Last nights farewell at the bar was a blast. We all had a little bit too much fun, if anything. Mr. Fantastic and I both woke up still a little sneezy, and a little foggy. The decision was unanimous, and we took another day in Hot Springs. Everyone else stayed behind except for Early Bird, who stayed true to his name.
The breakfast bell rang at 8:30, and everyone was lined up to get to the table. Breakfast consisted of muffins, grits, eggs with fruit and seasoning, cantaloupe, and granola cereal. It was all made from scratch and amazing.
Between breakfast and lunch we all wandered the house, enjoying the poems, paintings, news clippings, and books covering every square inch of the place. A few rounds of chess were played, and I put on Into the Wild. When in Rome and all.
Lunch was a quick walk across the street to the diner where I had some of the best pizza I've ever eaten. If you're ever in Hot Springs, stop at the diner and get the hot wing pizza.. it's still making me salivate.
Lunch led into a quick trip to the gear shop, and the Dollar General to fill my empty food stores. We need about 5 days of food to get us to Erwin, which we're hoping to reach by Friday night so we can more easily hitch to Damascus for Trail Days. That'll require 14 miles for 5 days. A challenge that we should be up to by now, but you never know what sort of terrain we have in store.
We continued to relax with some Robin Williams stand-up, and then some Crouching Tiger until the dinner bell rang. Another amazing meal beginning with a thick vegetable soup, then an amazing salad (all grown in his garden with a homemade dressing), a main course of vegetables in curry and coconut milk over rice, and pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. I don't think I've ever eaten so much in one day. Everyone here is walking around with a food baby, about to fall over into a delicious-induced coma. Elmer (our host) thru-hiked in 1972, and shortly after purchased and began running this place. His hike changed his life, and he's loved doing this ever since. Meta decided he might even come work here after he's done hiking, and Optimus decided she's going to open a hiker hostel in her hometown which is a trail town.
I think this is the first time that everyone hasn't been dying to get back on the trail, as it's been wonderful here, but Trail Days beckons. If anyone wants to join in a really strange town-wide celebration of hiking and the outdoors, you should come meet us in Damascus, VA next weekend. It should be a very odd good time.
Tomorrow brings more walking, and hopefully the rain will have let up. It's weird to be out of contact on Mothers day. While this will be posted a little late I hope all the moms reading this had a great day, my mom in particular (you know who you are).
It's about time to enjoy the wonders of cotton sheets again, then back to the noisy nylon mummy bag tomorrow. I just enjoyed a long chat with Meta about the power of positivity, aliens, future plans, and past careers. It's been a nice mellow day, and I'll be interested to see how healed my feet and immune system feel on the morrow.
