Date: 2008-01-11
From: Ron Haven's Motel, Franklin, NC

To: Ron Haven's Motel, Franklin, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Woohoo!!! It was a bright, sunny day....a perfect day for a zero!! There are lots of good restaurants close by and a good bed for napping. :-) My granddaughter sent me an email a few days back and I've been thinking about how safe it is on the Trail these days. I'm going to share it without her permission...:-) Here it is: ok well my first driving experiance was pretty funny. ok everyone got whiplash. i had my friend in the car and elise. i would hit the gas then brake too hard. i thought it was going to be wayyy easier. like i thought i was prepared. but driving in a striaght line is easy. ok well i am not alowed to drive on the highway yet . and my parking stinks badd.. it is soooooo hard to park. i need to practice big time. my permit is kool looking. now im going to show it off when school starts againlove yachristy See what I mean about it being safer on the Trail right now?? Ha!!!I love zero days...especially when I don't have anything that needs to be done other than eat breakfast, sleep, eat lunch, nap, then eat dinner and write my journal entry about how I ate and slept all day. :-)I walked up to the recommended restaurant for breakfast. It was closed so I kept walking another half mile and found Wilson's open.I had 3 pieces of French toast, coffee, 3 eggs, coffee, 3 pieces of bacon, coffee, hashbrowns, coffee and biscuits, then washed it all down with more coffee!I was close to the grocery store, so I bought more donuts for the Trail...and other stuff that's really good for you. I didn't buy too much because it will be just 3 days and 2 nights before I get to Nantahala Outdoor Center.I walked back to the room and found a dime on the way. I love making money like that!I answered emails in between resting when I did get back to the motel.I was just starting to think about lunch, when I saw Ron Haven walking towards my room. He asked what I was going to do for lunch and I said whatever he was doing for lunch. ;-)He said there was a great BBQ place in town and that sounded just right to me!His wife, Maricela, went with us and it was indeed very good!I ordered half a BBQ chicken, baked beans and fries and was quite satisfied. :-)I've known Ron for a while and had been around Maricela a few times, but finally got to talk to her and get to know her better...very nice lady!Thanks Ron for taking me!I came back to the motel and rested some more. I made some popcorn that I had bought at the grocery and had a banana to balance that snack out. :-)I messed around on one of the motel computers for a while, and then took a nap.I know I said I was going to talk about my winter gear when I got to Franklin, but I've just been so busy......OK, I'll take one piece of new winter gear and talk about it now.Hummm, let's see. Yeah, I've got it!....today I'll talk about my winter walking shorts! They are the same walking shorts that I wear in the summer on the Trail, only they feel cooler in the winter. I tried wearing those boxers I ditched a couple days into the walk to add a skosh more warmth, but as I reported earlier, they caused discomfort and were thus discarded. :-)I like wearing my winter shorts all year.OK, I know that all sounds silly, but that's the first piece of winter gear I wanted to talk about.I promise the next piece of winter gear will be something more useful to most everyone....maybe even my top secret sleeping pad.I just can't get into talking about gear on my zero day. :-(I finished answering everyone who signed my guestbook. I want to thank everyone for that because it really makes me feel great to hear from you!My stuff has been strewn all over the room since I got here airing out. I guess I should pack it up, but then again, why ruin a perfect zero. ;-)I wasn't real hungry, but it was dinner time and I just couldn't miss a meal.I walked back to Cody's Steakhouse intended on just having a hamburger, but the 12 ounce prime rib caught my eye. :-)I ordered that rare and had a good salad, yeast rolls and garden saut©ed veggies. Ohhhhhh, I need to go for a walk.....[oink, oink]I got back and David told me I missed Ron. He had stopped by, but went on home for the night. Darn....he was bringing over a banjo and guitar to play some.Ron, guess I'll have to catch you next time. I was really looking forward to hearing you play. I've heard you are good at it from some other hikers.I will start talking about my winter gear soon...my real winter gear...I promise! :-)[This little piggy went to North Carolina¢¦¢¦]Another great day on the Appalachian Trail! :-)