Back on the road. Leah and I have now decided that we belong in the truck, on the road. We spent a lot of time driving across the county and couldn't wait to unpack and settle, but it seems that every time we get back in the truck, we feel like we're at home. I'm now researching RVs and campers so we can do this full-time in the future.

Next stop, Winston-Salem! We stayed with our great friend Sarah. Sarah is one of the most amazing people I've met. Hilarious, hospitable, a genius, and a wonderful friend. She's a PA in thoracic/cardiac surgery and has awesome stories for days. Sarah took us out for drinks at a cool brewery and food truck where we met her other genius friends from the hospital. They were so accomplished and beautiful and the only thing I accomplished that night was badly twisting my ankle while walking down a perfectly good sidewalk. Ugh! Get it together, Tyler! We had more drinks at a rooftop bar but didn't go to wild because we were hoping to make it to a Crossfit workout the next morning.

On to High Point, NC. Crossfit didn't happen. We went, but we didn't work out. My ankle was in bad shape and we showed up a little late. We still hung out for a bit as they were hosting a charity day for the Special Olympics. We met up with our friend Amy, and I'm pretty sure she did the Crossfit workout twice in a row. She cray. Leah's religion professor, Dr. Norwood, treated us to breakfast at Carolina's Diner. It was great to catch up with him and hear all the gossip around High Point University. From there we headed to campus to see another professor, Dr. Titus. He was Leah's physics professor. We toured all the new and fancy stuff happening at HPU. That place is insanely nice. Excessive, but beautiful.

We headed back to Amy's house to get ready for wedding #1 of the summer. Leah's little sister in their sorority, Sydney, was getting married at a beautiful farm venue. We knew we'd be drinking, and shouldn't drive anywhere that night, so we found a place to camp near the venue. We fell into a great spot with a little research; a city park called Oak Ridge that has ONE camping spot meant for through hikers. It was free as long as you register with the city ahead of time. We set up camp, made a drink, and called an Uber. The wedding ceremony, venue, and reception were absolutely beautiful. From the parking lot, we were driven to the ceremony on a tractor trailer. With all those sorority sisters, Alyssa B, Kaylyn C, Becca M, Laura F, Sydney, and Leah, the reception was a raging dance party. It didn't stop there. We partied at a house on the property, and then got rides into Greensboro to meet more people at an arcade bar. It was funny to get an Uber ride back to our tent in a city park at 2am. It was Sunday. It was time to head back to Damascus and say goodbye for a while.

We stopped to hug Leah's mom and, as always, eat string cheese. We saw a play called The Lemonade Stand at The Barter Theater in Abingdon, VA, then back to mom's for more goodbyes and more string cheese. One last Family Dinner at John and Eva's house was full of tears, beers, and an awesome potluck. The next two hours was a sad and hilarious sequence of goodbyes between Leah and her dad, Jim. We said goodbye to him at Family Dinner, but then we gave him a ride back home, so we said goodbye again. But wait, there's more. Jim loaded up two big coolers full of Wilson Farm beef. All the hamburger, beef brats, and steaks you could dream of. Then we said goodbye, and drove to the barn to ice down the coolers, then said goodbye again. I tell you what, Jim and Leah Wilson have a bond I've never witnessed before. It's about the sweetest thing I've seen.

Our time in VA was everything we wanted, except shorter. It turns out that all of these trips we make are too short. I guess that's just the way it goes. I'm glad we got in some running, back-road cruising, poker, elbow-deep cold beers, southern food, moonshine, stories, relaxing, and of course, lots of time with friends and family. Thank you so much to all who hosted us, fed us, and most importantly, support us. We'll be back before you know it!

Tyler

This One's For North Carolina! C'mon and Raise Up!

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