Date: 2004-05-11
From: Campbell Shelter

To: HoJo, I-81, Daleville
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: few clouds

Daleville Howard Johnson¢s, Room 219, 7:20p ¢ Who woulda thunk that a freeway interchange and collection of franchises would bring such pleasure as this? I¢m squeaky-clean, the laundry¢s tumbling in the dryer, I¢ve e-mailed Greg, eaten an early dinner, and am now watching MTV and drinking milk from a bottle and munching on Nilla Wafers. My feet are throbbing.I got to the I-81 interchange about 3:30, after an interminable amount of time between coming down off the heights and actually reaching pavement. Chatted with an ex-bike racer and current marathoner out for a run ¢ he kindly slowed to a race-walk while we talked ¢ but was too shy to ask him if he knew Jim. I don¢t think there¢s much difference between the HoJo¢s and the EconoLodge across the street; guess it depends what direction you¢re heading as to which is better. Once the trail reached the road I peeled right and headed downhill to the HoJo, dropped my pack and showered, got the laundry started then set off to find food, groceries, and e-mail, probably in that order. As I starting back up the road toward the mall with all my necessities clustered in one handy location, I saw Gimli dragging his weary self down the road. Gimli said Gandalf was ahead of him; I hadn¢t seen him, and he hadn¢t checked in to either motel, which was their plan: Gandalf arrives and checks in. So I passed Gimli my spare room key so he could shower and sit down while I continued on.Some lovely southbounder taped a coaster from the Three Little Pigs BBQ in Daleville to a shelter register south of town, so I knew where I was going. But first things first: e-mail Greg, get Potable Aqua, and buy a new headlamp battery at the outfitters. Wingfoot¢s book says, e-mail at the outfitters, so when I walked in I glanced around looking for the computers; didn¢t see any. Started looking for PA and batteries. Was asked if I needed assistance. Yes: Potable Aqua, a 6-V battery for my headlamp, and e-mail. Their reply: we¢re out of the first, we don¢t carry the second, and as soon as I¢m done with this customer you can check your e-mail right here on the ... register. Yeah, they run a POP system on a PC, which is also hooked up to the internet. So I logged on to my mailserver through AOL and read that Greg had done something to the phone and couldn¢t figure out how to fix it and asking me if I knew what was wrong ¢ other than leaving electronics in the hands of omega geek, that is. But it did explain the phone problem. I shot him a quick e-mail suggesting he take it to a Telcel center for trouble-shooting, and telling him that further e-mail opportunities looked scarce on this section of trail. Then AOL crashed.I thanked the guys for letting me use their machine, bought some Polar Pure as it was the only iodine product they had, and headed across the parking lot to the Three Little Pigs. Now, I wasn¢t expecting much from a BBQ place located in a shopping mall, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was pretty crowded, a good sign, so I told my server I¢d sit at the bar, where I could at least watch ESPN and ignore that I was there by myself. The food was good, though I found the Carolina-style sauce¢s flavor a little underdeveloped, and the portions large ¢ and they had Anchor Steam beer! Someday I¢d like to go back and get a coffee mug, but I wasn¢t about to lug one up the trail, though I would indeed be stylin¢ myself to whip that out at a shelter.Next, it was on to Krogers for the kind of resupply only a large, well-stocked and surprisingly trendy supermarket can afford. I even got through to Patch on the payphone out front; we made arrangements to talk further at 9p.I got back to the HoJo¢s to find that Gandalf had shown up, and he and Gimli had gotten their room squared away. Poppo was around somewhere, too, according to the extremely helpful front desk clerk. (AT hikers ¢ the HoJo¢s in Daleville makes an effort to be extra nice to thru-hikers! It¢s a good place to stay.) Now I¢m watching TV and waiting for my friend to call. If my feet weren¢t so swollen and painful I¢d be feeling pretty good.Oh, wait ¢ happy birthday to me.