Franklin Life

Well we made it Franklin, NC!!  It was a long night but we arrived to our overnight digs around noon. I wouldn't say that it's the most posh place I've ever stayed, but it will do for tonight!  We were greeted by a grizzled man that got us set up in our room, sans towels of course. I kind of got a surprised look when I asked for some!

Our home away from home

Anyway, we dropped our bags and went in search of food. A local diner filled the bill. We got to enjoy our meal with the laid back country folk of Franklin.

Good food and a good atmosphere. Next, we needed to by some fuel and matches for our stove. They have an amazing outdoor gear store here but with some new kids working so getting fuel was a new task for the guy I had help me. After several attempts at getting fuel into the bottle, with a large quantity going on the ground, I helped the poor kid out. He was pretty frazzled by the growing amount of white gas puddling around his feet!  At least I got my fuel out of the deal!

Next was the Lazy Hiker Brewery where we enjoyed some cocktails on the patio. A great atmohoere there and looked to be like a lot of fun later at night. We got to talking to the bar tender and he asked the familiar question "what are you gals doing here?" We kind of look at each other like duh, hiking the AT. I guess we didn't look the part of a hiker just yet (or smelled like one). We didn't help ourselves when he asked our route. He said "oh so about 7 days on the trail, huh?"  Um, we arent running this thing, so not so much!! He pretty much blew us off after that. It was quite comical.

Lazy Hiker Silo

We have found that everyone is amazed that we are from the west coast, specifically Alaska, and hiking the Appalachian Trail. We get lots of quizzical looks and then lots of advice on where the best spots are on the trail. So far everyone has been really helpful and we are looking forward to lacing up our boots and hitting the trail tomorrow!!

Boots are ready to go!!