Southern Life

BACK ON THE BLUE RIDGE

I arrived in Virginia last week after traveling for 15 days that included more than 4,500 miles of driving, 240 gallons of gas, two oil changes, one hitch-hiker, 12 of the same turkey & cheese sandwiches - day after countless day, 2 Chick-fil-A chicken sandwiches, 12 bags of ice, 14 blog posts, 3 college campuses, 5 National Parks and 11 states. I was exhausted. That last push from Idaho wore me out and capping the week with a wedding did not set me up for a prosperous beginning on Monday. For the first time on this trip I am sluggish and tired and have very little motivation to do anything other than sleep.

My best plan of action for the day would be to sit back and relax, but I have a lot of work to do in order to finalize details for the upcoming Shore to Shore Marathon in Chelan, WA. The only problem is, I am back in Virginia for the first time in five years and I have a laundry list of items that I want to accomplish. There is so many beautiful places that I want to see and trails that I want to hike and bike that I become overwhelmed with the daunting task of cramming everything into four days.

So, today I plan on cranking out as much work as possible before sneaking off to Brush Mountain and mountain biking such epic trails as Jacob's Ladder and fly-fishing for rainbow trout in Sinking Creek. The next three days will be filled with trail runs to Dragon's Tooth, McAfee's Knob, Tinker Cliff's, and the Route 42 connection (all on the AT), afternoon of swimming at Dismal Creek Falls, mountain biking at Mountain Lake (the location used for Dirty Dancing- "nobody puts baby in a corner!"), fly-fishing for smallmouth bass on the New River, visit Virginia Tech, and eat a hamburger at Mike's in downtown Blacksburg.

I am truly blessed to have arrived in Virginia, now I just need to take advantage of the beauty that surrounds me and embrace the perfect weather that I am provided (for the first time on this trip I have crystal clear blue skies).

Until tomorrow.