Day 19 - Sunday/Monday, June 6/7
The day began in a foreboding way with rain. I slipped back into my old routine of 4:30am wake up and began my steps to getting out the door by 6. Chris and I enjoyed double cups of coffee w cream & sugar followed by Greek vanilla whole fat yogurt topped with granola and seasonal berries. Afterwards, we use the bathroom outdoors as we are both still terrified to christen the RV bathroom as we would have to clean it! On this morning, Chris wandered out into the dark and stepped into something that really smelled badly. When he got back he realized that was not dog crap but something much, much bigger and scarier - not a good start. As I ran away at 5:50am into twilight, I was happy to know I was leaving Spring Mtn at 3,780’ and descending towards Ellijay at 1,280’. And following up on the incredible day of running on the AT things were going great - until I noticed that Lucky was pulling up a lot to go to the bathroom and then I stopped and saw it was pure blood. My heart broke and I had to just stop. Six weeks ago the same thing happened and then 2 weeks later we almost put him down. We decided to do chemo on the advanced cancer as a long shot and 3 weeks after that he was in remission and then running 20 miles on the AT and now it is back to black. Chris pulled up to me 6.5 miles after I left and I could hardly speak a word to him I was so overcome with grief. We loaded Lucky into the RV at 10 miles fearing it would hurt him and this time he complied where other times he would wail at me.
Doc’s told me to keep mileage around 12 a day for first week back but I had to keep running until I reached Ellijay at 26 because it helped diffuse the pain in my heart. Christ hadn’t showered in 3 days because of water issues in the RV so he found a wonderful little RV Park called Diamond Lure in Ellijay. For an extra $10 we got the “premium” spot lake front and an escort to the site! Once we landed, we went through the ritual of connecting water, sewer, power, extending the cabin, cleaning the outside and getting comfortable. Chris is a chef in real life so I was treated to salmon, asparagus and mashed potatoes that were out of this world and at least we went to bed with a great meal. We also decided that we would take off Monday as we needed to find a vet for Lucky and my shin was starting to hurt like it did the first go round.
First stop on Monday was a massage to work on my shin and Chris’ back. We stumbled into Natural Wellness Center of Ellijay where Jennifer and her daughter Liz took great care of us. Nice facilities but more importantly, Jennifer is one of the best therapists I have ever been to. I am so happy we met her.
Next up was lunch in the adorable village at Wood Fired Pizza. Kourtney provided great service with a personality and the food was extraordinary not just for a pizzeria, but any restaurant. I love food, but food is Chris’ life and profession so i really like to see what he thinks. We started with Burrata app that had fire roasted, marinated tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, basil dressing and balsamic. We followed with 3 pizzas: 1. Spicy Calabrian with salami, Italian sausage Calabrian peppers, crushed tomatoes, mozzarella and provolone. 2. Anchovy, caper, kalamata olives, crushed tomatoes and cheeses. 3. Local Shiitake Mushroom & Truffel oil. Crust was amazing, Burrata amazing, pizza’s amazing - Chris went to the chef and told him this was as good as the world class Roberta’s & Motorino Pizzaeria’s in NYC. Wow!
Next we headed to VCA Appalachian Animal Hospital where Kailyn squeeze Lucky in for CBC blood panel at the request of our local Dr. Walker. I nervously waiting for the results so i could send to Dr. Walker and he could translate but in the meantime, Sydney and the doctor at VCA helped me understand that it was probably chemo stomach aggravation as his panel was almost perfect. They sent me home with some meds to help him with the diarrhea and I am hopeful we can get back to a stable remission. Fingers crossed and thank you for helping!
Next up was Gilmer Chamber of Commerce to orient for our route tomorrow toward Chatanooga. We are looking for where the National Historic Trail of Tears begins in Ellijay. Ellen, Caitlin and Thanna greeted Chris, Lucky and I. What a great welcome! We left having full understanding of where we need to go tomorrow as well as how many wonderful attractions the town has: great dining, history, mountain biking, year round festivals and a great small town charm. Thank you for the hospitality!
Back to our spot on the lake we are about to shut down for the day and get back on the move tomorrow. Lucky will start out running with me and we will see how he feels. We have had rain all day and there is rain in forecast. But between the rain, there is always a rainbow out there.
Thank you all for the support -
Cheers,
David.
P.S. Thank you Trail Sisters for sending me the picture you took of Lucky when we met - it is the last one on this thread. Our meeting that included laughing, crying, smiling and getting to know each other in the middle of the AT at a random point in time is one I will cherish on my journey.
