I've done over the past couple of weeks (Duh!?!).The morning was spent doing laundry and carrying items in from the camper to the house. At 11:30, Bill's son-number-two, John, drove me in to Harrisonburg to pick up my rental car and en route we stopped for a treat of some outstanding sushi at a local place known to John (and where he is obviously well known, too!)After transferring my items to the rental car I headed north to my business partner's farm in the miniscule metropolis of Todd, PA where I keep my gear in storage when not in use. Tomorrow I will drive down to Mercersburg to see Barb (my partner) and talk about what's happened with the business while I've been out on the Trail, and then head for New York and my own home, and my own bed.The past two weeks have been really good from many perspectives. I continue to enjoy my AT experiences and this section had some of the best maintained, pristine trails as anywhere I can remember. Walking on them was easy and downright pleasurable. Of course my first "up-close-and-personal" sighting and photo of a bear was very cool. I now feel like a true member of the AT hiker's club because I've got a bear story to tell around the campfires. And, I never tire of the sights, smells and sounds -- the stimulus overload -- of the Trail wherever I am and this section was no disappointment by any means!I also must admit that I enjoyed my first exposure to "camping" the RV way which, needless to say, is extremely different from what I'm accustomed to when hiking without my own "logistics support team" (Bill). In hindsight, I doubt very much that I could have done what I did these past days without Bill's help and support simply due to the lack of water and the weather conditions at the onset. Even more importantly, I think my extroverted self would have gone crazy without someone to talk with and "hang with" at the end of the day which, without Bill's company, would have most definitely been the case -- there just wasn't anyone hiking the Trail in southern VA in August.But most of all, I think the real benefit of these past days has been the development of a new relationship for me with my brother-in-law now that my sister is gone. A lot of things are obviously changing for Bill since her passing eight months ago and I can foresee how, without this kind of commitment of time together on both our parts that we might just not have the reason or the opportunity to establish a new relationship -- a new friendship -- in which the connection is strictly between the two of us and not through our shared connection with my sister/his wife. I like Bill a lot and am truly glad we were able to work together in many new ways to open the door to new possibilities and not just rely on one that is tied exclusively to the past.I've said all along that the Appalachian Trail is much more about people than it is about terrain and I'm really glad that the people involved, in this instance, are family people. The AT has brought us together in a new and important way and for that I am very grateful.