Week 4 - 2022

WEEK FOUR of HOBOS GOING SOBO IN THEIR OBOZ, the journey "in-tents"ifies ...

Front Royal, VA to Elkton, VA - 71 miles, average 11 miles a day.   Total miles so far = 241

WHAT WE LEARNED THIS WEEK ON THE TRAIL:

• What a VIEW-T-FULL week of views!!! All that whining, crying and carrying on about not seeing many views the last three weeks and BAM!  We were hit with spectacular vistas within Shenandoah National Park!  Enjoy the awesome photos!

• “Be Careful” - so what does that actually mean?  Okay, so I know what it means and I say it all the time myself but when crossing a stream on rocks or a mountainside of rocks and you hear to “be careful” — does it look like I am approaching this carelessly and recklessly and need to be reminded to be careful? Just thinking it’s a silly comment in the moment.

• FROG fell. So much for being careful.  You’d be proud of me, I did not laugh. He was adjusting his hat and took his eyes off the rocks and down on his keister he went.  Nothing bruised but his ego.

• Best. Hamburgers. Ever.  If you’re going to make a trip to Shenandoah National Park you must stop at the gateway into park in Front Royal, VA and get hamburgers at Spelunkers.  Oh. My. Goodness!  Ate there 3 times y’all!  Ice cream is really good too.  Hmmm.. and we wonder how we’re not losing any weight?!

• “30” and “60” works for us. Took us a few weeks but now we have a system without being frustrated. If one of us needs a short break, we yell “30” (stop where you are for 30 seconds and rest) or we yell “60” (stop where you are and rest for 30 secs then let me catch up to you to take 30 secs more of rest).  We’re a little slow figuring it out but hey! We figured it out.

• Trail Magic hits again! A cooler was set out in the woods with sodas and candy in it. We didn’t make it in time for the cold sodas but there was still candy left for the taking. 

• It’s so nice to be recognized on the trail. We met “Pot” and “Lid” (trail names) in Harpers Ferry, WV and they recognized us and called out to us by name when we were in VA on the trail.  So many great people you meet while hiking!

• Ken. We met him at Elkwallow Wayside.  He made a connection with FROG at first and before he left he prayed for us. What a kind and loving man.

• Mark & Sheryl. We met them at the same wayside before we left.  The day we met them was their 48th wedding anniversary. It was great getting to know them. Hey! She also has a book out “In the Blink of an Eye, the Reed & Rob Nixon Story” written by Sheryl B Nixon.  It’s about her two boys that were in a car accident, both broke their necks and are paralyzed.  She mentioned it focuses on life’s choices, we can choose to stay negative and angry or we can choose to be positive and move forward, it’s up to us.  Sounds like a great book!  Y’all might want to consider reading that while you’re waiting for ours to come out! 

• We hit the 200 mile mark this week!  As of this writing, we have 241 miles in so won’t be long for our halfway point celebration!

• I was ticked. Woke up a couple days ago to a tick embedded in my leg. Grrr!!  We easily got it out with our tick remover but hoping nothing more becomes of it.  I’ve had Lyme Disease so I know how sick I could get so praying we caught it in time.  But good news, FROG is continuing to be a good patient and his leg is looking so much better than when you last saw it.

• We passed a man wearing a kilt and his wife wearing pants - I turned to FROG and said, “We know who wears the pants in that family!”  No disrespect, just trying to find humor where we can.

• We camped illegally.  You must have a permit for overnight camping within Shenandoah National Park. Shhh! Don’t tell!  Actually, in all honesty, we tried but there weren’t any permits in the box when we arrived. Thankfully no one checked. 

• When they say “don’t leave your food out” they mean it. Our last day in the park, we stayed at a campground (so glad they didn’t ask to see our permit!) and the group camping next to us left their food out and went somewhere for an hour. Soon after a park ranger came and hauled their food away and told us there was a $125 fine for them to get their cooler with food back, but if a bear had gotten into it, it would have been a $5000 fine.  Wowser!

• Had my first meltdown, yes I did.  And I’m not talking about the heat, although it was very hot out so that didn’t help. The walk up to Mary’s Rock was H-A-R-D! The pathway was 1.5 miles, all uphill, and very rocky!  At first it was fine, I’m all smiles until probably the last half mile.  That’s where well meaning people are trying to be kind with encouragement, “you’re almost there” and “ it’s right around the corner, I promise” only to find out they weren’t being truthful.  After having my little tantrum right there on the mountain, pure anger got me the rest of the way up. I was not a “rock” star that day!!  FROG gets the award that day! And, to top it off, there was a long black snake at the top!  UGH!!!!

• Overall, it was a good week. Great views, great people and a lot of memories, good and bad, I’ll take them all.  Life is sure interesting, isn’t it?! No matter what we’re going through, God can see us through it.