Date: 2018-03-30
To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 7.8

Usually, my least favorite sound on the trail is the early morning ¢woooooossshhhh¢ emanating from Next Step¢s sleeping mat as he loosens the valve, letting the air escape. Why? Because that means it¢s time for me to crawl out of my nice warm sleeping bag and start packing up for the daily hike. But this morning, when the sound came at 6:15 AM, it was music to my ears...it¢s TOWN DAY!!! We only had a 7.5 mile hike to get to Hot Springs, NC. TO add to the excitement our son recently had reminded me of the amazing milkshakes we had gotten there the last time we visited the town. If we got up and got going, I could be drinking one of those delicious treats before noon!! Even though it had rained hard during the night, it had stopped a few hours before my ¢alarm¢ went off, which also meant that we didn¢t have to pack up in the rain!! We ate our breakfast quickly, packed up and were on the trail by 7:20, a record starting time so far. We only had a few climbs today and several significant descents, so we were able to make some really good time, even though it started to rain again soon after we started hiking. After we passed over the last ascent, I spotted the first two deer we have seen so far. Next Step was trying to get out the camera to get their picture, but I must have startled them when I said, ¢I JUST SAW TWO DEER!!!!¢ I¢m not exactly the stealthiest hiker in the woods, but I¢m thinking that will come in handy when we get to bear country. Lol As we came down the last descent, we could see the town of Hot Springs just below us. I ¢smelled the barn¢ and picked up the pace even more. Hot Springs is the first town that we have actually hiked into. The trail runs through the heart of this historical little town nestled in the western North Carolina Mountains. It sits between Spring Creek and the French Broad River and features a 100 acre resort spa with mineral waters. The sidewalk leading through town has the AT emblem engraved in marble about every 50 feet. It is clearly a hiker friendly town. It is currently the leading edge of the hiker bubble, which evidently began to arrive in mass yesterday.  Following the AT markings for a short distance, we arrived at the Smokey Mountain Diner by 11:00 AM and I had already ordered my cheeseburger and onion rings!!!! We heard the Hillbilly Market had the best milkshakes in town (the restaurant where we had gotten them several years before had closed) so I would have to wait until later in the afternoon to satisfy my craving!!! Just something else to look forward to!!  We have family meeting us here tomorrow, and we have a cabin reserved for Saturday - Monday. We were thinking we would stay in a hostel tonight, but fortunately the cabin was made available a day early. They weren¢t quite ready for us to check in, so we thought it would be the perfect time to go to the laundromat to get that chore taken care of. We got all of our stinky hiking clothes washed and then noticed that NONE of the seven dryers in the facility actually worked. No problem. We walked up the hill to find our ¢home away from home¢ for the weekend and were happy to find a quaint log cabin with a clothesline out back. PERFECT! Next Step got all of our wet laundry hung up while I got my shower. I worked on getting our dishes washed up while he got his shower. He asked me to grab him a shirt off the line. I went out to get it, only to find that it had started raining again. Not so perfect!!! I grabbed a few things off the line and brought them in, hoping they would be dry before we headed back to town to visit the local outfitter and get our milkshakes. Unfortunately, we had to make our trek wearing only our rain gear. But it¢s a hiker town so they¢re used to it! We brought our purchases back up to the cabin and turned around and walked back to town to meet Close Call and Heartburn for supper. The Spring Creek Tavern is obviously the place to eat. When we walked in, it was packed! We had to wait several minutes to get a table. They are famous for their mozzarella cheese sticks?!? What can be so special about a cheese stick? Well, when they¢re as big as a corn dog and filled with cheese and salami and served with an incredible marinara sauce, they are something to get excited about, especially when you had to walk 34 days to get them!! Of course, we also had some pizza. But don¢t fret, we shared a giant salad before our pizza arrived so there was SOMETHING healthy in there. Now we¢re back at the cabin trying to finish our hiker chores. Our son is driving up tonight from Arkansas to join us for the weekend and Next Step¢s stepmom and his sister will be here tomorrow. So excited for some family time!! Just wishing our daughter, her boyfriend and our son¢s wife could be here as well. That would be a perfect weekend! Just have to brag a minute...Our daughter is actually on her way back to her university in CO after spending the last few days in Long Beach, CA, for a Sociology conference. She was chosen to present her Senior Project at the conference!! We are beyond proud!!!  Wishing all of you a happy Easter and feeling blessed to be where we are at this moment!  ¢ Which Way Elevation Data:Ascent ~ 1,070Descent ~ 2,380Grade ¢ 8.4 Weather:Day ¢ 55 degrees / Rain ShowersNight ¢ 31 degrees / Cloudy Over the Horizon: Hot SprIngs, NC