The past few days have been wonderful. At first, I was worried about leaving the trail for a week, but it has been very enjoyable and necessary. Sure, other hikers will be pretty far ahead of me when I get back on the trail, and I will probably lose some leg strength, but it will definitely be worth it

We stayed the night at the lodge on the 28th, which was an impressively nice place. The town of Fontana Village is not a big one, but the lodge was very accommodating and had very comfortable facilities. I was able to meet up with some former hikers: Goat, Voodoo, Shroomer, and Mocha, among others.

One of the great aspects of the lodge was the game room! Pool tables, foosball, ping pong, and arcade games made for a pretty fun afternoon. Since there was no change machine (getting quarters involved walking 1/4 mile), we made a few modifications to some of the games. In mid-game, my parents arrived at the window. Despite knowing they would arrive, I was shocked to see them.

I grabbed my pack and was cabin-bound. As I had told a couple of hikers, I was headed to my vacation. We headed through the winding mountain roads, and in the midst of it all, we arrived at a beautiful, cozy cabin.

Here, there is a (free) pool table, a hot tub, jacuzzi tubs, fireplace, and wonderful atmosphere in the mountains. It has been awesome simply to enjoy being here with my family. I was able to celebrate my birthday in style with some of my favorite people. My entire family is here, as well as Logan and Eleanor, and it has been a blast so far.

We are hoping to get a few more short hikes in, in addition to the few we have already done. We visited an old farm museum, which had authentic buildings from over 100 years ago, including a mill and a blacksmith workshop. This was fascinating to me, and after I finish the trail, I plan to enter the trade of the blacksmith.

I will be back on the trail and hiking again before you know it.;