Date: 2007-03-21
From: Winding Stair Gap

To: Winding Stair Gap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

It has been a productive day. We even "hiked" around town to take care of some things. First. there was a shuttle to a local diner. There were 6 of us---Granny Franny, Bacon, Tattoo, KTR, Toto, and me--and when we got to the diner there was a long table in one area but we had to sit at 2 separate tables because the one long one was "reserved" for some locals that come there every morning. But there is no sign marking it as such and so once when some hikers went in and sat down and the locals that sit there came in they were very upset that the hikers were sitting at their table. The hikers had to get up and go to another table because a local actually threatened to put his fist into a hiker. Anyway, breakfast was good and the company great.I then took off to the laundry to wash up almost all our clothes. Toto stayed in the room in his underwear and rainpants until I got back.   I noticed last night that my watch battery was dying so we went to a jewelry store in town to have it replaced. After strolling through the downtown area we headed for the Ingles grocery store to pick up a few things. We decided not to get too much just yet because we didn't know what might be awaiting us at the post office, our next stop. When we got there we found a small package of treats from our wonderful friends in northeast Ohio where we have been volunteers for the past year. We affectionately gave all our fellow workers trail names before we left and the ones that sent this much appreciated package are Mississippi Queen and Betty Crocker. Next we decided to stop at at the Caffe' Rel, which looked like a take-out deli in the back of a gas station/convenience store called The Hot Spot. When we walked in it was like walking in to another world. The place has small cafe tables and chairs and has unique decor of an assortment of items, such as old trunks of various sizes, musical instruments, an assortment of old cameras, hornets' nests, and other interesting objects. The waitresses and waiter were kept hopping trying to serve everyone and the menu was unlike most run of the mill menus. Toto had a double stack Philly cheese steak sandwich and I had a salad, which I cannot recall the name of, but it was very tasty. The bread that was served with it had a sauce and olive oil on the side. A fine place to eat!!After returning to the motel I went to the office to check some things on-line. When I returned to the room Toto said Bucket and Zubie had come in from the trail. Also, Grambo and her little dog, Sammy, made it. I was so glad to hear that. I then washed up our water containers, cookpot and eating utensils. At about 4pm there was a shuttle going to the outfitter which is on the other side of town, and then to the grocery store. We needed to get a new fuel cannister at the outfitter and 1 more meal for the next leg of the journey. We decided to pick up a couple of deli sub sandwiches to eat for lunch tomorrow. Charles and Nancy were eating one at Muskrat Creek Shelter the other evening that they had packed in with them and it looked so good that we decided to copy them. We are saving a special place to carry it in Toto's pack. We had great news this morning. Scholar, from the Class of 2005, e-mailed and is back on the trail. She started Springer 2 days ago. Then while we were at the AYCE restaurant this evening she called us. We will probably see her up the trail because she is a strong hiker. We told KTR about her hiking and he is excited to be able to possibly see her again. We now have our packs packed and we are headed out after breakfast in the morning. We have about 11 miles we plan to hike which puts us at a nice campsite (where we stayed in 05) just past Wayah Bald. It has a wonderful water source, if I remember correctly. We are rested and ready to hike on to Nantahala Outdoor Center in hopefully 2-3 days. A hot shower, laundry, and nice restaurant are waiting for us there.   Life is Great!