How far would you go for a friend?

Today I went 250 miles. Which may seem a like a lot, but it didn't feel like that many for me. And it was a pretty drive.

I went to pick up Gretchen and John at the south end of Shenandoah national Park. They had just spent the last nine days backpacking from the north end of the park. When I got there they were playing scrabble in the grass waiting for me. I immediately gave Gretchen a hug and she apologized for being smelly... I've been there. Smelly is really just a state of mind.

I tried to think what I would want after spending several days backpacking and brough gifts - an ice cold bottle of water, fresh fruit, fresh tomatoes, and fresh cucumbers. They were very well-received and did not last long. And lets face it, between my bushes and the CSA I have oodles of tomatoes.

We drove through the park back to Gretchen and John's car. We stopped somewhere in the middle for lunch and fresh blackberry milkshakes. Yum. They had stopped there on their way through and G said the thought of another blackberry milkshake got her through some tough hot treks. I can totally understand that.

We continued driving north and saw some people stopped on both sides in the middle of the road. HMMM. They were stopped bc there was a black bear on the side of the road! G and John had seen some mom's and cubs while backpacking and some other bears... but I have never seen a bear in Shenandoah when I was hiking or in VA period! I thought it was rather exciting.

So we drove a little bit further and saw another one! This one dissapeared quickly. We drove a bit further and saw another one! Three bears in one day. (Sarah Ann my bear count is three!)

It's funny though, bc to me they are really lanky looking and resemble dogs bc the first bears I encountered in the wild were in brown bears in Alaska which are big and bulky.

We eventually made it to their car, it was still there, and it started. I didn't get to spend very much time with them, but I enjoyed the short time that we had. We have made tentative futre plans. We said our farewells and I made the pretty drive down 522 home. I love that drive. One place I rounded the corner the same time as a train so for a few seconds it was like I was racing the train. It made me smile and then I cruised on.