may 9 - the barn

May 9 i woke up in a motell in marion, va. Was a decent nights sleep. I woke up alot during the night but at least it was indoors and in a real bed. First thing i did was go get the free breakkfast the motell offers. It was nothing special, waffles, english muffins, cereal, coffe, nut still way better than poptarts. After that i went across the street to the farm supplies store to see if they had denatured alcohool so i can restock that. There was a minibike sitting outside along wiith their lawn tractors. I asked the cashier if i can take it ffor a test ride. She saiid shed have to ask the manager but its usuallyy alright. I thought that if i involved the manager idd just piss him off if i took it for a ride and then he found out im a hiker with no intention of actually buying it. So i gave up that opportunity then went back to the motel. I packed up my stuff and soon after the shuttle showed up to take us back to the trail. It was a sunnny day, ad it was about time. Especially after the few days of rain we had. It wasnt long into the hike when we stopped for lunch. There was a small whiskey bottle that looked like it was filled with pee on the floor. I walked right past it and sat down with the others. We ate and relaxed for a few minutes. But before we left we convinced coach to open and smell the contents of the bottle. It turned out to be exactly what the label said it was. A bottle of evan williams honey bourbon. Nobody else wanted it so i took it, i was willing to carry it, especiallly because there hasnnt been much hard alcohol on the hike. Our hike took us through meadows and farmland. Walking through the meadowsi was hit by the smell of the flowers on the bushes in the meadow. It smelled so good, exactly like what one would expect spring to smell like. Eventuallly we reached a road where the settlers museum was located. There was an 1800's schoolhouse and a house filled with settler artifacts and information. From there was a 2 mille hike to the barn. A restaurant in the town of atkins that the trail passes. They advertiise having a 1lb burger. So many hikers go there just for that. Being right next to the traill helps too. After that was just a few miles to the campsite. There used to be a shelter there, so theres alot of garbage around the floor under where the shelter used to stand. On the plus side, theres a privy. A privy is always a plus. The ground wasnt too flat so it was work to find a flat spot.