bland, va...they have an ice cream store, but they only serve vanilla

what's happenin' people.  we got out damascus..slowly.  it's hard to get motivated after a weekend-long party, but we did some miles, stayed in an awesome shelter where we could ordere pizza delivery, met some new hikers, walked in the rain...a lot.  got to knot maul branch shelter after sleeping in a semi-puddle for a few nights, and decided we should really head into town for a dry bed, shower, and warmth.  laugh track had a tiny case of strep throat, so we booked it into bland, got a motel room, cranked the heat up to 85 degrees, got some DQ and lounged around in dry clothes while watching tv.  talk about heaven.  we realized we had not slept in a bed in over 3 weeks, and let me tell you... there is nothing better than diving head first into a dry, clean, comfy bed after weeks and weeks of a damp, cramped, smelly sleeping bag.  hopefully the weather will start being warm and breezy instead of so cold our fingers refuse to work.  sunday is the start of the case challenge, the rules are written on the wall of jenny knob shelter... in a nutshell it is: 1) hitch from 606 into pearisburg (24 miles away), 2) drop off our packs in a hotel, 3) go to the good will and find outrageously heinous 80's style prom dresses to wear, 4) buy a 24 pack of beer, 5) hitch BACK to 606, 6) hike 24 mile, in 24 hours, drinking 24 beers.  our friend yinz's friend, wonderland, made this challenge up last year, and the two of us, yinz, milo, ketchup, and stretch are all taking on the challenge this year.  we may look ridiculous, we may make fools of ourselves, but there was never a challenge we backed down to, and we don't plan on starting now.   SO our next update will probably be from pearisburg, after completing the case challenge.  now, i know a few of you reading this might sigh and roll your eyes, but seriously, hiking can get a little tedious some times, especially in VA where it is mostly flat and sometimes the sameness of everything can make you want to scream.  we need some challenges in our lives..and here's one given to us on a silver platter...or shelter wall.  we'll let you know how it turns out!  hasta la vista baby!!!