Today's miles 0. AT miles 857.9
We had a lovely day off today. We phoned the first person on the free hiker shuttle list, 'Miss Lady'/Cindy, a lovely lady who turned up within ten minutes to collect us from the motel and shuttle us to the outfitters shop about a mile outside of Waynesboro. She was very helpful, gave us a town map and explained where everything was in town. We arranged with her to collect us in the morning again from the Quality Inn to shuttle us back to the trail.
About ten minutes later in the outfitters, Cindy returned and offered us a place to stay at her house instead of the Quality Inn which we kindly accepted and we arranged to meet her at 2pm at the library, what amazing trail magic. From the outfitters we purchased a new Sawyer squeeze water filter and Nigel also got some new boots too, Merrell lightweight trail shoes. Nigel wore his new boots straight away, his old boots got thrown away/left at the shop so I couldn't take an old vs new boot photo. We walked into Waynesboro from the outfitters, a good opportunity for both of us to test our new boots for comfort and break them in slightly.
We stopped at the Heritage on Main, a pub restaurant, for an early lunch. The food was lovely. They had a good choice on the menu, I had crispy potato skins and salad and Nigel a panini and salad. We had a wonder around Waynesboro town, it's the nicest town we've been to so far on the trail, all the shops and restaurants etc all together in a town centre and not spaced out along a long road. We then wondered towards the library to meet Cindy. We arrived early and it was a warm sunny day again so we nipped to a gas station around the corner from the library for an ice cream while we waited.
Cindy picked us up and took us to her house which was only two or three blocks away from the library. We settled in, we had a nice twin bedroom to stay in and private bathroom. We feel very honoured to be asked to stay, from a guest book in the room it appears she only occasionally has guests. We sorted more unneeded items to post/bounce up the trail. Nigel convinced me to bounce my old boots on rather than carrying them for a few days 'just in case', plus we had a couple more clothes items each that we no longer need for a while now its warmer. Cindy then kindly drove us back into town again to the post office, giving us a fantastic driving tour of the town in the process. There were some beautiful old houses, the residential areas were just as we envisaged American houses to be. Out of town there was also a large retail park area, created initially with the opening of a large Walmart store which then grew with more and more shops and hotel accommodation being built. Waynesboro appears quite a wealthy town compared to some we've visited but is apparently struggling like any other town due to the closure of some large factories. It is a very hiker friendly town and they are trying to promote more tourism in the town.
After posting our parcel we did our regular food resupply shop. We're getting much quicker at food shopping now we're more familiar with the products available. It was then food time again - time to eat, so we went to Jakes bar and grill for one of their burgers, very nice food again. We then walked back to Cindy's house. We did a fair bit of walking today around town in our new boots, both pairs seem comfortable so far, we'll find out tomorrow for sure on the trail. We spent a lovely evening chatting with Cindy and her partner Jim who called by to meet us. He also shuttles hikers around. They are both lovely people and amazing trail angels. Thank you so much Cindy for your kindness and hospitality, we loved staying with you.
We received some more sad news today from Iron Man. Our hiker friend Extra Mile is off the trail. He has a bad infection in his foot and leg from a blister so will get a lift back home with Dena, Iron Mans wife. We don't know if he's planning on returning to the trail once recovered. We won't know the full story until we see Iron Man again, he's a day or two behind us now but we're sure he'll catch us up. We'll miss Extra Mile, he's a great guy.
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