The Stumble Tribe Corruptors!

well well well, here we are in waynesboro, about to start hiking the Shennedoah National Park tomorrow! So super excited!!! The past few days have been a blast, and talk about trail magic...What we have been experiencing is like trail magic on steroids, SO awesome and exciting.  We went from Buena Vista to Lexington to hit up an old movie theatre with the boys to watch X-Men, and actually got trail magic IN the theatre....what?! we were all sitting there, when a woman shows up, whispers to our friend Goopah that she saw us come in, knew that we were hikers, so wanted to give us some trail magic....got brownies, cool whip, and blueberries.....while watching a movie? are you kidding me? this is the life.  the next day, a former thru hiker, Landshark, who lives in Lexington, offered to have us crash at his house...i mean MANSION for the night.  we got to watch 10 hours of TV and movies, hang out with his adorable 7 year old daughter, eat his incredibly delicious food, and drink beer in a massive, air conditioned living room.  I don't think Laugh Track and I moved from our spots all day.  We got up at 5 the next morning so he could drop us at the trail head before the brutal heat set in, and we started hiking up Three Ridges...3 miles of straight up, unforgiving, rocky trail.  But with many water breaks and views from rock outcroppings we finally made it.  While stopping at a shelter to refill on water, we read in the trail journal that there was a local brewery 5 miles down the road from Reels Gap.  After consulting the map, we discovered that Reels Gap was only 6 miles away from us....hmm, what to do, what to do... It was hot, we were tired, and we were tired of only drinking cheap, watery beer....so Laugh Track, Old Crow, 4-Beards and I made the very hard decision of hitching to Devil's Backbone Brewery.  They were so gracious at the brewery, even though we stunk to high heaven and had sweat out about 5 gallons that day, they let us sit in the dining room, drink WONDERFUL beer, the summer haze, their seasonal summer beer with hints of lemon and green tea, their IPA, traditional, amazing, hoppy, and their Gargamel, after tastes of apple and pear, a smooth finish, and 8% alcohol.  It was absolutely incredible.  Not only that, but during our dinner of pulled pork sandwiches, a woman who lived up the hill walked over and talked to us about our trip, asking for details and stories.  When we had finished telling her about all the snakes we've seen, the bear that came into our camp etc, she told us she wanted us to order the gooeyest, sweetest, largest dessert our hearts desired, and that she would pay for it.  She was truly a saint. so I ordered the rosemary creme brulee...it was heavenly.  So after eating about 50 lbs of food, and indulging the delectable beers, we moved over to the bar to watch the Red Sox sweep the Yanks....OH HELL YEAH. count it.  The owner of the bar invited us to camp in his back yard, then gave us free coffee the next morning with our breakfast at the coffee shop across the street from the brewery.  Hitched into Waynesboro this morning to pick up our mail drops...thank you so much to everyone who has been sending us goodies!!! we look forward to them all the time! Now we're camped out behind the YMCA, about to go to a double feature at the cinema, Super 8 and Bridesmaids, and hang out with our fellow hikers who are escaping the horrible heat in any air conditioned space they can find.  Loving this life, definitely being awed by the kindness and generosity of human beings, and getting excited to go through the Shennies!!!!  850 miles down!   Rock me mama like a wagonwheel, rock me mama any way you feel, hey, mama rock me.