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I haven't been doing too well keeping up with my blog but perhaps I'll have more success with micro-blogging. Follow me @johnwevens to keep tabs on what I'm eating for breakfast.

A winter hike

Technically, March 20th is still winter, so this counted as a winter hike in the mountains. It wasn't the warmest day we have had this March, but when the sun came out it was very pleasant and even during overcast spells we were easily warm enough provided we kept moving. Boudin did great. The terrain didn't seem to bother him and with everybody's encouragement he managed to keep up the pace - not that he got fatigued but if it were up to him he'd stop to smell every tree in the forest. We did the circuit from Browns Gap parking area on Skyline Drive down a fire road to the trail that takes you past Doyles River Fall and Jones Run Falls back up the the AT. After one cheeky shortcut near Dundo camping area we reckon the mileage to be about six dead.

Home from the Road Trip

Sorry to any readers who were worried that we didn't make it home. The last two days were spent slogging away at the miles and I didn't have a lot of energy for blogging. Plus, not much happened! When we got awoke in New Orleans we intended to walk to Cafe du Monde for some kind of famous hole-less donut, but it was tipping down with rain. By the time we got the car, it had stopped raining, but we still drove around the block to find people queuing down the street at the cafe. OK, scratch that idea. We grabbed a McDonald's breakfast instead. By lunch we were in the region of Montgomery, so we reached for the GPS to find us a spot to get some Gulf seafood before we got too far from the coast. Three separate places turned out to be sketchy, closed or non-existent, so we had Wendy's. Things really weren't going our way.
Our last night was New Year's Eve and we were in Athens, GA. It was a fun town, and we enjoyed dinner and a drink in a cool downtown bar, but we were running on empty and retired to the hotel to ring in 2011. The next day proceeded much as the previous had. Drizzle most of the day. Attempted lunch at a Cracker Barrel, but to long of a wait, so Firehouse Subs. We just wanted to get home, and in time we were! The familiar Richmond skyline appeared as we turned a bend in the highway and our road-trip of 3110 miles, was nearing it's end. In all, we had traversed 10 States (VA, TN, AR, TX, LA, MS, AL, GA, SC, NC) and for me six of them were virgin territory. Tennessee was beautiful; Louisiana soulful and fun. But the best part of the trip was time spent with family, especially the newest addition. That, and getting home!