Damascus

I am in Virginia! Three states done. We did 5.9 miles to Damascus, which is a very cool little town. When we came off the trail, I saw an awesome log house right there on a great property that I told Stretch I wanted to buy. When we got to the front, there was a for sale sign! The price is way inflated but something to think about. I’m looking at real estate in every town along the trail and maybe I’ll live somewhere there later.

We stopped first at the Blue Blaze Cafe for a giant breakfast which consisted of 5 large pancakes layered with sausage and bacon, covered in 3 eggs, on a bed of home fries. Delicious! I will admit that I couldn’t quite finish it. I hated to accept defeat but there was about 1 pancake left when I couldn’t fit any more. The place is very cool though and had great music playing: Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Wilco, The Mavericks, Loretta Lynn, etc.

We then moved on to the Mt. Rogers Outfitters and hung out there for a while in the seats outside, catching up with some other hikers. I also had one of the guys in the store help me adjust my pack. It’s been bothering my left shoulder for a while, no matter how I adjust it. I don’t know if the current strap setup will be any better but I’ll try it out. There are supposed to be really good deals at Trail Days so I may grab another pack then if I can’t fix this one. I got a copy of the festival schedule, hot off the presses, and there is going to be so much going on there.

We checked into The Place, a bare bones hostel run by a church that is donation based, then did the whole shower and laundry thing to pretend to be clean, normal folk. Back to the Blue Blaze Cafe for happy hour and really good pizza and pretty much the remainder of the evening. Lots of hikers in town right now.