Ice and Rest

Yesterday it was suppose to rain all day. We were planning on staying in our tent all day so that our sleeping bags wouldn't get wet since it was suppose to get below freezing that night. A wet sleeping bag is as useful as no sleeping bag. The rain stopped at 11:00, so we decided to walk a few miles. By 5:00 we walked 11 miles. We met a group of YWAM students. This is the first year YWAM has a group on the AT. I forgot to mention, they provided trail magic the day before by handing out snacks. After we setup our tent and cooked supper, we went to the camp fire and talked to the group. By the time we went back to our tent, ice began to form on our tent that was wet from the day before. We jumped in our dry sleeping bags and were warm for the rest of the night despite the 27 degree weather. 

We did not set an alarm this morning since we knew it would still be cold. We started hiking later than normal today. We hiked 12 miles on the fairly easy trail to I-64. We needed to get to the town of Franklin NC which was another 10 miles off the trail from where we were at to resupply on food, get a package at the post office, wash clothes, and hopefully shower. Danae and I prayed that God would help us with all I this. We hitchhiked into town thanks to a young guy and his pickup (this is how most hikers get from the trail to town). He took us to the post office. Here I (Shazz) picked up the package that my parents sent to us. It contained food, a new water bladder (the one I had was leaky), and encouraging notes. While I was in the post office, an older couple asked Danae if we need a ride. This is a "hiker friendly" town according to my AT book. Everyone here knows that this is a town where hikers go to resupply. Anyways, the couple asked us where we need to go next. They took us to the grocery store so that we could restock on more food. After coming out of the grocery store they offered to take us to a motel. When we arrived they told us that it is already paid for and that we are just to checkin at the main office and go to room 8. What a blessing!!! We could now shower and wash our clothes! I haven't been this clean in days. Literally. God answered our prayers. He used the young guy to take us into town and Thomas and Catheryn to take us everywhere else. Not only that, but they were generous enough to get us a place to stay! After all of the errands, we we starving! We went to this Pizza place called Vito's. We ordered a 18" pizza and ate over 3/4 of it. The rest is lunch tomorrow. Now we will get some rest on a soft bed instead of on the hard ground. 

Danae's foot is healing, but still hurts some. She now has poison ivy. I'm still having trouble with my heel and back. Hopefully all of this will heal soon. 

Today God showed me that He will provide us our needs! All glory to God and may he bless those who helped us today. 

Ice

Thomas and Catheryn. The couple who drove us around town and got us a motel room. 

My first thought was "I don't have to filter this water"!