Date: 2019-06-08
From: Vortex

To: Vortex
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Trail Days!! Acadicus got up early and shuttled some people, and then we got ready to go to Trail Days! I officially moved my stuff into his camper because I had it in the kitchen since I wasn¢t tenting. Tramp joked with me that I ¢never really cleaned the kitchen¢. Um yes I did! Lol. I cleaned it and then ya know, put my stuff in it. Haha. Acadicus¢ dog was my primary concern cuz she¢s insane. She¢s super cute, but insane. And she licks everything and I didn¢t want her getting into my stuff. But I stored it well in his camper and we headed out. Blazer and Pop Tart came with us, which was awesome! The drive was scenic through country roads and Acadicus had an awesome playlist going. We passed by McAfee Knob and Dragon¢s Tooth, and the ridgelines in between. It was very cloudy so we couldn¢t see them well, but we at least got an idea. We arrived in Troutville and parked next to Odie, the Hiker Yearbook guy! He¢s such a hoot. We went into his bus for a while and hung out. Tambourine showed up in her car next to us. We eventually got up and went over to the park. It was raining all day, which made the turnout kinda small. But it worked out because we got a bunch of free food! One lady gave me an entire box of nature valley bars! And extra sour patch kids and lots of other snacks and goodies. I got a Big Agnes hat, proud to represent! We went to the main pavilion and found Blazer eating donuts straight from a trash bag. Hiker trash at its finest! Lol I had one of the trash donuts, although I was quite suspicious of their origin. Acadicus and I went to the general store nearby and got a few treats. He tried to buy them for me, but I wouldn¢t let him. I got a croissant and a brownie baked fresh from a local market. We walked back and found Noodle. I had some bubbles and was blowing those and she was talking to us about Trail Days and plans and whatnot. We then headed to another pavilion and sat for a bit. There was food there so we had some snacks. Acadicus wanted to go to the homeplace restaurant for dinner so we didn¢t eat much here, but Blazer was concerned about paying for the restaurant, so he wanted to eat here. We all went back to Odie¢s bus for a bit and Blazer ate, and then we all headed out. We didn¢t spend long at Trail Days, but there wasn¢t much going on! I think there would¢ve been more on a nicer day. There was a band and plenty of tents and gear repair and free food, but not much else. The drive to Homeplace didn¢t take too long. I¢ve been hearing about this restaurant for a long time. I¢ll be honest folks, it wasn¢t my jam. There was a band playing here too, and it was a very pretty, house-turned-restaurant, but it was typical southern food. I don¢t want more biscuits and beans and gravy and fried chicken on the bone. I¢m just not a fan anymore lol. Sorry, this Yankee is done with southern food! The restaurant is one fee for all you can eat, which I guess is nice, but the food was really lacking in my opinion. There was corn, but it was watery and looked like it had been scooped out of a can, and the same was for the green beans. I like my corn and beans crispy and saut©ed and this was just watery mush. There were mashed potatoes, which I also don¢t like, and biscuits and fried chicken. Everyone was practically sucking the chicken off of the bones and I wanted to vomit. No bones for me lol. Yuck. I ate some, but not that much. I was pretty disappointed. A lot of hype for some pretty average food. But hey, that¢s just my opinion! I can¢t wait to go home and make my own food that I like!And my opinion really doesn¢t stand for most. I absolutely hate Thanksgiving food and most are shocked when they hear that. But it¢s true. I think turkey is so bland and gross and gravy is gross and we just lather it all over the turkey to make it suck less, but it all is gross lol. And then we have mushy potatoes lathered on top of that and I like my potatoes crispy. And then we have slimy cranberry sauce or jelly, and stuffing, which tastes like chicken broth and I can¢t stand the smell. And somehow we all heap this stuff onto a plate and devour it. I probably set a record for least amount of food eaten on Thanksgiving. Thankfully my mom understood this past year and let me cook a potato gratin, which has cheese and cream, but a bubbly, crispy layer on top. Off course everyone just took the crispy layer on top, which was annoying lol, but it was still good and I ate more this year. I won¢t even go into pies and how much I can¢t stand most pies. I like chocolate pie and I like Chocolate Pecan pie, and maybe Apple pie, but I really don¢t like most pie. And I certainly don¢t crave it. Lol the pickiest Little Debbie is here to complain! I am who I am! My future fam is doing Italian thanksgiving haha we¢re gonna make lasagna, none of this bland turkey mush that people eat lol. End picky eater rant. I took a picture on the bench outside the restaurant and I was in a dress that I found in the loaner clothes! It was nice to feel a bit dressed up and have a change of pace. We headed back to Angel¢s Rest and dropped Pop Tart and Blazer off at the hotel; they decided to leave the hostel for a night. But they both earned the patch too and had spent quite a bit of time hanging out here. It was quiet at the hostel and a new group of people had come in, so Acadicus and I went to bed. One more day here, then I¢m really leaving the Vortex! Little Debbie