RamSham: The Huffman House B and B

I am doing a clean-out of my ziploc, so I came across to the brochure which I must share with you, my dear followers.  Cane and I stayed for 3 nights at The Huffman House B and B in Newport, Virginia.  We first learned of this property while we were out for a dinner at The Paradise Restaurant in Eddington, Virginia near Pearisburg, Virginia.  The Huffman House B and B was only 0.5 mile from the Appalachian Trail at miles marker (in direction of north from Springer Mountain)…get a hold of yourself….at 666.6.  I swear….and I am not kidding!  We arrived in beginning of July.  We really enjoyed our stay very much – a definite huge break from AT by interacting with the farm animals, relaxing on the porch and in the sun room, and taking your time strolling around the property.  I highly recommend this place especially for the family of kids (age of 5 or older), so that way they will have fun on and off property all day long.   I do hope to come back visiting with my nephew and parents in tow in near future.

RamSham: Hightlights

I have a little spare time for myself, so I am grabbing that time to provide some highlights from our AT expedition.

1) I received “gift” massage from Neville at Wood’s Hole Hostel in Pearisburg, VA. She did a magic work on transforming my tattered hiker’s body to renewed ones.
2) My birthday was celebrated at 2 location – in Bland, VA at Dairy Queen with Cane and Golden Ray and in Eddington, VA (near Pearisburg) at fabulous restaurant named The Paradise. I got flourless chocolate cake with candle on it and my fellow hikers including Cane, Golden Ray, Fields, Sculler, Idgie, Jessica, Neville, Michael…..sang Happy Birthday to me. It was beautiful moment!
3) Magic, Cane and I got to interact with around 13 wild ponies after Wise Shelter in VA. We saw 3 baby ponies. Aww!
4) The gopher jumped onto the trail before me around 2 miles prior to Partnership shelter in Marion, VA. I smiled and said, “Aww, what a cutie thing you are!” As soon as I completed said that, the gopher snarled at me!!!!! I was surprised and confused! I hesitated. The gopher ran on her left side into the bush. I shrugged my shoulders and hiked, but kept my eyes on where the gopher has gone to. All of sudden, the gopher roared back and tried to attack me! I used my mighty trekking poles to ward it off from me. The gopher kept trying for a few seconds then backed off and ran in opposite directions. I didn’t dare to wait, so I took off and never look back!
5) The bee stung my upper left part of my rib on side after I left Jenny Knob shelter. I first thought that my backpack was poking me on my side. As my hand reached the area, I saw the bee flying across my face and the tingling and pain set in so fast. I screamed bloody and took off fast as lightning! Poor Cane – he didn’t hear nor see me, so he had no warning. The bee attacked him in turn and stung him 3 times. Ugh! Good thing that Cane and I are not allergic to bee stings.
6) Cane and I got to soak themselves at Falls of Dismal (the name didn’t certainly live up to its name – gorgeous place!) before Watipi Shelter on beautiful day.
7) Cane and I slack packed twice with Wood’s Hole Hostel in Pearisburg and once with the Huffman B & B in Newport, VA.  We loved it and hope to do more of that up along the trail.
8) At Pickle Branch Shelter, I was about to get ready to hit the trail. All of sudden, I felt something in my pocket. I checked by placing my hand into my pocket and felt something moving! The pain flashed before I knew what it hit me…..I screamed and zipped my shorts down, then dropped my shorts down to my ankles. The fat bumblebee flew off upwardly from my shorts! Ahhhhh! What was happened is that the bee decided to fly upward through the opening of my shorts on my left leg. The bee explored and got angry when my hand touched her. It just stung me on my upper part of my thigh as it wanted to get away from me. Geee! Cane and Boston Bones saw my shorts around my ankle but I had black spandex shorts on. Whew! Cane thought it was hilarious of the bee to do that to me. Ugh! I was glad that Carol B. gave Cane the bee stung homeopathic medicine before we hit the trail. It helped to soothe the pain and itch!
9) Dragon’s Tooth was one of most difficult terrain for Cane to deal with. For 7 miles on that day, it took Cane 8 hours to get past the ledges, cliffs, boulders, and rocks. He worked so hard and it wiped out his energy at end of the day. Cane butt-slided on the Dragon’s Tooth, but didn’t let it bit him! 🙂
10) On 7-July, Cane was experiencing heat exhaustion for past 2 days and continued to feel awful on that day too. We had to hike around 15 miles from Campbell Shelter in Catawba to Daleville in heat wave (in 90’s F!). The water sources were drying up on the trail, so we had to ration the water carefully. Cane didn’t move well. He hiked sluggishly. We left Campbell Shelter @ 7:00 and arrived @ Lamberts Meadow Shelter by 12:30. Between both shelters, it was 6 miles and it should take us 3 hours to hike. We were lucky to get some water from stale water on the drying-up creek @ Lamberts Meadow Shelter. We had to hike 9 miles left to Daleville. @ 15:15 (3:15 pm), Cane hiked sluggishly. I had to hike ahead as the prolonging time of hiking, dwindling of water with them, and Cane’s struggle became a big concern for me. I arrived @ end of Tinker Ridge by 17:15 (5:15 pm). I waited for Cane until 19:30 (7:30 pm). I left the note advising him to take gravel road instead of AT because by road, it will help Cane get to Daleville faster. I hiked to Daleville and got a room at HoJo by 20:15 (8:15 pm). I got dinner for myself. I waited until 22:00 (10:00 pm) for Cane to show up @ Hojo, but he didn’t. I called the emergency number. The sheriff came to get some info from me. The search & rescue teams have been assembled to search for Cane. I told them to check for gravel road’s end as I left note for Cane to go that way. It turned out that Cane sat at end of gravel road waiting for anyone to get him. He was found @ around 23:15. Thanks goodness! He ran out of water around 3/4 way after leaving Lamberts Meadow Shelter. He was dehydrated, but appeared to be ok. Whew! We took a couple of zero days in Daleville.

Ok, there you go, my dear followers! Hope to share more stories later on. Hugs to y’all!

RamSham: Newport, Catawba then Roanoke

Happy 4th of July, folks!  We are off to hike from Newport – Catawba – Roanoke this week.  Have a fantastic week!  😎