Easy walking, good food, great company.

So today started off wonderfully, as I woke up in a bed in a beautiful home.  Brian and Rita were superb hosts. I'm trying to think of a way to describe how they treated me, and all I can say is that they treated me like family. Brian drove me to Marion so I could resupply at Walmart, then drove me to Subway where I got a foot-long sub for later, and then to Hardee's for breakfast. Saw a peacock. Beautiful bird. 

When we got back I packed up, but kind of lolly gagged. Talked with Brian and Rita a while, and honestly didn't want to move on. Finally did, though. 

I ran into Jerry and Sherri at the trailhead, they had been doing trail magic. Those two are incredibly staunch allies of the Appalachian Trail, and were the instigators to turn Marion into a Trail town. Jerry is like an AT encyclopedia. Sherri is doing a lot with the Warriorhike program, also. Met two of their sons, and was quite impressed with both of them. Stand up fellows. Everyone I've met in this area has been a wonderful person. Nobody even made a comment about how I smelled last night at church. 

Then I walked fast. Easy terrain. Nine miles went by fast, and I probably should  have moved on, but my foot was hurting and you can order pizza from the Partnership shelter. I mean, how cool is that? I added my pizza onto Rocketman, Princess, and Ranger's order. Ate half of my sub while waiting. Haiku showed up, he'd been off the trail for a while. There was also Thin Mint and the section hiker Crooked Stick (Crook). Crook's son showed up, a pretty cool guy. He does a lot of canoeing and was telling me about a great fishing spot we are going to be hiking by. I'm going to tell my dad about it. 

Had a really good afternoon just hanging out with those guys. Several other people showed up, but they seemed to already have their own groups and were not too interested in integrating. Shy Bear hung out for a while, waiting for his buddies. He's lactose intolerant (maybe), so I gave him pizza with cheese and feta on it as an experiment. He was going to share a room with his buddies. Interesting to see how that goes. Redwood also socialized. Fun guy to talk to. 

That was that. Everyone I know is in bed, and the newcomers are being a little loud around the campfire. They're just having a good time talking. Right now several of them are trying to justify their yellow blazing today. To each their own. I'm writing this and then going to sleep. Like now. 

Brian and Rita in their gorgeous home. 

Trail saints Jerry, Sherri, and their son Ethan. 

Partnership shelter. Pizza and a shower (actually the showers were turned off, sadly). 

A drawing Dinosaur left in the trail register. That's me on the right.