May 11: Travel Day
 
Miles Today : 0.0
Total Miles : 0.0

Tomorrow is the day that I travel back to Virginia, back to Route 42 where the Appalachian Trail crosses the road near a church pavilion. This is the spot where I quit the trail nearly two years ago, and tomorrow I head back there to continue my hike. I am very excited to get back to the point where I left off, to finally fill in some of the blanks that I left when I decided to get a ride to Roanoke instead of hiking on.

Today, however, is entirely a travel day. Actually, this entire trip has the distinct feel of a scene from the movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles. First think this morning it's a car ride from my grandmother from Marlboro to Framingham, when I take the Logan Express to Boston. My own car is back at a buddies house since my return flight will be into Manchester Airport. The Logan Express takes me by bus the 30 or so miles from Framingham to Boston, where I arrive at the AirTran terminal almost two hours early. From Boston, it's a flight to Atlanta, where again I wait for almost two hours, and then a short shuttle to Highpoint/Winston-Salem, NC.

The fun is not quite over yet, however, as I have a short taxi ride from the airport to the home of Tony and Sherry Roberts. Tony is a volunteer for the Piedmont Appalachian Trail Hikers (PATH), an AT trail maintenance club. I called Tony because his club is the one that maintains the section of trail that I will be starting at and Tony's number was listed on their website. I was looking for some other transportation options to the trailhead other than a $200 taxi ride. Well, as luck would have it, Tony was heading in the general direction of the trail the same day I needed to get there, so he offered me a place to stay and a ride to the trailhead.

After starting my day of travel at 6:30 this morning, I finally knocked on Tony's door around 7 at night. He and his wife invited me in, and I was treated like an old friend rather than a virtual stranger. The strong community of people associated with the AT always amazes me, and it is by far one of the reasons that I love this trail so much. Its time now for sleep, as we leave here for the AT tomorrow at 6 in the morning. Somehow, I am going to have to find a way to get some sleep.

-Chomp

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