Date: 2009-03-29
From: Franklin, NC

To: Franklin, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I got myself up at 6:50 am, changed, and caught the breakfast shuttle to the Franklin Baptist Church for the daily pancake breakfast they were offering to thru-hikers between March 25th and April 14th. When I arrived at the community room, I found Richard already there! We were offered pancakes, bacon, orange juice, and coffee, as well as the opportunity to have a photograph of ourselves taken and mailed home. I took them up on their offer to give Erik something fun to receive in the mail. They had a map of the entire Appalachian Trail on an easel (a bit overwhelming to see how far we have to go¢¦), as well as banners signed by last year¢s and this year¢s thru-hikers. We were dropped back off at our rooms in time to catch Ron¢s shuttle back to the trail, but not for me! I was taking my second zero day! I asked the shuttle driver if he could wait a second while I gathered my dirty laundry to take back to the Budget Inn (as there was no washing machine at the Sapphire Inn). He gladly obliged. While I waited for my clothes to wash, I saw Ron¢s famous school bus start up, and he honked the horn to signal the hikers to board. I found the sight amusing (sometimes, I think my trail name should be ¢Easily Amused¢¢¦) When the washing cycle was completed, I took my clothes out, only to find them dirtier than when I put them in! They were caked in large particles of dirt! Oh well¢¦ All I could do was throw them in the dryer and hope the particles would spin off¢¦ By this time, I was feeling hungry again, and decided to take a walk into town to see if I could find a coffee shop. Unfortunately, because it was Sunday, everything was closed. Back at the Haven Inn, the counter help suggested I could try Wilson¢s Diner, so again I headed out. I saw the school bus headed toward me along my way...to the point of nearly running me over! Ron opened the door. ¢Look who I found,¢ he said to me. Patrick, Skip, and Turtle were aboard. Patrick pulled out a dirty, collapsed, 1 liter Platypus bottle. ¢Did you lose one of these yesterday?¢       ¢I don¢t know,¢ I responded.      ¢Do you have a Platypus bottle?¢ Skip asked. ¢A 1 liter?¢      ¢Yes.¢      ¢Here you go!¢ I took it with a smile. It must have fallen out of my pack on that last stretch the night before, and since they were the first on the trail this morning, they knew there was a good chance it belonged to me. Magic!¢¦. I told them I had their beer waiting in my room, and Patrick was eager to pay me back. (Good guys!)      Ron informed me that Wilson¢s Diner was likely closed on Sunday, as the owner was also a preacher, and offered to drive me, my laundry, and my mail drop up the road to my room. But first, he drove me further up the road to show me some other diner options. I decided to get out at one of them (¢I want you to have a good time while you are here,¢ he told me) and he brought my cargo back to my room for me. The diner was packed with locals and a lot of cigarette smoke. Unsure of where to sit, I finally discovered that the non-smoking section was behind the glass window. While waiting for the waitress to take my order, and then for my food to be delivered, I felt the loneliest I have felt during my entire time on the trail. I was surrounded by locals who paid no attention to me, and I felt very out of place, and very alone, which is the complete opposite to how I have felt on the trail, all by myself. I ordered a hot chocolate and a Denver omelette, and by the time I was finished, I felt even hungrier, so I waved the waitress over to ask for some cinnamon raisin toast and coffee! (I found this behavior amusing, as I don¢t think I have ever ordered seconds in a restaurant!) Boy did I enjoy the encore! The coffee relaxed me, and I enjoyed every bite of my toast. It was delicious and perfect, and provided me with enough energy to start writing my first journal entry of the day back at the motel computer! ¢Heavy Camera¢ sat down beside me, at the other computer, and uploaded his beautiful and amazing pictures. I was in awe! (Later, he said, ¢I think we¢re going to start calling you ¢Rabbit¢ because everyone else is trying to catch up to you!¢ Funny¢¦)      After I had written for awhile, I decided I had done enough to deserve a little nap. When I took off my shoes, I noticed that my feet were extremely swollen! (I think I only really see my feet on zero days and am always surprised to see how swollen they are on days when I¢m not even walking!) The sight alarmed me, so I raised them up on a pillow while I napped. I slept well for an hour, and got up and made some oatmeal on my stove outside. Then, it was back to the computer! I wrote as much as I could that day, ate a dehydrated dinner, talked to Erik about what to send in my next resupply, and started gathering the contents of my pack. I also iced my left heel, as my Achilles tendonitis felt like it was flaring up. I didn¢t get to bed until 12:30 am, and had to get up early to make it on the early shuttle back to the trail. A bunch of us would be setting off at the same time the next day.