Date: 2017-05-25
From: The Doyle Hotel, Duncannon, PA

To: On the Way to Maggie Valley, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

The day began after a restful sleep at the Doyle Hotel. The only thing that woke me during the night was the sound of hard rain hitting the window beside my bed. It was a good thing it was blowing in the direction it was because the other window at the head of my bed was wide open and didn't look like it had been closed in years.The rain continued most of the night and was still steadily coming down in the morning. It was a good night to be inside. By about 6:30 am, Beaker and I were both awake (when you're used to going to bed with the sun, you tend to wake with it as well). We heard Gibby up in the next room. He was getting ready to go have breakfast before hiking out of town and we decided to join him. I first met Gibby a few weeks ago, and we have shared camping sites and hostels several times since. He is a previous thru-hiker who is doing the trail again as a section hiker. By the time Beaker and I return to the trail, he will be many miles ahead of us and near the end of his section for this year. We probably won't be able to catch him again. It has been a real pleasure meeting him. While we went to breakfast with Gibby, Good Life continued to sleep on the floor of our room. The night before, he had started to spread his sleeping bag on the old, very old, stained, carpet when I suggested he spread the blanket from my bed first.  At first he didn't want to take "my blanket" but when I told him I wasn't going to be using it because I was using my sleeping bag, he accepted it. After spreading the blanket on the floor and seeing the condition it was in, he decided to cover it with his tent footprint too. Probably a smart move on his part.  In retrospect, I kind of wish I had set up my entire tent in the room and just slept inside it. I'm definitely glad I had previously treated my sleeping bag with Permethrin¢it¢s often used for treating/killing bedbugs. Good Life asked if we¢d wake him up at 8:20 because he needed to contact the college he will be attending in the fall regarding his classes. At exactly 8:20, the city's fire/tornado/air raid siren, easily visible atop the fire station, and only a couple of hundred feet from our window, began to wail. Good Life popped upright and I told him his alarm clock had just gone off. We¢d set it just for him! He laughed, greeted us with an infectious smile, and a big good morning. The kid is so upbeat and happy all the time it just about pisses you off after a while. Just kidding, he can brighten even the rainiest day. Check out time was at 10 am, strictly enforced by charging your credit card for another day. By 9:45, Good Life had still not returned from making his phone call to the school and his sleeping bag and equipment was spread throughout the room. I decided to give him a quick call to avoid being charged for an additional night at the hotel only to find he¢d entered a pancake-eating challenge at the restaurant across the street.  He was attempting to eat 8 manhole-cover-size pancakes. If he could do it, his breakfast would be free. He was on #4 when I called. After explaining the situation, the restaurant owner agreed to allow him to return to the room and get his stuff...but, he better not cheat!Since we had nowhere else to go, and it was probably the best entertainment in town anyway, Beaker and I followed him back across the street to watch him continue his challenge. Unfortunately, midway through pancake #5, Good Life wasn't looking or feeling too good and decided he couldn't stomach another bite. The existing record of seven cakes eaten by one individual still stands. Good Life went down in flames instead of everlasting pancake fame. My picture for today is of Good Life trying to decide if one more bite will be one bite too many. After the pancake fiasco, Beaker and I, having nothing else to do to kill time, donned our packs, and broke a cardinal rule of thru-hikers, we hiked nearly a mile down the road, off the trail, to the old sled factory. We¢d been told by a local on the trail that it was now a museum filled with strange and wondrous relics of the past. It was actually, primarily, a flea market filled with castoffs from generations of knick-knack collectors. We searched hard but couldn't find a single item we wanted to add to our packs, although a vintage, circa 1973, Speedy Gonzales glass came close. On the way back to the Doyle, where we were to meet my wife, we stopped by an ice cream stand and had a cup of raspberry ice cream. My wife arrived at 1:30. Our original plan was to find a nearby hotel and then head south in the morning.  I'm sure I've mentioned in several of my posts that I like to go geocaching. We are planning to attend Geowoodstock in Waynesville, NC. It¢s similar to Sturgis, but for geocaching nerds, and not nearly as cool.  But, since it was still early in the day, we decided to drive on down. We met Ms. Beaker on the way to drop off Beaker so he could spend time with his wife too. Our timing was perfect, we reached our meeting point within 5 minutes of each other and left Beaker with his much, much, much, better half (I'm not kidding here, this guy really managed to marry up). We will meet up again on Sunday to head back to the trail.I'm currently at our hotel room. I'm looking forward to spending time with my wife and seeing friends from around the country. Tonight, I'm safe, warm, dry, clean, and sleeping in a comfortable, clean, hotel room. Goodnight from the Appalachian Trail.