START TIME: 5:05 AM 
END TIME: 9:40 PM
Jen must be living right, because four really incredible things happened to her today.
The first was that she got stung by a bee. And she’s allergic to bees. You’re probably wondering, “How is that lucky?” Well, it’s lucky because I happened to stick a couple of Benadryl in her little-used hip pack today, and I have NEVER put Benadryl in there before. So she was able to take the meds as soon as she got stung so it didn’t affect her as much.
The second incredible thing was that the Pit Crew got caught in three substantial rain showers and one massive thunderstorm, but the little Hiker Princess came away unscathed. Not a single drop hit her.
Somewhere in one of the gospels, Jesus said, “the rain falls on the just and the unjust.” So we’ve decided that Jen must be neither.
But the wet weather made for cooler temperatures, so Jen got to enjoy the benefits of the rain without any of the drawbacks.
The third incredible thing is that Jen got to eat dinner off a tablecloth draped over a folding table right by the trail. That’s because the Pharrs’ close family friends, the Smiths—who are mentioned in Jen’s book, Becoming Odyssa—live in Banner Elk, and they came out en masse to 19E to support Jen and feed her copious amounts of lasagna at her last road crossing of the day. Also, their youngest son Nathaniel, who ran cross-country at UNC, hiked a 10.4-mile stretch with Jen from Walnut Mountain to 19E and then he and his sister Catherine climbed another mile and a half with her toward Roan Mountain.
The fourth incredible thing is that I got to sit in a hot tub. Ok, that has nothing to do with Jen, but it sure made me happy. After she passed by 19E, she and Rambler (who is spending his last night with Jen on the trail) headed toward Doll Flats while I followed the Smiths to Catherine’s and Jason’s house, where the entire extended family was gathering for a big dinner.
I had a lot of fun meeting everyone, eating a delicious dinner, and then later, sitting in the hot tub while Jason and Catherine told me about how they met, what they hoped to do in the future, and how the Christmas tree industry works. (Catherine’s dad works in it.) It was a great night. And an incredible day. For Jen . . . and for me.