Date: 2003-03-21
From: US 441 - newfound gap

To: US 441 - newfound gap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

said adios to TC today. he's on his way to the smokies, where i should be. unfortunately i gotta wait. the mailman should be cruising by here sometime around 2 or 3pm. i'm really hoping my package is with him.the mailman came by. no package. talked to him though and he explanined to me how it is that ground shipping works, or doesn't work. bottom line: my package may take up to 7-10 days to arrive. i called my uncle. he sent it in on monday. i'm hoping that i won't have to wait till this coming monday, but i can't leave this package behind. it's got money and i don't. i still have a couple days of trail food, so if it comes down to it, i can go back to the trail and just wait it out at icewater spring shelter, which is only three miles north of newfound gap. for the rest of today though, i think i'll just hang out here in gatlinburg for a while. see which hikers come through and see the town a bit.sometime in the mid afternoon i was sitting by the road and i heard someone call out my name from a car. it was dimples and a bunch of other hikers. they had just hitched into town. i went to hang out with them for a while at the happy hiker. brendan was there and told me about his job situation and how he was gonna end his hike in hot springs, nc and go back to work. he's sad, the situation is sad, but you do what you have to do.walked with the group a 1/4 mile or so past town limits where it's okay to hitch. they were headed back to the trail. soon enough a white pickup pulled over and everyone was able to squeeze in. it was sad waving goodbye. i should've been with them. i should've been on my way back to the trail walking miles i hadn't walked before. seeing things i hadn't seen before. but i can't. not today at least. maybe tommorrow.i wasn't sure what i was gonna do tonight. where i'd sleep. i knew that i had the trail and that had been my original idea. to go back if all else failed. but it just didn' really seem right. i didn't want to walk those three miles just so i'd have to turn right back around tomorrow morning and walk them again to pick up my package. i didn't like the whole idea of having to backtrack. not because of the miles, but because i'm walking north, not north and then a little south. besides, three miles, that's a tease. when i walk, i wanna walk more. and finally, i think my package should be able to make it in tomorrow morning. i just can't see it arriving any later than that. at least i hope.that decision having been made i had to decide on where to sleep. hmm...?church. that's right, a church. they're always taking people in. or at least i think they still do. you know, that whole take in the lonely traveller image that pops into your head. i decided to take a walk around town and locate myself a church.i walked and soon i came across one. i pulled on the front door, it was locked. i didn't know churches were locked. i walked around back. nothing. i walked up the road a little more and came across another. no luck. there was even a little house behind this one which i assumed belonged to the father, but no one was home either. i walked on. no worries. soon i came across another and this one had some life to it. there was a group of people outside in the lawn having what looked like bible study. i didn't want to intrude on them, so i decided to stand around close enough for them to notice me, but not close enough to be pushy. within a few minutes the father called out to me and asked me if i wanted to join them. i gladly accepted.i sat down with them and the father gave me a song sheet. there was a gentleman there playing a guitar and he was good. i joined in with the singing and i thought to myself how nice this really was. i was happy to have come around even though it was due to necessity. after singing a bit the father passed out white index cards and asked us to write down on them something that we wanted for ourselves. i did so. we all did so. the father lit a little fire and then asked us to get in line and throw the cards into the fire and i thought to myself how symbolic the whole ceremony was. it meant a lot to me. what i wrote down meant a lot to me. it still means the world to me.we all through in our cards one at a time with the father taking our photos as we did it. after this little ceremony we had some eggs diablo and some mimosas. it was great. we talked for a bit and the members asked me about my trip. they were amazed. the fact that i had walked 200 miles to get there really put a look of surprise on their faces.the sun was setting so we started packing up the lawn chairs to bring them inside the church. inside one of the members asked me if i would like to stay with them the night. i gratefully accepted. this was jim and his wife sandra (my aunt's name). most of the group was headed to a local diner and this included jim and sandy so i joined them as well.i had a good time and good food at the diner, and got to know better this small group of members of the trinity episcopal church of gatlinburg, tn. satisfaction in the belly having been achieved, everyone started dispersing and so my hosts and i followed suit.pulling into the driveway of jim and sandy's home i was struck with admiration. it was gorgeous. it had a wood exterior and a gorgeous, large bay window in the front of the house. very stylish. the interior of the house was just as admirable and warm in feeling. we talked a bit, sandy offered me nothing less than a corona, and she showed me to the room that i was to occupy for the night. i felt right at home. i thanked jim and sandy and wished them a good night.