Trip Miles: 561.30
Pretty good sleep. I was up and out at 8:10, with M&N to follow. I hiked to Crawfish Trail, where a camper told me that Andi and Yvanna were 10 minutes ahead of me. I quick hiked to catch them. It wasn't long before I caught up, and I gave Yvanna the Dove chocolate bar I had gotten for her. She had been so excited the other day when she thought there was chocolate in the trail magic box we had found (it turned out it was beef bullion cubes), so I made sure to pick up some chocolate for her in Marion.
We heard from some South Bounders that there was some trail magic at the O'Lystry Pavilon, so we hightailed it there. A local Methodist church puts out magic every year, with the help of Methodists from Arkansas. We met Herrn Northcut, Greg Floyd, Bill Cato, and Pastor Allan Ashworth, of ATOM (Appalachan Trail Outreach Ministry). There were hamburgers, hotdogs, veggies, drinks, and all kinds of goodies. Oh yeah, there were some awesome cookies and zucchini bread that one of the guys' wife had made. M&N came in after a while, N's calf is still bothering her, and we stayed there until 3pm. Thank you so much for the trail magic ATOM.
We hiked on to VA 625 when N's calf was just too bad to continue. We set up camp, and I wasn't feeling too well (to much food), so I went to bed. I could hear the kids talking and laughing, which made my day. We're really enjoying A&Y's company.
Yvanna had warned us about her smelly stockings the other day, so from the tent, I called out to Andi and asked him how to say "stink" in German, and then how to say "foot" in German. They all got it immediately and started joking about her trail name "Stinkefuss" (Stinky Feet). The strongest friendships are built on laughter.
Goodnight all.
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ATOM: Herrn Northcut, Greg Floyd, Bill Cato, and Pastor Allan Ashworth
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| Apparently butterflies like sweat |
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| Sweet sweat nectar |
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| Oh look, she's eating again |
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| Mike in deep thought |
It was great to meet all of you! Say "hi" to Mike, Natalie, Yvanna, and Andi. I've been keeping up with the journey on your blog. Come to Arkansas some time and we'll grill up some more burgers. By the way, tell Andi I'm pulling for Germany in the World Cup.
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