AT Adventures: Day 22, 7-6-07

So three miles isn’t much, but I was ok with doing the three miles into Hot Springs. We had heard about Hot Springs for a while, and this amazing Hostel named the SunnyBank Inn. Colloquially, it’s known as Elmer’s. On the way in, we met up with Sarah, and hiked into town with her. We passed a place that looked like a hostel, but weren’t sure, and needed to swing by the outfitters anyway, so we kept walking through town. It isn’t a big place at all. So we found the outfitters, poked around a little, realized that we smelled pretty bad and should probably shower at some point, and asked about Elmer’s. It was a fun moment, because they looked at us, then at an older man next to us, and said, ‘Meet Elmer’. We went ‘oh!’ and had a discussion. He gave us directions, and we wandered over to a massive old house that was pretty awesome. Settled into the rooms he had there, and then we went in search of food. Smokey Mountain Diner was right across the way…So-Close, C, and I had heard of another place up the hill, but Krebopple wanted to eat close. We wandered up to this other place, found it closed (punks!), and then back to Smokey Mountain Diner, to join Krebopple. Caleb got the Hungry Hiker Burger, and it was an awe inspiring sight. He finished it. We all polished off what we got. Then So-Close, C, and I went back to the outfitters. We had seen a glorious sight there: Ben and Jerry’s. We picked up two pints: Cinnamon Buns and a twisted flavor: Cookie Dough and Fudge Brownie. Back to Elmer’s for our Sporks, and then we found the Prof. All four of us went out onto the second story porch and passed the pints around. So tasty. Cinnamon Buns is perhaps the best flavor ever. It was so good…just like a cinnamon bun. Except in ice cream form. Can’t get much better than that. At all. So we finished those. Then we, for lack of a better descriptor, bummed around. I signed everyone up for dinner except the Prof, who wanted meat. Elmer used to be a vegetarian chef somewhere, and his meals are legendary. But you have to sign up beforehand, to get at least 4 people eating. I wrote the family, Caleb called his awesome Girlfriend, and we did laundry. I had to buy another pair of shorts so I would be clothed while we did laundry, but that’s ok, because they came in super handy.

Then it was dinnertime. Oh, dinner time. We started with a soup and some salad. Potatoes + all sorts of tasty veggies. And the salad was exquisite. He had this incredible tahini based dressing that revolutionized the way I see Salad Dressings. I’ve never been able to find it’s equal since that point. I had a huge plate of salad, and a bowl or two of soup, then started to get worried. I didn’t know what the deal with food was, and needed more than salad and soup. A hiker’s hunger knows no satiation. Salad, while super tasty, doesn’t cut it, whatever the quantity. I saw myself shortly slipping out of the hostel and sneaking to a real restaurant with actual factual food in order to get full. But then Elmer and his Assistant G got up. They entered the kitchen. They returned with a vat of curry veggies and a mammoth bowl of rice. There was much rejoicing. I ate. And ate. And ate. And then, then! Oh then…dessert came out. A slab of gingerbread with a scrumptious scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. The gingerbread was still warm from the oven. Glorious! So-Close later mentioned that her endorphins had spiked like crazy…she had felt a little euphoric, and came close to tears from the volume of tasty food and the feeling of a full belly. I knew what she meant.