Date: 2009-03-24
From: Winding Stair Gap, NC

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Cell GoodOG notesZero day today, we spent the day taking care of town business, C6 needed a new hat and decided on new pants. We walked to the outfitter to buy these things which was 1.7 miles from the motel, that means 3.4 non-counting miles, later we went to a mail place called "Going Postal" it's like a Kinko / FEDEX or UPS Store. That little trip added another .5 mile, the rest was accumulated for meals. The problem with all that walking is they don't count and the didn't get us any closer to Maine.We're in a motel room with two double beds, one to sleep in the other has all our clothes and some gear piled up on it. It's nice to have the comforts available but we want to get back to making progress down the trail.Today has been nice also because we got to spend it with our new friends in a leasurly fashion. We've had two excellent evenings going to dinner with them and sitting and chatting for a while.The atmosphere here in Franklin, NC has changed in the last 3 years. The last time I was here the only place to have a beer with dinner was at the Bowling Alley. You see, the Bowling Alley had a Tennis Court and that qualified them to serve alcohol. Now you can get a drink in any restaurant. Please don't get the wrong impression, alcohol is not important to us. I felt like I had stepped back in time in 2006 and not this time.That's about it for now, I'll have more trail news tomorrow.C6 notes Nice day today. Took our time getting up. Said goodbye to our friends who headed back to the trail today. Enjoyed a wonderful, and fun, dinner with Adin and Neal last evening. This evening we'll enjoy dinner with Bruce (Floater). He arrived at the motel today. It's great to see him again! Although it was a 0 (no hiking miles) day, we ended up walking about 5 miles overall doing the things we needed to do today. I needed to buy a new wool hat...didn't think about my hat being wool when we washed and dried it yesterday. Needless to say, it shrunk! I didn't realize that until we got back from the outfitter's yesterday. Since we had to go there again today to get me a new hat, I decided I wanted a new pair of pants. It doesn't seem as if I've lost much weight yet, but my pants didn't fit right (too loose). So we walked 1.7 miles to the outfitter and got me a new pair of pants and new hat. (Pam...from size 10 to 6, and I even fit into the size 4, but I'm not quite ready for them just yet!) We grabbed lunch near the outfitter store - dodging the heavy traffic in a place that is not suited for walkers. Then we walked the 1.7 miles back to the motel. We later walked to the Post Office to mail some things home. So much for a 0 day...but these miles don't count in the hiking tally.I uploaded pictures to a hiking friend's Facebook group, and our son, Chris, uploaded a couple videos I took of her. Sue (no trail name yet) started hiking the same day we did, but from the approach trail 7 miles from the Springer Mtn sign. She caught up with us a couple days ago and told us about her father being a priest, and that he set up a "praying for..." Facebook site for Sue. I wanted to surprise her friends and family by posting some current pics. I was so surprised to get a message on my Facebook page from one of my High School best friends last evening (saw it this morning). We've been out of touch forever...our lives just went in different directions. It's great to hear from you, Karen, and it's so much fun to tell you what we're doing! I look forward to finding out about your life when we finish this great adventure. I've often wondered where you are and how you've been.Time to start packing up our stuff to be ready in the morning now, while we're waiting for Floater to be ready to go to dinner. We will enjoy breakfast at Miss Janet's hostel in the morning, then get back on the trail. Unfortunately, the weather looks like we have a few days of rain ahead of us. Oh well, that's part of the whole experience.It's a couple hours later now. Had a delightful dinner at Cody's Roadhouse with Floater and Rusty. Delightful company. Emily, you are a wonderful young lady. We so enjoyed meeting you. I wish you all the best as you continue to serve we thru-hikers with our ridiculous attitudes!Old Goat & Check Six