Date: 2018-04-08
From: Nolichucky River - Cantarroso Farm and Apiary

To: Erwin, TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Snow Covered Mountain Today was our Zero and we were looking forward to a nice relaxing day, but for those of you who know us, know that we barely know how to spell RELAX, much less put the word to practice. Yesterday we had looked for a church that Next Step had found on Google Maps, but when we tried to locate it, there was only an empty lot at the address that was given. However, this morning when we got up, I tried to find one and Erwin Church of Christ popped right up. It was about 4 miles away, so I called and left a message asking if someone could come pick us up. Just a short while later, my phone rang and the minister there, Jeff, let us know that he would be there at 9:30, no problem. The GPS didn¢t bring him quite to where we were staying, but we were able to walk up to the main road so that he could find us. When we went out to meet him, we noticed that the mountains were snow covered. So thankful that we were down here where the ground was not frozen. On the way to church, Jeff informed us that today was Friends and Family Day and that we were invited to stay for the potluck after worship service. Also, for those of you who know me, know that I¢m a germaphobe and normally don¢t exactly enjoy pot lucks. However, after 43 days on the trail, BRING IT! But that would not be in the cards today. We told him that sounded great, but that Stan, the sweet gentleman that had ¢found¢ us in Hot Springs had already asked what our plans were for the day and we had asked if he would like to have lunch with us. Side note, the preacher asked if we would let other hikers know that when they¢re in the area, he is more than happy to come pick them up for services. Super friendly congregation and very welcoming! We had a bit of a mix up with Stan, but were finally able to reach him to let him know where to pick us up. When he got there we all agreed that Italian sounded great for lunch, so he drove us over to Primo Italian. On the way he asked me to look in the cooler that was sitting beside me and inside was an ice cold Coke Zero!!!! And look, under the cooler, a giant pack of Skittles!!! Now there¢s s man who pays attention to details!!! Love it. We spent a couple of hours chatting over lunch and listening to wonderful stories from Stan¢s 26 year career as a 5th grade teacher. It was an absolutely wonderful lunch! We had planned to take him out for all his trouble to try and help us out, but he wouldn¢t hear of it and insisted on providing us with some more trail magic! Of course he asked where he could drop us off and Next Step asked if we could go to downtown Erwin to the local movie theater. The recently renovated theater just reopened. Perfect timing! It¢s an absolutely charming little downtown area and the perfect spot for a theater. Before leaving, Stan gave us mini pies and Reese¢s Cups to get us thru our hike tomorrow. He¢ll be back out doing Trail Magic this week, so be on the lookout!!! What a blessing! So then, I got my movie fix!!! Only the second movie I¢ve seen since we started our hike! We saw ¢I Can Only Imagine¢. Very touching true story about God transforming lives. And sitting thru a movie is VERY relaxing!  Now time for resupply! We walked down to Food Lion and only had to get enough to last a couple of days. We¢ll get to resupply at our next hostel on Tuesday night. We were fortunate enough to get our hostel owners to come pick us up. Now back to pack up and be ready to go in the morning. But not before one more treat. Charles, a nice gentleman we met at church this morning, offered to pick us up in the morning to take us to breakfast before we head back to the trail. He knows of a spot that has delicious biscuits and gravy with country ham. Next Step said, ¢You had me at breakfast!!¢ He already knew who we were because of some other 2017 thru hikers, Preacher and Stretch, who we know and who visited the same church during their SOBO hike last year. What a small world!  Truly an amazing way to spend our Zero!  Hugs - Which WayWeather:Day ¢ 52 degrees / SunnyNight - 37 degrees / RainOver the Horizon: Roan Mountain