Date: 2003-04-28
From: Hot Springs

To: Elmers dinner table
Miles today: 0.0

Hot Springs NCI am awaken by really strange sounds early this morning.They are the sounds of traffic out on the street.Then an ambulance goes screaming by. It is too early for breakfast,so I open my maildrop box and sort out my food. I make my way downstairs and plop down in a rocker in the parlor.I wrap up in a fleece coverlet and rock.I could spend hours in the old house just going from room to room.Hundreds of books are stuck in every available nook.I have always loved old houses and this one was built in 1866.At 8:00 the breakfast bell rings,summoning the guests to breakfast.Someone had forgotten to put their name on the list to eat,but we make room and there is plenty of food to go around. Waffles with nuts,syrup,apple juice,herbal tea,coffee,and the best granola cereal made up in batches by Elmer himself.I eat a couple waffels,some fresh fruit and two bowls of cereal!Is my hiker appetite finally kicking in? The city is working on the water line so the water is shut off for the morning.Since I can't do laundry yet,I look around my room at my options.The big bed suddenly sends out tenanious arms and grabs me ,pulling me back into the warmth of the bed.I lay there,just pondering where I am and what little I have to do today.I answer some emails,do lots of stretching,and finally get back up. My first errand is to the outfitter's to get new rain gear.I am tired of being soaked by wearing what is supposed to be waterproof gear in the rain.I would be dryer wearing nothing at all.Of course that would bring much laughter and looks on the trail!    I spring for a FroggTogg set,guaranteed to keep me dry.We will see.Then I spy a counter with cute hiking T Shirts for kids.Let's see,how many grandchldren do I have?? I also splurge and buy 8 titanium tent stakes replacing the aluminum ones I have.I have bent several already,plus the weight I will be saving which is several ounces will further lighten my pack.I am determined to drop more weight before I leave here.Hiking gear is like marine and RV stuff.The lighter it is,the more it costs. I am catching a shuttle here tomorrow and get dropped off north of here 15 miles and slack pack south.Then Thursday will catch a shuttle to where I started on wednesday and head north.I may even do another spot in the hot springs when I get in,that is if I can still walk!.I finally get my laundry done,even wash my sleeping bag. Oh ,what a great smell!A clean bag! The little store (Ramseys) is a laundromat,video rental,propane sales,cabin rentals,flowers,gameroom,grocery,rafting,you name it and has the only two payphones in town. It is also the place where you can sit at the picnic tables outside and sooner or later every hiker in town will come by. I was in the post office this afternoon in line,when the lady in front of me finished her transaction, turned towards me and said "Bumpkin,is that you?"It took me by surprise,because she was not dressed like a hiker,nor did she have that wild, glassy eyed look in her eyes. And she didn't smell like a hiker. Even clean it seems we still smell funny.Turns out,she was Jitterbug from Women's Hiker List. She had just emailed me,and so did Swallowtail who is going to do some driving support for Jitterbug and her husband when they get on the trail at Springer on Thursday.S he recognized me from the picture on my trail journal. She offered to shuttle me around town as I needed,then as women must do when they get together,we had to eat!More trail magic as she insisted on buying my lunch.We were joined by 4 other hikers,some she knew by name and was delighted to meet them in person.She said when she drove into town this morning,she stopped and asked a guy hiking down the road if he was a hiker. She really wanted to meet a real live hiker. Although by the time they get here there is not too much life to them.Dinner was a grand affair tonight,cauliflower cheese soup,tossed salad with tahini dressing,noodles and a tomato sauce loaded with sliced vegetables,fresh baked bread and a sinfully delicious key lime pie,spearmint tea finised us all off.There were 14 for dinner and we had a good time talking around the table.Each night there is a question of the day.Tonight's question is if you could be anywhere tonight at sunset where would it be? We all go around the table,first introducing ourselves,then answering the question.The answers are as varied as the guests around the table.There are new faces,hikers who came in today.Some have left that were here.The hiking world on the trail really is somewhat family.It is an ever evolving,changing group yet the group nucleus remains the same in some strange way.Word travels up and down the trail with alarming speed. Sometimes news gets spread even before it takes place!!I meet "Seventy" tonight at dinner.He is the hiker who fell back at Stecoah Gap where we were doing trail magic. He is much chagrinned that I ask if that was him. His rescuer that carried his pack down for him was in his eighties!!We have one guest who is a non hiker and she is intriqued by all of this strange lingo. I am sure it must have sounded strange to her as we went around the table giving our names. Names like Strider,Loser,Seventies,Dirt Nabber,Bro.Ron.Elmer has a limit of two nights stay, so Strider and I set out to find a place to stay when we get back tomorrow afternoon.Luckily,we get a room just down the street at a little motel. I am glad to have a place to call home for the night. My pack is all ready to go in the morning.I am looking forward to being back on the trail. Also looking forward to yet another night in a real bed,with running water, hot and cold and more real food. Who knows,I might even practice eating that half gallon of ice cream tomorrow! bumpkin