Date: 2007-04-01
From: Franklin, NC

To: Franklin, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

First off, Happy 5th Birthday to my nephew Holten! Hope your very firsttee-ball game was fun today. I love you!Ahh, the aftermath of a hard day's hike, which in my case means very stiff andsore knees and a general resistance to walking. LOLOh, Rachael got all the pics up that she has so far. Thanks babe, I know it isvery time consuming. Next round will be mailed home from Fontana Dam in 4 days!So "the plan" (which I figure we'll learn one of these days not to botherplanning anything) was to go stay on the floor in Kay (now named Scribe byNicole because she is a writer) and Gadget's room, which would have involvedpacking up everything and walking a quarter mile to their motel. Nicole wakesup and before either of us crawl out of our beds goes, "So here's the deal, Iwill pay for another nite here so you and I don't have to move anything today." I of course started laughing, and agreed, but only on the condition that I woulddo the same for us further up the trail. Our MUCH needed zero day (only our third so far), was taken to a whole new levelonce we knew we didn't have to move. (Can you say lazy? LOL)We got up and ended up at the Motor Grill for break"feast". Boy did we shovelit in, pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, home fries, toast and coffee. Youcan't beat a good southern breakfast. I was starving after yesterday's hike,and to top things off, the forecasted rains showed up. There is something socomforting to know you are dry inside when the rains come.We also decided to just resupply enough to get us to Fontana Dam, NC here. Wehad planned on resupplying at the NOC, but we'll be there (actually past there)tomorrow, so it only made sense to resupply here where it is also cheaper. Thatand we've eaten almost none of our trail meals the past few days.Food inventory, laundry, and I needed to get to the outfitters before they close@ 4 today. It seems I lost the rubber bite valve sleeve on my drinking tube,and let's just say I didn't want to take the "used" one from the hiker box. heeheeI did get to the outfitters and they didn't have the kind I use, but had ahydration tube with bite valve for a camelback. It wasn't made to fit mineexactly, but my few years of working on cars solved that. I "spliced" the newtube onto part of the old and it works just fine! LOLWe went to a little Ingles grocery store for supplies. If anyone wonders, itcosts me about $25.00 per resupply for 4-5 days. That figure can go up or downdrastically depending on if I need to buy batteries, Vitamin I, or Prilosec. I'm a freaking walking medicine cabinet out here! haa haaOn our way back to the motel, we walked past Wayah Insurance, the bsiness outtrail angels from yesterday (Harold and Jim) own. We wrote them a thank younote and slipped it the door. Oh, something else we do to save $ is to buy meals we can microwave in our roomsinstead of going out to restaurants for every meal. We also buy bulk and share,like ibuprofen, cereal for breakfast in the a.m., etc. I am still not 100% comfortable with my new budget, but I have to remember I'mstill getting the hang of all of this.After we resupplied, we basically went back to the room, packed up stuff, ateour lunches, and now we are stoked that Forrest Gump is coming on now!We are still waiting to hear if we need to catch the 9 or 11 a.m. shuttle backto Tellico Gap. My knees are still very sore, as are Nicoles, so our"tentatively planned" 10 mile day tomorrow may be cut short. It's the beauty of the trail, nothing is set in stone. No "have to's."I am ready to get back into my groove, out of this bed, back into my hammock,waking up with the birds, and soaking my feet in streams. I will soon be facing one of my fears, the high elevations and colder temps ofthe Smokys. If I can make it thru those potentially freezing cold nites, I'llbe ok. It will be as it should be, no more, no less, and I will accept it forwhat it is. ~Certain