May 25
Last night was the first night I woke up eager for it to be morning so that I could get into town. I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning. Last night I heard what sounded like twigs breaking under foot at about 4:00 a.m. It kept me up for a while, but it could have just been pinecones falling from trees.
It wasn't as flat of a walk to town as the guide book indicated, but it was pretty and had some great views down to a lake. Made me miss my kayak a bit.
Just before arriving to town we came across a man wearing a very unusual pack. It was made of poplar bark and looked just like a log! I knew you wouldn't be able to picture this, so I asked to take his photo.
He also makes his own hiking poles. I didn't catch his name, but he was very nice and described in details how to make the pack. He said it weighed about 7 lbs! Cool but impractical.
The trail dumped us out to a very busy road, but it was a very short walk to our stay for the night at the Howard Johnson. Once showered, we headed straight across the street to the Mexican restaurant so that Bluebird could get a "mah-garita." I only notice her New Hampshire accent when she says "mah-garita" and "spah-kler." We love to tease her about it. There was a sign on the door that said they didn't have their liquor license so they couldn't serve alcohol. We stood at the door torn between our intense hiker hunger and our desire to alcoholic beverages. Our hunger won out and we decided to eat there anyway. We passed the fully-stocked, unattended bar on the way in. Torture! The food wasn't all that bad, but I noticed when the waiter brought our checks that he didn't include the $2 discount advertised on the sign out front and on the hostess stand. He tried to tell me the discount didn't apply to our orders, but I quoted the sign and we got our discounts. Success!
After lunch, we headed down to the liquor store for some celebratory libations. Somehow we all ended up buying our own bottles of Captain Morgan rum. We could have shared, but were feeling greedy I guess. Bluebird loaded up on mini bottles of fruity rum. After hitting up the Kroger for a few small things (and getting free ribs at the door), we sat outside while Wing It and Muffin Man walked to the Super Cuts to get their hair and beards trimmed. They look so different!
Back at the HoJo, I joined the boys at the pool. A thru-hiking Texan, Willy Wonka, was floating in the pool on her inflatable sleeping pad. Genius! It took me so long to notice that. I'm sure a non-hiker would have noticed immediately. I think I'm getting a bit too used to "hobos." Willy Wonka is from Dallas and is hiking by herself. I wonder if she likes candy bars as much as I do?
We also met someone Muffin Man has been talking about for a few days, Cannon. He has a killer farmer's tan. It looks like he's wearing a wife beater even when he's shirtless. He's a nice guy and hung out with us until almost midnight. While at the pool, some guy that clearly wasn't a thru-hiker waved to us from the hotel balconey. I turned to Muffin Man, confused. He said it was our waiter from the Mexican restaurant. Haha! Small town!
We had heard good things from several hikers about the Three Li'l Pigs BBQ restaurant, so we decided to have dinner there. There was decent live blue grass music and the food was good. They even had free banana pudding for thru-hikers and a "shelter" register, which we all signed. After the band finished playing, they came over and gave us guitar picks. I kept mine as souveniers of the trip. Daleville has been great so far!
Best Thing: Taking a shower!
Looking Forward To: Passing the 1/3 mark tomorrow.
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