Day 29

Started off in Salem, WV. It was about 30 degrees and snow was everywhere. It was beautiful!  I knew it would warm up later in the day so I wasn’t worried about the cold. Salem is a pretty town. It was very quiet early on a Sunday morning.  I set off hoping that I’d reach the town of Greenwood. It’s 20 miles-ish from where I started. I planned on camping somewhere. The temperature wasn’t supposed to drop below 45 at night but it was supposed to rain. I figured I could find a bridge or something to sleep under. Worst case just camp anywhere and get the tent wet. Wasn’t really worried about it…

We walked in the snow all morning and took in the pretty sights along the trail. We would stop every so often to play in the snow. Domino would run around and I’d throw snowballs at her. She would just catch them and eat them haha.

Just after noon, I was met by the American Discovery Trail state coordinator for West Virginia and her husband. We through Jenny in the back of their truck and they took me to lunch. It was a small town after Church crowd all you can eat buffet at a place called the West End Cafe. It was perfect! I ate all that I could eat and I was able to meet a lot of the people there. I was on the front page of their newspaper the day before so I had credibility and recognition. It was fun to mingle. The couple who brought me there were nice and I enjoyed our conversation very much.

After lunch we slowly walked outside and the snow was melting and the sun was out. They brought me back to where they picked me up and I gave domino her lunch and got everything ready to keep going.

About 20 minutes after we started walking again I started to feel the after effect of eating a hearty all-you-can-eat meal. I may or may not have had to find an emergency spot and use my emergency toilet paper …maybe.

So I felt a lot better. I don’t know why… and kept walking.

I came upon the longest tunnel on the trail. Almost a half a mile long. There are about 9 of them total. They are really cool! This one had some really wet spots. The trail is known for getting muddy at times and the weather lately hasn’t helped at all. So I struggled all day pushing Jenny through the mud.

As the day went on I started getting tired and was thinking about camping under one of the tunnels. The problem with that is that it’s illegal for one. And also it’s really cold. It would’ve been dry though. It was in the back of my mind. I still had a lot of walking to do so I wasn’t too worried about it yet.

I kept going and going like the energizer bunny but I started to feel like I was running low. There was a slight incline for miles and it was really muddy. So the extra effort to push Jenny was wearing me out. I started to ponder what I should do. Set up camp and just deal with the rain, or keep pushing and hope for some sort of shelter. I kept pushing..

I finally make it to Greenwood. I wasn’t that excited. It’s not there was anything there. Just a town with a few homes and I still had to find a place out of sight and hopefully under a canopy of sorts to stay dry. I looked left and saw a sign and thought that it may have said “motel”. I couldn’t tell from the distance and the angle so I went closer and sure enough it did.

I walked around and met the lady in the office just as she was closing up. I didn’t have to beg but I used my best charm as I asked her for a room and if they would take Domino. She said she normally wouldn’t but she would for me. I could’ve jumped in the air right there! A very cheap room and it was surprisingly nicer than I imagined judging from the outside.

A perfect day and another 20ish miles under my belt! Some people from lunch had donated money to me and I was able to use it that same day to stay in this motel just 100 feet off of the trail. Now me and Domino can relax!!