Hot Springs and hitchhiking!

So we made it! 13.5 miles to Hot Springs and it was amazing! The clouds blew off midday and it turned out to be a beautiful day! After checking into our Hostel, we attacked the laundry room and shower with a vengeance! After spending 3 days in the same clothes (trying to stay warm) it was wonderful to get clean and have everything dry and smelling good. We resupplied at dollar general (who knew they had such an amazing food selection) and then headed down to have a beer or two with the other hikers.  These symbols are down the one side of the street to let you know you're still on the AT!

Some random other pictures, a mailbox in a shelter that is used to store the trail register.

This is the back of a T-shirt we found in a local outfitter. Can't wait to go here! 

A sticker I would like to turn into a tattoo when we're all done

A sign on the way to Hot Springs that tells you how much farther you have to go to get to Maine.

One of the most moving images I've seen about finishing the trail. This is the sign at Katahdin and when you reach it, you know you've finally made it!

After some beers and laughs with everyone we went back to the Hostel to get a good night's sleep but ended up talking to the caretaker Mark about the characters we've seen on the trail. I also made everyone popcorn in a pot, not the microwave crap. The Hostel is actually run by 2 hikers (Chuck Norris and yes he looks like him and Tigger, who we never saw). 

So the next day we got up, packed and ready to head out. After a stop at the local outfitter we sat out front having sodas and taking to some other hikers. I saw we were only about 32 miles from Asheville, a veritable craft beer town like Portland. I told Rob we should try our luck in hitchhiking because when were we ever going to be this close again! And there is an amazing brewery there called Wicked Weed. The outfitter gave us some cardboard to make a sign (which said Asheville, c/o Wicked Weed) and we stood out on the road. It took about 45 minutes but a super cool older gentleman picked us up. He was awesome! While talking to him we found out he grew up in Rochester, NY not too far from Rob's hometown in Buffalo. He also went to the original Woodstock. Needless to say, he was a joy and a pleasure to talk to! He gave us a heads up that Asheville is a town for old hippies. It looks just like if Portland had a acid induced love child with San Francisco's Haight/Ashbury st. He dropped us off in downtown, a 10 minute walk from Wicked Weed. We walked into the restaurant/bar and sat down. While we sat, I told a girl behind the bar, hey you want to hear something funny? I told her about us hiking the trail and that we hitchhiked from Hot Springs to specifically come here! We showed her or sign. She loved our story and unbeknownst to us, was the restaurant manager. She (Alayna) bought our first 2 flights. 

She came over a little later and said the Chef was so moved by our story that he sent out this beautiful cheese sampler plate! He said his name was 'Google Bear' so we're assuming a fellow Hiker! 

Aftera few more minutes, she said the brewers asked if we would take a picture in front of the building with our sign and packs so they could put it on their FB page. We agreed and said they could even use our names if they wanted to! 

 We met Walt, one of the main brewers and got to talk to him for awhile. He even brought us this amazing beer to try!

We also got to meet one of the head guys from French Broad brewery who gave us the name of a cab driver that would take us there for minimal cash. When we went upstairs to get our packs, we met 2 ladies that saw our packs and chatted us up about us hiking and how we got here. One even gave us a ride to Sweet pea Hostel! We checked in to what has to be the cleanest, nicest Hostel I've ever seen! We dumped our packs in our room and called Woody, our cab driver for the evening. He kind of reminded me of Woody from the movie Earth Girls are Easy. A quick 10 minute ride, with a brief history of the town from Woody, and we were at French Broad. We went to the bar and were told that the brewer had taken care of all our beers! Such hospitality in this city, it's unreal! Then we walked across the train tracks to sample beers at Catawba brewing! We met one of the bartenders who also hiked the AT (trail name Trail Angel). Awesome guy who sent us with a 6 pack for our journey. After another call to Woody, we were on our way back to the Hostel for some sleep. We did hit the bar underneath the Hostel to sample their beers too but it was kind of like a Gordon Biersch type place. 

The next day we woke up and decided to spend a full day here to truly enjoy the town. Because we're on Hiker time (up at 6:30) we got breakfast, a shower and some coffee. The rest of Asheville apparently does not open till 10/11 or noon, and it was only Tuesday. We wandered around to the fun funky little shops, and had pizza and a beer at the Mellow Mushroom (woohoo that makes 3 we've been to). We also hit a grocery store as our Hostel has a full kitchen! We came back to relax, watch a movie and play scrabble. We wandered to a few more shops before we settled at Asheville Brewing company for 2$ can and pizza slice night. Walking the streets and reading all the menus from all the restaurants, checking out the local fun shops is awesome! We hit another funky place in the way home called the Thirsty Monk which boasts 40th best place in the world to have a beer. Cute place but by the end of our first flight, we were almost falling asleep. After sampling our 2nd flight we were on our way back to get some sleep. It's been wonderful here in Asheville but we gotta get back to the trail! We're missing the fresh air but it had been nice to relax after a month on the trail.