Date: 2003-03-27
From: Standing Indian Shelter

To: Asheville
Miles today: 0.0

Woke up this morning and felt horrible. My throat was raw, stuffy head, and a tired, cold body. I told the girls I needed to get to town. There was no way I could hike 2-3 more days to Franklin. My body needed a good nights sleep. We packed up camp and set out for the Standing Indian Campground where we could call Tucker's Dad who lives about 1 hour 20 minutes away.We all managed to get to the campground. Tucker and DeAnna by hiking, me and Wrong Way Brown by the kindness of strangers. Both Tucker and DeAnna's cell phones got no service, so Tucker walks into the Ranger's office/living space and kindly helps herself to his phone to call her Dad. We did at least use a calling card. We were waiting for the Ranger to come back any minute to bust us, but he never did. So imagine Tucker talking on the phone on the porch of the Ranger's home with her big external frame pack on. Her Dad works nights, so she woke him up and had to repeat everything she said three times. It was just the beginning of a crazy day.So we eat some lunch and then mosey down the park road to the main road. After waiting close to 2 hours, Tucker and Wrong Way Brown walk further down the road to try to find Tucker's Dad. DeAnna and I stayed back and talked to Journey and CT Digger who are 2 days ahead of us on the trail. We just happened to be sitting on the AT.Tucker and Wrong Way Brown finally arrive with Tucker's Dad. We load up our packs and I notice I'm missing a Teva. So we backtrack in the car and see nothing. Tucker runs to the spot where we had lunch and there it is. Yeah! Get back to Dick's Creek Gap where Tucker left her car and yeah, her car is still there.So we load up everything in Tucker's car and all get in. She starts the car and it kind of sputters and doesn't sound right. We all figure it's because it hasn't been driven for 3 days or there's water in the gas line. We have no idea what we are saying, it just sounded good. Besides her car is only two years old. So after a few minutes of driving the check engine light comes on. So we pull over and Tucker and DeAnna get out and look under the hood. All Wrong Way Brown and I hear is them saying at the same time, "oh my God!" I seriously couldn't believe my eyes when I took a look for myself. There was a big nest built right on her engine. At first we thought it was a bird's nest, but later concluded it was a rat's nest! It was pretty impressive for only 3 days of work. The kicker was the rat used a lot of the insulation from Tucker's hood to make his little home. And the reason why her car wasn't running well was because the rat had chewed through one of her spark plugs. So we get to the next town and get a replacement. The mechanic said she was lucky because the rat could've chewed up a lot more and he'd seen it happen. So we all got a big laugh out of the whole experience--well, it took Tucker a bit longer since it was her poor car.You'd think our day ends there, but oh no. We drive the hour and a half to Asheville where Tucker's Dad lives. We get stuck in a traffic jam on a two lane country road due to construction. After 15 minutes me Tucker, And DeAnna get out and play frisbee on the street. We were stuck there for 30 minutes.By the time we get to the hotel we are all delirious and hungry. So Tucker takes us to Bojangles to eat some fried chicken. Let's just say Wrong Way Brown spent the rest of the evening in the bathroom.The evening concluded with me drifting off to sleep watching the Jayhawks win against Duke and moving on to the Elite Eight. Wasn't too bad of a day after all.