Day 14, Fontana Dam

Day 14, Wednesday, Fontana Dam
Today is a zero day or a down day, a day to rest and mead your wounds.

Today was a gorgeous day and I got to see my boys. I drove from Bristol and picked them up at the dam. Rylee was so happy to see Seth. I think she is back to normal, except for drinking, and drinking, and drinking. And you know what that means. The steriod really makes her thirsty but only on them a few more days.
We loaded the packs and the guys in the car. Oh the smell. They wanted to go get lunch but I encouraged checking in and getting the packs out of the car to air out. Oh yeah, and feel free to take a shower. We stayed at the Fontanta Village Resort. It is referred to as the Dirty Dancing resort. And yeah it does remind you of it. Of course it isn't into full swing yet but should be in another month or so. We stayed in the lodge with our door opening to a small deck. So Rylee had a place to stay. We had lunch and dinner there and wash able to do laundry. It did smell better but still have that 'special' scent.
The guys spent the afternoon resting and repacking  their packs. Bruce decided to shed some weight and I got to take all of the stuff he hasn't used. Seth had ice packs on both swollen ankles. He was convinced they were just swollen because they weren't stuffed in boots.  I got to clean Bruce's war wounds, blisters from knee pad, cuts, bug bites. I had to stop at the big toe nail that was falling off. What kind of a wife am I. For some reason Bruce did look a little more bet up than Seth.

I loved spending the day with them and hearing of all of the adventures. I even got to meet some of the other hikers. The resort is a great place to that a day off. I met Rainbow from Lynchburg Va who gives all hikers a stickers. I met Bamboo another retiree whose paths they keep crossing. Also met Erin and father another pair that they keep running into. Everyone seem to know each other.
Some of the other names I heard: Wonderland, Whistles, Gummy Bear, Wolf Pax, and other not so nice ones. Bruce even met a retired lawyer who is from Johnson City and lives close to Bruce's brother, David's business. It is a small world. I hope Seth is keeping a journal of all the people they are meeting. I know Bruce is not as one of the items he gave me to take home was his blank notebook.

There were at least 20 hikers at the resort. There was also a Sierra club hiking outing, a sports car club group. Bruce and Seth missed the drive but Rylee and I got the experience. It is called 'Driving the Dragon' and car clubs and motorcycle groups come to drive the curvy road.