Date: 2007-05-30
From: Marion Va

To: Marion Va
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

So, a day of absolute unknowns ahead of me. I woke after a pretty bad nite's sleep due to stomach cramps. I walked over for breakfast, HOPING I'd feel hungry, but no such luck. I forced down a scoop of scrambled eggs and 1\2 a biscuit. I'm a disgrace to thru-hikers everywhere! LOLI decided to figure out what I needed for resupplying, and I figured I'd do my laundry if I could find a place. I would love to be taken back exactly where I left off, but fear that's going to be difficult due to the road conditions. I decided I'd prefer to be taken back up to the Grayson Highlands and re-hike 3 miles as opposed to missing 4 miles by starting @ VA-603. If another hiker skipped 4 miles due to these circumstances, I'd surely not take issue with it, but I seriously want to SEE what's in those 4 miles. I don't want to miss anything, however, when you are at the mercy of strangers, you take what you can get.I had an epiphany this morning. I received an email from a 1981 thru-hiker offering help for Persistent and I, in this area. Asking complete strangers for help is not something I "do" well, but I also think this journey is supposed to teach me that too, so I found McDog's # in the email I saved and gave him a call.First, he had a great sense of humor from the start, and when I introduced myself and explained my situation of needing a ride back to the trail, his exact words (without hesitation) were, "We can make that happen." Seriously folks, never have I called upon a total stranger who was so willing to step up and just help! So, long story short, he's picking me up tomorrow @ 10:00 a.m. AND is taking me right back to The Scales, where I left off!! He is proof as to how much this journey remains in your soul for the rest of your life. 27 years after the fact, he's ready to jump in and help a fellow hiker....amazing.So now I needed to get chores done. I remember Bill telling me there's a cab service here, and I was curious about the fare, so I looked in the yellow pages. No cab service, but I noticed a Marion Transit Service listing. I called, and you won't believe this, but they'll come pick you up and take you where ever you need to go for 50 CENTS per location!!! It is a community service and helps those with physical disabilities as well as others with no other transportation. It was total luck I found this, the Companion does not mention it.I wanted to send some of my cold weather gear home too, but the driver said they don't wait, and I needed laundry done worst, so I rode around the route till we reached the laundrymat. During my ride, I was befriended by a woman who goes by T, and she was born and raised here. Very nice, and she gave me her phone# in case I had any questions about how things worked in Marion.I do my laundry and now want to resupply, but I really don't know how far Wally World is. Pay attention here future thru-hikers, I'm about to share " Certain's Secret Mooch A Free Ride From Locals" technique. LOLI walk outside with all my stuff, and see a woman by her car. I go, "Hi, I'm hiking the AT, and I am trying to find Wal-Mart but don't know which direction it is." The woman goes, "Oh, it's up that way." I smile and go, "Oh thanks so much, is it within walking distance?" (this is the hook by the way). She goes, "Sort of, hey, I'll give you a ride." I then get a shocked look on my face, exclaim how awesome that would be, and enjoy my ride! There's 2 things about people to remember. 1 is that fair or not, people trust women more than men, and 2 is that being too direct sometimes freaks people out, and they feel more comfortable if THEY offer instead of you asking, so you may have to dance around the question and let them ask if they can give you a ride instead of you flat out asking for one. Just my theory, but I can read people pretty well. So Michele (who oddly enough shares my first name AND the spelling of it, which made us both laugh) was super nice, is a librarian here, and drove me up to Wally World. THANKS MICHELE! I do my shopping, and now need to eat dinner. I'm "sort of" hungry, and decided to go to the Chinese place. I managed to get 1 1\2 plates down and some ice cream, which was really encouraging. I'm crossing my fingers this is the beginning of the end of this stomach misery.Now, it's back to the Rodeway Inn, but I wanted to try getting another ride, so I saw 2 women (mother and daughter) walking in the parking lot, and went thru the same routine as before. Success!! They offered to give me a ride. The daughter just graduated with her Associates in Education, and her mom told me that they had just made a decision in their church to try to start helping others with the little things, and they were excited to be able to help me. They are The Mitchells, and I thanked them a ton (as I did Michele earlier). So I am back in my room and am getting packed up.I am not 100%, but I'm starting to feel little twinges of hunger when I see a hot dog on t.v., so I guess that's good! LOLI spent time catching up with my friend, Heather tonight, and reflecting upon the events of the day. Between yesterday an today, 6 complete strangers helped me. Without them, I would have been up in the mountains wondering why I felt so horrible. I have to believe this has happened for a reason. Perhaps to teach me that regardless of how self-sufficient I try to become in life, I will always need people, and people will need my help in life as well. I hope to be able to pay it forward some day soon. I'm mailing some cold weather stuff home tomorrow. I'm past Mt. Rogers now, so here's what I'm sending:Fleece pants, silk bag liner, rain pants, "Toasty" gloves. I think that's all for now. I'm keeping some stuff because it did get down to 47 the last nite I was out.So it was a pretty incredible day in that those feared "unknowns" worked themselves out. They always do if you let them. Finally back to hiking tomorrow. ~Certain