Day 43

7 miles

It rained a little last night with a bit of thunder. Made me think of the huge thunder and lightning storms we use to have in Missouri growing up. This was not nearly as intense but brought back fond memories.

Today is what we call the “perfect nero”. 7 miles into town is what we’ve decided is the perfect amount of miles to do going into a nero day off. It’s long enough that it doesn’t feel like you’ve done nothing but short enough that you can still have the whole day off practically.

Anyways we did the 7 miles into Bland, VA. Which was aptly named as all that was there was “Trent’s Grocery” and the Weary Feet Hostel which we are planning on staying at tonight. We first walk the half mile the opposite way of the hostel to get to the “grocery” store. I put that in quotes because it is indeed a gas station that has about one aisle of food, one aisle of camping gear/tobacco, a whole wall of guns for sale, and lastly a food counter that serves some sketchy items and would more than likely not pass a health inspection.

Back at the hostel we do the normal routine, shower, laundry, eat, beers. We did swim in the river as it was 90 degrees today and felt like 100% humidity. This hostel is a converted home that was built in 1907. The wall sockets are in the floor, everything creaks, and the owners are southern as they come. Lovely people. We had a couple plates of spaghetti for dinner with as much homemade cake as you could eat.