Day 29: Dead Phone, Wonderful Hosts

Just after posting blogs last night my Samsung S4 bit the dust. It had been flaky for some time but reformatting the cache area seemed to fix things for a few weeks at a time. Not this time. Even a factory reset did not help. It rebooted itself every couple of minutes.
The nearest Verizon store was a 40 minute drive away. The owners of the hostel, Johnny and Charlotte Shores, offered to drive me to Johnson City today where Charlotte had an eye exam scheduled. What a lovely couple. We stopped for lunch then they dropped me at a Verizon store and picked me up 90 minutes later. It’s easy to see why Uncle Johnnie’s Hostel has such a reputation for friendliness.
I have a new S7 phone and will hit the trail tomorrow. I was a day behind schedule, now two. Gayle would rather pick me up next Thursday or Friday so it looks like I will end my hike in Damascus at around mile 470.