Date: 2014-05-04
From: Lamberts Meadow Campsite

To: Daleville, VA
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: clear sky

Day 53- May 4, Lamberts Meadow Campsite to Dalesville, VA, 9.1 miles. We have had a fabulous almost 24 hours with Corey and his friends Allison and Kathleen. We are so happy that they made the effort to come see us on the trail. Last night after I posted yesterday's journal entry we were all sitting around the campfire when other thru-hikers joined us. This gave Corey, Allison and Kathleen a real feel for the wonderful hiker community! By the time we called it a night the kids had met 7 other thru-hikers and heard lots of stories! This morning at 6 AM Jim went around shaking the tents of the kids to get them up for an early morning hike back to Tinker Cliffs. Kathleen had been there once before and had told Corey and Allison what a beautiful spot it was and then all the hikers were raving about the views up there so the kids agreed to the early wake-up call and hike. I chose to sleep in!!!They had a great hike and were on top of the cliffs in time to see the sunshine move down the mountain slopes and into the valleys. They returned after 1.5 hours very happy to have done the hike. We packed up and ate our breakfast of Wegmans scones and grapefruit (thanks to Corey) and were on the trail at 8:45. Under mostly clear skies we had a delightful 9 mile hike to the town of Dalesville. Corey had parked his car at the Howard Johnson Express, where we had booked a room for two nights. Kathleen has a cousin that lives in nearby Roanoke and had asked him for some restaurant recommendations for our post-hike lunch. We selected one and drove the 10 miles or so to it, arriving very hungry and thirsty. Some of the group had hoped to have milk shakes with lunch but they weren't on the menu so after a tasty lunch we got another recommendation from Kathleen's cousin for a local ice cream shop where we satisfied our craving for milk shakes and ice cream cones! By now we were stuffed so we headed back to Dalesville and our motel room. We took care of some business that Corey is helping with and then said our good byes as they headed back to DC. We loved having them visit and missed them as they drove away. They backpacked in a lot of food and beverages and 9 + miles each way is a long way to hike without any training. We are so appreciative of Corey's efforts and planning to make this happen. As Corey drove away, two thru-hikers (Paparazzi and RocDoc) we've been with for awhile, leaned over the second floor balcony railing here at the motel dangling a bottle of wine and inviting us to come up to share it! We quickly grabbed some paper cups from our room and then contributed our ideas for how to open a corked bottle of wine without a corkscrew. Let's just say where there's a will, there's a way and soon we were sipping merlot and trading trail stories. Soon we were joined by Pepper and Roshambo and we had a couple of hours of fun!Our stomachs let us know it was time to eat again so we took quick showers and walked to the Three Little Pigs BBQ restaurant where we ate with Paparazzi and had a tasty meal. The laundry is in the washing machine and we will look at the maps for a bit tonight. We need to plan out our next 6 days and where we will resupply. Tomorrow is a zero day so we will go the the grocery store and buy some food for the next stretch and visit a local outfitter which other hikers have given good reviews, but I'm not sure we need anything from there. After 4 days of great hiking weather, some rain is moving in for the next couple of days. Thanks again to Corey for the visit. It was so good to see him and meet his friends. We now will look forward seeing our Trail Jeannie next Sunday. All is well.