Day Two

We slept well through the night.

I woke up and went to the car for my coffee, bananas and almond milk. Not having any fresh bananas at home, I had grabbed the frozen bananas and put them in the cooler. I was only using them for smoothies, so it really didn't matter if they were fresh or frozen. While the cooler had done a proper job of keeping all my items cool, it had not kept my bananas frozen.

these are defrosted frozen bananas

I wanted to avoid eating these bananas, smoothie or otherwise, so I hit up the breakfast buffet. The Comfort Inn of Dublin, Virginia had decided to break from the mold of hotel continental breakfasts today and "run out" of bananas. Defeated, I returned to my bathroom/kitchen.

"I'll just pretend they're caramelized", I told myself as I gingerly grabbed a limp banana from the bag, taking care not to break it and even greater care not to vomit. The smoothie turned out just fine and I turned to the task of planning my day. I had hiking in Bedford on my mind.

The dogs and I were sure we would blend seamlessly in the multi-racial, multigenerational fun havers in Bedford, VA. After attacking the Peaks of Otter trails, we'd head to the historic town square and turn the fun into a multi-species affair. Then after all the fun could be had, the plan was to retreat like the holy family to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

And so, the journey began....

The drive was beautiful. The mountains were breathtaking in the daylight.

We made it to Bedford in less than an hour and a half. The town leading up to our hiking spot, Buchanan, was super neat.

Almost there!

We drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway for a while on the curviest road I've ever been on. 

We arrived at the Peaks of Otter visitor center. Bill Scrapps and I walked into the visitor center to get some advice on picking a hiking trail. We were greeted with “no dogs”. I walked out and tied Bill up. I went back in and asked for a trail recommendation. The grumpy man recommended a 1.5 mile trail with great views. He told me it was the most popular. Sounded good to me. Bill Scrapps is plenty agile but I had two geriatric wiener dogs to consider and Ichabod's back has been bothering him. Less than two miles would be a cinch and then maybe we could check out one of the other trails. 

This sign should have warned me...

Within steps of starting the trail, Ichabod indicated that he wasn't feeling up to a big walk. I had anticipated this, so I put him into an empty purse I had brought should this scenario present. Carrying a 10 pound bag on a 2 mile hike wasn't going to throw us off the trail.

Ichabod's new vantage point

Within half of a mile, I realized that the hike was much too steep for my other dachshund, Anna. So, up she went into my other somewhat available arm.

These steps will work for a Billy goat but not for a little wiener dog

These aren't even steps

The man in white at the top of both photos was my personal heckler. He wanted to know if he too could get a lift. He also introduced me to all the descending hikers.

 "That woman is carrying two dogs! I asked her for a ride but she said no!" 

Then, everybody would laugh. Except for me, because I was climbing up a mountain with twenty extra pounds of  dogs and trying to keep my balance so as to not fall off the mountain or break an ankle.

 But don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my heckler. He was an elderly Chinese gentleman who had come to the states years ago to study physics. He retired to a lake community in Virginia and recommended that I hike Mcafee's Knob sometime. His dog Gengis Khan had died the year before. I was impressed by his hiking skills. 

We made it to the top in one piece and it was worth it. 

Anna decided to pose in the window of a primitive stone house at the top of the mountain. 

There was no way I was going to make it down the steep terrain carrying two dogs and not fall. With my hands literally full, I had no arm to steady myself. This was really an all fours hike. I was chatting it up with another woman at the top of the mountain who didn't feel her knees were up to the task either. She told me there was a road that buses took to bring people to the top of the mountain that was a lot less treacherous. 

The tranquil road down

My sweat is weighing the shirt down. This was taken by an innocent bystander.

So we walked down it together. She too, was very interesting. We compared rural life to city life, and European life to American life. We had an interesting conversation about how animals are treated in different cultures. 

Carrying the dogs of an even downhill terrain was much easier. None the less, my arms are sore tonight. After a three hour hike I decided to skip any detours to the town of Bedford and get on the road. I succeeded in my goal of reaching Bethlehem. 

We did not find a barn with a manger and friendly livestock but we found the second best thing: a great last minute deal on hotels.com. This hotel was far superior to my last hotel and cheaper. I realized my ideal hotel has the following qualities:

HGTV 

AC

Wifi

Clean

No scent

Not creepy

An ice machine

A small space to exercise/ do yoga

A pool and workout room, even if I don't get around to using it

The hotel in Bethlehem had all this and a enjoyable grassy knoll to walk the dogs with no threat of cars running us over.

I also pretty much succeeded in my goal of not buying any food. I had packed plenty. I did splurge and spend a $1.38 on two new bananas. I left my "caramelized" bananas in Virginia.

Best of all, our final destination was less than three hours away. We could sleep well again tonight and wake up and hit the road tomorrow at our leisure.