What a glorious morning. We both slept so good in our bunkhouse. No one was milling around. And the temperature and birds were perfectly behaved. At 8am, yes you read that right, I was ready to get a move-on. This is going to be hard to believe, but Sid was not. He had a chance to catch up on his Netflix Series “Stranger Things” and was quite content hanging out. My husband George, Sid’s grandpa and ride out of here, was making his way to Florida. We have four days to burn till he arrives. Hmmm, what to do? We decided to stay another day on trail at the same position, so basically a Zero on the trail. We haven’t done that yet so something new for Sid.

As the day progresses, I get antsy. Sid has come to the conclusion that I have a very difficult time at Zero’s. And I must admit, he is right! I feel like I need to be doing something but there really is nothing to do but REST. Haven’t I had enough rest at this point? Maybe, maybe not. We stay put and I read the National Geographic Book on 266 Places to Visit in the World. It’s surprising as many are on the East Coast. The Appalachian Trail passes through many of the top billing’s. The Shenandoah’s is one spot in particular and The Whites another, with it’s crazy weather. There were some that my husband and I have traveled to like Cinque Terre in Italy and Switzerland. What a relaxing way to spend the day, and I was doing something. Expanding my horizon to new adventures worldwide.

Around 5pm, we made our way back to the trail. We left our compound at HipCamp and walked a little over a half a mile down a gravel road, following Trout Creek. Once we arrived, there was another hiker named New Wave Dave. He was a section hiker in 2020 and realized 400 miles into his hike, there was a pandemic. He said the obvious issue was he couldn’t find toilet paper. I had to laugh as I had totally forgotten that, that was a thing! He ended his hike and now he is back figuring out where to go next.

As we finished dinner, Honeybun’s Mom showed up and was picking up a few hikers. These shuttle drivers go long lengths to accommodate weary hikers. We talked a bit as the three hikers were slow to arrive. She left and I went back to dinner.

Another car pulled up, very busy little campsite and Sid recognized them from the Grocery Store yesterday. Small town USA. It was Jason and Derek, local guys from down the road. They do a lot of Trail Magic around here and had drinks to share. Sid had a coke and I had a Laguintas. We sat around and talked about needs of the hikers. It appears that Jason has property down the road and wants to start a business selling Brats, Bread & Beer. He served 20 years in the Military and most of his time was in Germany. Jason loved the Villages abroad and thinks that he can provide a feeling of that right here on the AT.

By Hiker Midnight, I was ready for bed. Both Sid and I retired and planned our day for tomorrow. An early wake-up and a climb to Dragons Tooth. Sounds like another picture perfect day. The weather has been so nice lately. Hopefully it will continue until Sid returns to his life of Riley! Indoors, climate controlled and no hiking! We’ll see. Only the good Lord knows for sure.