(Sat. 4/7/12, Sun. 4/8/12) Damascus, VA - Phone Update From Brett

I had a couple of nice phone calls from Brett on Easter weekend. It was a treat to talk to Brett so long after not hearing from him much during the week because of poor cell phone reception.

Brett arrived in Damascus, VA, on Saturday and got the package he asked me to send him. He switched out his winter gear. Because it was Easter weekend, I included a small bag of candy and a few filled plastic Easter eggs. In addition to candy, I put a slip of paper in each egg with a sweet message. Brett opened up the box, saw the candy, and passed around the bag to share his goods with some hikers who were with them. Each of them reached in the bag and grabbed one of the plastic egg. They opened their eggs about the same time and read the sweet and loving messages inside. "Uhhh, Brett, I think these are for you."

When Brett called me on Saturday I was on the beach watching the sunset with my sister-in-law. I was glad that Brett was enjoying his own perfect spring evening in Damascus. Brett was walking down the small main street of Damascus. He said the weather was perfect, the town was quaint, and the flowering dogwood trees were beautiful.

Brett aslo called me on Sunday. He had spent the night at a hostel in Damascus. The hostel was an old bunkhouse, now run by the Methodist Church.

Brett enjoyed some trail magic in Damascus. The owners of a Bread & Breakfast (minus the breakfast) host "Sundaes on Sundays" each week. They have all the makings for sundaes including fruit, cookies, caramel, etc. Brett had a chance to talk with the owners and their daughter. They were really nice folk. Brett had a wonderful conversation with them. The father was a thru-hiker from 2000. The daughter, who was a thru-hiker from 2006(?) following in her father's footsteps, met her husband on the trail. During the course of their conversation, Brett discovered that this family moved to Damascus from Niceville about 8 years ago. The daughter graduation from NHS in 1998 and went on to FSU. They discovered some common acquaintances: Jeff W., and one of Brett's coworkers John Cl.

Brett really enjoys having intellectual conversations with people. Most of the conversations he has had with people on the trail is simply about:
1) gear
2) who you are, where you are from, etc.
3) why you are hiking the trail
Brett really enjoys former or more experienced hikers "What advice do you have me?".
[Unfortunately, I don't remember hearing if the owner of the B&B and former thru-hiker was able to answer that question for Brett.]

I was happy to hear that Brett had such an enjoyable weekend. I think it does a lot to keep one's spirits up.