Date: 2010-05-01
From: Erwin, TN

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Zero day in town...usually look forward to these, but Erwin leaves a bit to be desired. It is really a car town...not very hiker friendly. Everything is very spread out and there really isn't much here. My hotel is next to a McDonalds, a Huddle House, and a Walgreen's pharmacy...and by next, I mean a quarter mile. Everything else is at least a 1/2 mile away. Believe it or not, I don't like walking on my off day. There's also nothing here to check out or do...everyone goes to Johnson City (15 miles away) for entertainment. There are absolutely no bars and very few non-chain restaurants...the Mexican place I went to a Chinese place, and the place I went to for lunch today. For goodness sakes, Worden, MT has a few local places to eat at and it's a town of 500...ok, most of those are bars, but still. I will say this is the worst town so far to do a zero day in...not that I ask for much...I could stay in my hotel room and watch tv after my chores, but it is nice to go out to eat something non-chain related. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the chains...I spent $15 for lunch at McDs yesterday...I was starving. So, this mornig, my big trip was to get to the grocery store for supplies. Borrowed the motel owners bike again and rode the 2 miles to the store. Not too bad a ride there, but a bit of a test on the way back with two bags of groceries. I believe I already talked about the condition of the bike...no brakes, low rider. Interesting trip, but got it done in the morning before it got too hot...about 85 today and humid...storms moving in. Went to lunch at the Hawg & Dawg...a small hole-in-the-wall BBQ joint that was pretty good...good, spicy, home-made sauce. Nice to find a local place. Spent most of the rest of the day updating the journal, cleaning equipment, and phone calls/emails. Ordered a delivery pizza for dinner and was just going to stay in and watch some tv, so I could get an early start tomorrow...and THERE WAS NO PLACE TO GO. As I was eating the pizza, I broke my upper molar! I've had some occasional pain when chewing for the past several years, but the dentist can never seem to find anything...said it was probably a small crack that wasn't showing up on the x-ray and I'd just have to wait for it to become bigger or break...well, it did. In Erwin, TN...I don't like this town. So, I consumed about a quarter or a third of my molar with the pizza. Doesn't hurt terribly bad, but very sensitive to hot and cold. I guess I'm going to stay until Monday now just to get it checked out...hate to get on the trail again for the next week or so and have it start to really hurt. Woo hoo...another day in Erwin, TN...actually, maybe more depending on when I can get into the dentist. The only good thing is that I ran into Pepper yesterday and he was just coming from the dentist...he had broken a tooth as well...and he said the dentist was great about getting him in and fixing him up. Hmmm...not sure what I'm going to do in Erwin all day tomorrow...bummer. Storms are supposed to be coming, so maybe it will rain all day and make me feel better about not hiking. Cheers.