Date: 2005-03-24
From: No Business Knob

To: Erwin Tn
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Overhill woke us up early and we were packed up and headed into town by first light. We hiked the 6 some miles t the road and then walked another 2 or so towards town before Scarecrow and I hitched a ride into town. Nice old-timer gave us a ride, he owns a couple of junkyards around the area. He knew right where Miss Janet¢s was and gave us a ride there. Miss Janet¢s hostel is one of the most famous along the A.T. and there is a lot of gossip trying to promote one hostel over another, and no one ever has anything but nice things to say about Miss Janet¢s. Miss Janet is in Florida for the week, but she has a few friends running the place for her. It¢s run out of her house and the whole first floor is for the hikers, its almost like staying at a real home, well it is her home.So Scarecrow and I rolled in a little before 10, dropped off our packs and went down the street for breakfast. The Elms, it was called, I had chocolate lovers dream, 3 pancakes rolled up with Bavarian cream inside then smothered with chocolate syrup and covered with whipped cream and 2 hot fried doughnuts on the side, more like dessert than breakfast but it was filling. I forgot my camera and left it in my pack so no pics today. We then went to the library got on the internet, my first time in a month, checked my e-mail and trail journals and stuff. Scarecrow got a job taking some guys car to Standing Bear Hostel to pick him up, he was a section hiker who rolled his ankle or something. I talked to my parents for awhile and saw Mississippi Alan at the P.O., we went to lunch together at Erwin¢s Burrito Company, good stuff. He gave me the update on Bayley, Ross and E. they all left the same time we arrived, so they¢re a day ahead of me and some of them are talking about the Damascus challenge, 50 miles in 24 hours or something crazy like that.Alan was just doing 4 miles out of town to the closest shelter because he was waiting around for a mail drop today. I might stick around in Erwin tomorrow for a while and do something similar. I walked around town looking like a fool, wearing those floral pattern shorts and my baby blue crocs. I came back to the house and started taking a shower, drying stuff out, cleaning clothes, going through my mailbox. There were a couple of extra chocolates and OREOS in there. Then the crowd showed up. They had hiked 16 miles into town. I met Doc Holiday, KB & SB, and Robin were new encounters, nice guys. Oh and Cat, he¢s a real quiet, easy to forget about sometimes. Just kinda zoned out for the afternoon. Then I went with KB & SB to the Elms again for dinner. KB is a cool guy, talks a lot. I had fried chicken; it was dry and not hot, totally different from my awesome breakfast. KB & SB or the B¢s as they¢re called are from New England and are halfway through college at the University of Maine. All the hikers said they had been reading my register entries at the shelters; I talk a lot about food I the registers, I always write in them around dinner time. So I have an ongoing theme of this mystical AYCE Chinese buffet, it ends up I have yet to find one, and there is nothing of the sort here in Erwin, maybe the next town.So I hung out here, watched the movie K-Pax, first movie I a long time. Then KB, Scarecrow and I headed to the Sonic for some more food, they closed just as we got there, then there was a McD¢s sign off in the distance, so we headed for it, then the lighted sign went out, closed I guess. So we headed for the SHELL sign. Before we got there we ran into the Huddle house, it was just like a Waffle House except for a little more floor space. We got some food talked for awhile and the headed back to Miss Janet¢s and went to bed. It was the first good nights sleep I¢ve had in awhile, the wood floors at the shelters have been rough and it¢s hard to sleep on, but the mattress on the bunk is much better, here at Miss Janet¢s too bad I didn¢t get to meet her. I hear she¢s real nice, alright that¢s all for today, my journal is almost out of paper, this could be a problem.Happy Hiking