Stumbling Upon A Great Group - Warrior Hike

A few days ago on Facebook my dear friend, ConcreteBob posted that he was going to be in Front Royal, Virginia on Friday night.  I thought surprising him would be fun.  After all, we are in Harrisonburg, Virginia for the next month and it's close by.

I asked Tommy to put me on the calendar for the 21st.  "Is this one of those things where you walk into the room and people yell "BostonMaggie" and you smile beneficently?" he asked.

Why yes..........yes it is.

LOL!  I didn't know why Bob, he of the famous homemade BBQ sauce, was going to be there, but, whatever.  His post mentioned the Front Royal VFW.  So it's something I can crash, I'll stand a round, buy raffle tickets, whatever.

But I didn't know a time.  And I didn't know how to find a time without tipping my hand.  There was nothing on the Col Samuel R Millar, VFW Post 1860 web page or Facebook page.

Soooooooo, I emailed a perfect stranger and asked.  I got lucky.  No one had warned her about me, so she clued me in.  A potluck dinner.....crap.  I am here with a wok and paper plates.  What am I going to bring.  Cookies from the supermarket would have to suffice.

When we arrived everyone was back in a covered picnic area.  I kept my head down and walked up to ConcreteBob's table.  "Hi, I'm here from Women For Obama and I'd like to talk to you."  He was so confused.  Then he jumped up and hugged me fiercely!

After many hugs and laughs, Bob sat me down with Sean Gobin to explain why we were there.  Warrior Hike 2013 started in Georgia in March and they were headed up the Appalachian Trail.  Every five or six days they come off the trail and meet up with veteran and community organizations.  Tonight was the Front Royal stop.

From their "About" page;
In 2011, while deployed to Afghanistan, Marine Corps Captains Mark Silvers and Sean Gobin founded a nonprofit called Warrior Hike and in 2012 hiked all 2185 miles of the Appalachian Trail to raise donations for wounded veterans.
During their journey, Mark and Sean organized 35 fund-raisers at veterans organizations that were located along the Appalachian Trial.
At the completion of their hike, Mark and Sean had raised $50,000 in donations to purchase adapted vehicles for seriously wounded veterans from the war in Afghanistan.
Recognizing the physical, psychological, and spiritual benefits of hiking the Appalachian Trail, Warrior Hike has partnered with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy to create the Walk Off The War Program. The Walk Off The War Program is designed to support combat veterans transitioning from military service by thru hiking the Appalachian Trail.

There is more on their website plus pictures (you should click the link, they're cuties).

Like them on FaceBook!  Follow them on Twitter.  Spread the word and help out any way you can.

It was a win/win for me.  I got to see Bob and surprise him.  Then Mr. & Mrs. Sniper showed up.  You can really spend the whole night laughing when they show up at a party.  One of the guys had a phone/tablet?  A Phablet?  Holy crap, Sniper was off and running with that one.  Plus I found a great group to follow on Twitter.

I'm going to try and hit them at another stop to show my support and I can do more than shop for cookies in the supermarket.

Big Changes

I have moved to Virginia.

For a while.

It's been the plan for a while.

I loved this last five months in Hull.  I wanted to stay until at least the fall.  But things happen and I am here in Staunton now.

I will go back often.  My parents are there.  I am not leaving Doctor Miller and my wonderful medical team who have seen me through this far.

I will be very lonely here in the land where no one understands me when I speak........