May 26, 1997 (Day 68 – milepoint 702.7 – VA 220 near Daleville, VA)
We camped last night across the road from the Homeplace Restaurant. I’ve been planning to spend another couple of days with friends in Blacksburg and I had 20 miles to cover today to get to the town of Troutville, VA where I would be picked up by my friend, Jenna. As luck would have it, my other Blacksburg friends, Chris and Halle, showed up this morning to hang out for a bit and take me up to the trailhead. They then took my pack with them (along with Pockets’ and Papason’s packs) so we could slack-pack. It felt so good hiking light, I ended up running about 8 of the 20 miles.
Some wild stuff going on in the brain. I wish I could implant some sort of an auto-record mechanism into my head and just let it roll.
Just before reaching the road into Troutville (VA 220), I found a brown paper sack in a tree with my name on it. In it were a bottle of Coke, a cup of ice, and Oreos. They were from the Swiss Family, a fun-loving mother-son-daughter-daughter’s husband group of thru-hikers. The note said they were staying at the Best Western in Troutville, so I stopped in to thank them when I entered town, but they were out. Probably eating, which was becoming a priority for me after such a long day.
I saw Pockets across the street at another hotel and he let me use the phone and shower in his room. Gave Jenna a call. She picked up our packs from Chris and Halle earlier in the day and brought them with her. I was just out of the shower when Jenna arrived and my hair looked like I just stuck my finger in an electrical socket. I think I was bald the last time I saw Jenna a year ago, so her reaction was one that made me wish I had a camera. The ride back to Blacksburg was pleasant catching up on things and she preparing me for tomorrow’s visit to her fifth grade classroom. When we arrived at the house, her boyfriend, Mike, had Eggplant Parmesan waiting, then Jenna made chocolate chip cookies.
We stayed up and talked until way past my bedtime and I can’t keep my eyes open any longer.
Aquaholic
May 26, 2009
Hey Aquaholic,
It is amazing to be so close to a person that you would marry her, have children with her, share the death of loved ones with her, make life-lasting decisions with her, confess your deepest fears and desires with her and trust her to hold them safely. It is amazing to have that kind of relationship with a person.
It is even more amazing to become a stranger to that person almost overnight.
That is the power of divorce.
Joe
