Limo Ladies!

   Back in 1980 I met a lot of different people hiking the trail. Some were thru-hikers like me, headed to Maine. Some were section hikers who were doing a week or two. Some were what we called "weekend warriors" who were just out from Friday night through Sunday night. Even though at this point on the calendar I was in Virginia, I want to back up a couple of weeks and tell the story of some section hikers I met in Tennessee.
   The trail in Tennessee is right on the border with North Carolina. I remember ending up one day at a nice shelter in the woods. There were several other hikers there, including two women from New York. They were almost finished hiking a section of the trail (I think about 100 miles). These women were probably in their early 40's, old enough to be my mom. They took an interest in me and asked a lot of questions about thru-hiking. They were trying to hike the entire Appalachian Trail one section at a time.
   As light faded, someone started a campfire in front of the shelter (something that I rarely did). It was kind of nice to enjoy the flames, to sit around and talk amidst the glow of the fire. Conversation drifted to the topic all thru-hikers loved:  food! The two women asked me what my "dream meal" was. At that time I said, "roast beef, green beans, mashed potatoes, biscuits, and sweet tea." They asked if I liked strawberry shortcake (as if any thru-hiker would ever turn down something that delicious), YES of course. Then they dropped the bomb.
   It turns out that these two women lived very close to the trail in New York (near Bear Mountain). And they promised to cook my "dream meal" for me when I got to New York. The only catch was that I had to walk from Tennessee all the way up to New York! This was mid May, I wasn't scheduled to arrive in New York until mid July. I got their name, address & phone number (I just remembered the name Bev with a last name something like Lankenen or something kind of Scandinavian).
   In the morning I was headed North, still looking for Mt. Katahdin in Maine but anticipating a feast in New York. The two ladies were headed South where they would catch a limo back to an airport for a quick ride home. It's people like the "limo ladies" that kept me going as I hiked the trail!
   Here in 2011 I weighed in at 179.4 pounds this morning. YEAH! I finally am out of the 180's (and hope to stay "South" of that number forever). I had a vegetable plate at "Gritz" restaurant today with some corn bread. Hopefully I can keep trimming the weight off! I love it when I make progress.