Date: 2007-05-26
From: Newfound Gap/Gatlinburg, TN

To: Gatlinburg, TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Today is a zero day, and I have semi-mixed feelings regarding that. I look forward to spending the day with my parents, eating real food, going to Church, wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt, and catching up on phone calls and email; the negative side of the mixed feelings is that after my last zero-day, in Hiawassee, I experience bitter leg pains! My prescription? I walk almost everywhere I go in town!The day begins with a continental breakfast at the hotel, and stops all across town. At the Happy Hiker Outfitter, I stock on food, and replace my socks. I've fallen in love with the new pair I bought at the outfitter in Fontana Village, that I opt to get rid of remaining original socks (remember, I lost one of the pairs in Franklin), replacing them with the same type! The staff at the outfitter take my picture outside, and ask me to mail them a shot of me from the peak of Katahdin! I have been asked this almost everywhere I go, from REI in Atlanta, to Neels Gap, to the Hiawassee Inn, to here. I trust the request will continue to be made all the way to Katahdin!After the outfitter, my parents and I truck it over to a convenience store, and there bump into Robert, the gentleman from Double Springs Gap Shelter who feared he was having a heartattack! My dad is a nurse, so I promptly introduce them to each other, as my dad will surely have some good advice for him!I then locate an cafe with an Internet cafe, but realize I haven't a cable to plug my digital camera into the computer! So, I have to take the trolley several miles to a RadioShack, then back again to the cafe! While there, I take time to email friends and post pictures on my facebook account. The computer is slow as molasses, so it takes much longer than I wanted to spend there.We attend Mass that evening at Saint Mary's Catholic Church, celebrated by an elderly priest, beautiful with old age, and orthodox as can be! After Mass, I approach him, asking for a "traveler's blessing". Upon my telling him that I have hiked just over 200-miles, he clutches his heart, and says, "Oh, to be young again", then proceeds to give me a blessing.The owner of the Happy Hiker assured us that the pancake place across the street from the Catholic Church is open for dinner (all the others serve only breakfast and lunch), but there isn't a car in the parking lot, nor a light on in the building. My dad, I think, is the most frustrated in this regards; but, we find Shoney's, and settle down for the buffet (my mom has a Rueben Sandwhich instead). I must confess to being disappointed with the food selection and quality, but as a hiker, it's hard to complain.Back at the hotel, I do my laundry, and make phone calls while downstairs, updating individual friends who have expressed interest in my trip (the others, I leave it to them to find out about my adventure online or through others). I regret not doing laundry earlier, as this is keeping me awake longer than I really want to be. I don't retire until 11:30pm-ish, and I'm used to being in bed by 10pm at the latest on the Trail! The only chafe I have had so far, I got here in damn Gatlinburg, while walking around town in cotton boxers! I'm totally going to convert to water-wicking underwear for good, now!I go to bed, anxious to get back to the Trail and hike 23.3-miles to Cosby Knob Shelter.