Bud and Vicki Hogan's 1996 Appalachian Trail Journey
June 21
Erwin Tn..........................................................................................................................0 miles
Early this morning, right on time, Lou Ann pulls up in front of our motel room. We have laundry, shopping, a mail drop, and I want to get some cash from the bank. We pick up the mail drop, she then drops us off at the laundry. She will pick us up after lunch. There is a grocery store for us to shop in, and a pizza place for us to do an "ayce". This is perfect. The girl at the laundry says that we can stuff our packs in the back of the laundry mat where she can keep an eye on them while we go eat. The people in this town are great. Early afternoon Lou Ann drops us back at the hotel. She says that she is busy tomorrow but that her husband will pick us up and drive us the 3.5 miles back to the trail. We again offer our thanks and some money to help pay for her time and gas. Nothing doing. She and her husband are also hikers and are just building up some good karma and helping to repay for all of the help that they have been shown on the trail.
All of our running is completed. That evening we walk back to the Elms for another great home cooked meal with pie. You won't believe the ivy plant that they have in this place until you see it yourself. It has to be listed in the Guiness Book of Records for the longest ivy in the United States.
On our walks we wave to the friendly people in the cars that pass by us. Everyone waves back. We say hello to the people sitting on their front porches. They all respond. This is a friendly town. On our last walk back to the motel we say hello to a man sitting on his front porch. The day before we had noticed that he had two rebuilt antique cars parked in front of his house. I remarked that I had seen them the day before as we walked by, and that they really looked sharp. He sprang to life, and asked if we would like to take a close look at them. He was half way to his garage before he had finished the sentence. He really wanted to show off his work and we were happy to let him. The cars were really a work of art. Many thousands of hours of wonderful craftsmanship had gone into these beauties. I stood in awe of the talent that this man possessed. We thanked him for his time and continued back to the hotel. Great night sleep. Love that air conditioning.
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