Date: 2015-04-13
From: Fontana Hilton Shelter

To: Fontana Hilton Shelter
Miles today: 0.0

Fontana Village Resort is a strange place. Super weird. It seems my shoes won't arrive until 2:30 at least so this might turn into a zero-mile day. I am disappointed, especially since my feet feel good and the rain hasn't started yet. I am hanging out with Yoda, Hands and Mouth, and JD while I wait. Twister was here before and we all shared some stretching tips. As much as I prepared for this trip, I should have spent more time on anatomical and stretching research. They keep opening my eyes to new things (like the fact that hand sanitizer should be used after touching trail registers).Now I am eating down some if my pack weight. By the time I get my shoes, and get back to the trail, and hike the 11 miles to the next shelter, it will be nearly sunset. I really am disappointed. One of the things I knew I was going to have to work on and one of the whole points of this hike was to calm down, relax, enjoy life, and take things slow. I am eager to hit the trail but need to chill out.The good thing is that I got to take another hot shower. I hope my beast feet won't be swimming in my new shoes so the wait will have been worth it. I am worried after hearing about Candace's eyes. I hope you are okay, Emmy!So I am waiting and waiting and dreaming of pizza but DEVOURING my yummy trail food. The pizza will taste all the better when I get it. I am thankful that good hikers have been hospitable to me here in Fontana. In so many ways! The company is great. Also I am still excited and thankful for pizza money. Also for my journal (thanks, Louisa!). Hands and Mouth has the same brand of journal but bigger.Update:Today ended up being a forced zero since my shoes did not arrive. I was a little frustrated by this at first but it ended up being a decent day, despite the postal disappointment.I got up and headed to the Lodge, where I sat with Hands and Mouth, Twister, and JD while they ate breakfast. They had quite an intellectual conversation, jumping from topic to topic. I learned a lot from them this morning, including several good stretching techniques.After a lot of back and forth between the lodge and post office, it became evident that my shoes had not and were not going to arrive. By then it was too late to head out and hike the 11 miles to the next shelter. So I bought myself a consolatory ice cream sandwich (the cheapest option) and resigned myself to a day wasted.Hands and Mouth had been hanging out with JD during the morning, but kept me company through my mail debacle, trekking back and forth between the lodge and post office with me twice. Since I was enjoying his company and eager to avoid birthday boy (who invited me to his tent again about half an hour ago, and I do still feel bad), I decided to hike from the marina, where Hands and Mouth had caught the shuttle into town yesterday, to the Hilton shelter, where we are staying tonight. I wore my disintegrating flip flops the whole time. It was a great walk, my toes feeling so FREE.I took another shower at the bathroom here and it was gross so I wadded up some TP and tried to clean it out. I do not think it was very effective. Then I got mad that everyone had just dumped their excess mail drops in the shelter so I organized them and trashed the extra boxes and gross stuff. Someone acually dumped their gross, sweaty, smelly cotton t-shirt in the hiker box. My inner neat-freak was screaming. WHY, HIKER TRASH?! WHY?!Hands and Mouth and I stopped by the nearby trail magic and, with some others, helped them clean and pack up. The family that put out this picnic for us was incredibly sweet. Their son, daughter-in-law, and four-year-old twin granddaughters helped them serve hot dogs and make sandwiches.There is a good fire tonight and although I am trying to outrun Sweet Time tomorrow, I will be sad to leave Hands and Mouth behind. He is sweet and a good person, and respectful of my boundaries, and not creepy like poor birthday boy (I feel mean writing that but it is true).Tomorrow, I will enter Great Smoky Mountains National Park! I am excited though worried about forecasted rain.I am thankful you can forward priority mail. I am thankful for the TWO showers I took today. Most of all, I am SO thankful to Hands and Mouth for making my disappointing mail zero day a great one.