Date: 2013-06-05
From: Lamberts Meadow Shelter

To: Daleville hotel
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: light rain

Apparently I was the very first on the trail as I was breaking a lot of spiderwebs. I thought they were bad before but this was outrageous. I passed Sprouts, Skinny and Ace breaking down camp but they didn't pass me til after an hour and a half. I kept passing power line after power line, some with a view, some without. Skinny, Ace and Sprouts were also looking for a view so we kept leapfrogging. I could see the river on the right in between the trees. There wasn't a real good clear view of it from any rocks or clearing. The power lines prevented a perfect picture of the river. This annoyed me and made me feel worse as I just wanted to get to Daleville Now. I climbed over rocks into an area of burnt trees and shrubs. It looked like lightening had hit and started a fire. It sure was eerie looking so after taking a few pictures, I continued on my way. I finally stumbled into Daleville onto a road in the hot sun. I sighed as I realized I still had to walk down 10-15minutes to the shopping center. I was hoping to run into Skinny, Ace and Sprouts at Three Lil Pigs but they weren't there. I was so exhausted I couldn't even pick what I wanted to eat off the menu. The prices were a little high so that got me a little upset but I ordered a turkey wrap and the thru-hikers free banana pudding dessert. I like free and I like dessert. I was eyeing the fried oreos with ice cream on the menu but that was $5. The banana pudding tasted really good. I went to the outfitter, looked at all the gear and tried on many different packs. I like the Osprey Viva 50 the best but I didn't pack it with my stuff or get to test it out so I really don't know. I tried on the blue tencel skirt I'd seen earlier but it just didn't fit right. Nothing for me from the outfitters. I went over to Kroger's, put my backpack, hiking sticks and boots in the cart and went shopping. I felt a little odd, carting my backpack around but at least I wasn't carrying it. Once I got my resupply, I wheeled my cart around to the soda machines. There were 2 guys chilling on a lounge set for sale, looking at me and my backpack with interest. They watched as I fumbled with the silly machine, as it wouldn't take my dollar bill. One guy offered me quarters and the machines then gave me 2 Dr. Peppers. Whee! They asked me about my hike and I always try to fully answer questions and educate people about the Appalachian Trail. I rolled my cart back to the outfitters and organized my food. I charged my phone in the coffee shop right next door, eating vanilla ice cream with 3 oreos in it, "Oreo ice cream." The coffee shop was the gossip center of the town because many hikers came in. I learned that Reddup's husband was coming and what other hikers were here/where they were staying. I saw SlownSteady and Pantry, Teaka and several others. As I charged my phone, I learned that Cozy and Redup had arrived in town and were at the Howard Johnson. As I got my stuff together to go over there, Cozy called me. I was pretty excited that they caught back up and decided to zero with them, so we wouldn't get separated. Cozy was planning to flip flop from Glasgow, VA, 5 days ahead so I wanted to hiker with her some. Cozy, Reddup, Smoke and Ann and I all went out to dinner at Three Lil Pigs and it was enjoyable. Eating alone there for lunch was much less exciting. It started raining as we headed back to the hotel. It was still raining as we woke up for the hotels breakfast. I had donuts and a waffle which was tasty. The news was on during breakfast and it was very annoying. It was all bad news and a lot of it didn't need to be on national news, like the fact that Paris Jackson (Michael Jackson's daughter) had tried to kill herself or something. I felt that had no place at all to be on T.V. On the trail, I'm away from all news, except really important things, like I'd heard about the Boston Marathon. For the most part, I enjoyed not hearing all the negative things that infiltrate life and affect our mental outlook for the day.