Daleville, VA

7/28
Started at Lambert Meadow Shelter
Ended at Howard Johnson in Daleville, VA
9.4 Miles

Started the day with a recap of the night. Reed moved from the shelter to the picnic table and then back when it started to rain. Sydney went to the bathroom, got disoriented while getting in her sleeping bag, and ended up sleeping sideways. The boys slept straight, two guys snored, and an owl was heard.

Patches of blue were spotted during breakfast so we were all optimistic the sun might show up. As we hiked the ridge, patches of valley emerged. At a Hammer gel break I got a picture of the group with some valley in the background.

As the day progressed the sun shone more and more till it finally broke out from behind the clouds. We hit a lot of rocks and tons of good bouldering. On one huge rock Reed and I climbed up and had a great view of the lake.

My broken hip belt finally ripped all the way off, but I tied it back on and what a huge relief. My shoulders were getting really sore from taking the bulk of the weight. Harvey and Pete both complained about foot problems. It looks like the new shoes are rubbing the ankle. A zero day in town should help, along with some dry weather, but I may need to look into different shoes for them.

We had Big Sur Bars and wanted to share them with Andy and Reed. We split the bars in half whole sitting by the train tracks. If you look close at Pete you can see lots of mud from when he slipped and fell, landing in the mud. He used his shirt to clean the mud from his face so he is shirtless in the picture.

We had a choice between the Howard Johnson and Super 8. As we walked toward them (they are across the street from each other) the HJ had a sign saying pool, so that made the choice an easy one. The also have breakfast and laundry, everything a hiker needs. At the checkin counter was a sign saying the Mexican restaurant across the street gave a 10% discount for hotel guests. We had to cross a 4 lane road, and suddenly descending huge boulders with backpacks seemed a safe pastime. We safely crossed the road and had a great lunch.

Next on the agenda was getting clean and dry. We take everything out of the packs to dry and did laundry. The kids got to swim during this and the sun came out making it a great afternoon.

Dinner was from our hiker food, but Sydney wanted yogurt (it helps her take her medicine). Kroger was down the street so we walked (ha, ha, hiker joke since we walk everywhere). Harvey was feeling sick, and he didn't go crazy at the Mexican restaurant so I was a little concerned.

The Kroger store was big and had a natural foods area. We got the yogurt and a few extra things too. On our way back to the hotel Sydney wanted to hitchhike. I said no, but at the stoplight exiting the shopping plaza a woman rolled her window down and asked if we needed a ride. Sydney got her request and we made it back safely.

Once back at the hotel Harvey puked.