Day 77 - Off the Trail for a Few Days ...

Friday, June 19th - Up at 6:30, after watching a re-run of the Nationals win over the Yankees (3 - 0!) 'til after midnight. Took another shower, then went out and checked various email accounts on the hotel courtesy computer. Returning to the room around 7:30 or so, Mark got up and we hit the Continental Breakfast - decent, nothing special. Fortunately for them, we had stuffed ourselves at the Chinese buffet last night, so we behaved ourselves.

Went back to the room and started packing (holding our noses). Got a call from Pete at 8:30 - he was already in the parking lot, and had been there for about 15 minutes. So we hustled our gear outside and loaded up, with greetings all around. Since the ATC Center didn't open til 9:00, and Pete hadn't eaten yet, we started heading to Charles Town to grab breakfast - but eventually turned back around and returned to the Center. In fact it was already open (8:50), and so we spent about half an hour there, signing in, getting our "official" through-hiker photos for their 2009 album, and buying the maps for the rest of the trip (I suppose this means we're committed now!) Eventually Pete headed up to a local 7-11 (with another through-hiker - Spoonman) for some something to eat - he bought the through-hiker his breakfast too (instant trail magic!)

Once he returned, we loaded up and headed to Mark's house (in Chantilly), then to my house. I talked with Rick K. (from my agency) on the way - apparently my position had opened up yesterday, so I can now re-apply for my job (which I'll probably do, though apparently there are some 15's in other agencies that are intriguing). Traffic on both 28 and I-66 was heavy and slow, even though it was going on 10:30 by this point - some things I sure don't miss. Pete and I enjoyed a nice chat (He was nearly catatonic, but we did have a nice chat!) on the way to my house, and we arrived just before 11:00. After dumping my stuff, Pete headed off for work at Ireton, and I started in on a "serious" cleanup. Lots to do over the next 4 days. We're back at it again on Tuesday morning. [This blog will not cover the next 3 1/2 days spent at my house.] See ya!

(Ed. - Our intrepid friend has completed 1013 miles in 76 days - an average of 92.1 miles per week and 13.3 miles per day. That's pretty close to 11 Philmonts back to back! If they maintain this pace, they'll summit Mt. Katahdin, the northern terminus of the A.T., on Rosh Hashanah, September 19th, although I suspect that it will probably be 10 days or so before that given their recent pace. My prediction? 9/9/9!)