What's been going on

Well hey everyone, sorry for not having any posts in quite awhile. It's not that easy finding a public computer in town and it's quite a pain to do on the phone. But it looks like I'll have to get over it and the phone will just have to do. 

So about two weeks ago my lovely lady Sara came and visited me. She picked me up in Marion and then we spent a long weekend together in Roanoke Virginia. Where she was treated to a real vacation and I enjoyed a vacation from my hiker trash lifestyle. We visited a winery, ate a bunch of delicious food, enjoyed some mountain music in Floyd, drove up and down the Blue Ridge scenic road, had a pleasant day-hike up to McAfee knob and I even had my very first professional massage. For all of those that get massages regularly, I totally get it now, they are amazing. And for those that have never had one, I strongly urge you to try it out at least once. 

But the visit is of course bittersweet as we again had to say good bye. Which was then followed by one of the hardest mental weeks I've had on the trail so far. Thinking mostly of Sara and missing home, I just had to plug in my headphones a few times, zone out and force myself to hike. Not that I wanted to get off the trail, it's just hard to hike 17-20 miles a day with other things on your mind. 

Currently I'm in Troutville Virgina around mile 730 taking my first break in two weeks and my feet needed it. The last four days have been raining and my feet began to get pretty beatup and rubbed raw from the constantly wet socks and shoes. But wonderfully here in Troutville there was a tiny festival for hikers where we got free spaghetti dinners at the local church, pancake breakfasts from the Boy Scouts and laundry and shower facilities opened to us at the local fire station. So I'm feeling refreshed and recharged and ready to get to the 1000 mile marker in a little over 2 weeks. 

Oh and in current events on the trail, there's an ultra marathoner right now trying to beat the assisted record and complete the trail in 42 days, averaging 50+ miles a day. I have mixed emotions about this man, as one, that's awesome and crazy, and two, what a dick, who does he think he is doing the whole trail faster than me doing even half the trail. Obviously I'm not that bitter, and sarcasm never really translates well over the web.

I truly and sincerely wish Scott Jurek all the best and I hope he makes it. It'd be awesome to see him go by and give him support. 

Again thanks for all the love and support! Happy trails!