"How much dem cookies?"

Well I guess it's been a while since we last posted. We didn't have service for a while and yesterday and today we were a little lazy.

Last Friday the 8th, we left the great state of Georgia. It was sad to leave home but great to get 1 of 14 states done. Also, aside from the first couple of miles of NC, the terrain's been pretty easy. Rather than going straight to the top of the mountain and down, the trail gradually goes close to the top and gradually back down.

We stayed in the first shelter in NC, Muskrat Creek Shelter, where we met some more pretty cool people that we've been hiking with the past couple of days. We met Lucky, who although ruined the fire by spreading the coals to cook his meal, did redeem himself by showing us a sweet side trail which led to a great view of the Appalachian Mountains. We also met a spunky girl named G, an incredibly loud snorer named Tosh, and Gummy Bear who's Canadian, speaks 6 or 7 languages, has biked across Canada, climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, and has taught school in the Middle East!

Our second day in NC we spent the night at Betty's Creek (our first night not at a shelter). Then on Sunday, we hiked to Winding Stair Gap to get a ride into Franklin. Before getting there, we stopped to climb a fire tower on top of Albert Mountain to see some pretty good views. It was a good couple of days of hiking but definitely a little difficult physically, not because of the terrain but because of how much we've been hiking (we did over 100 miles in 9 days).

We got a ride into Franklin from the free hiker shuttle service at the Sapphire Inn where we stayed Sunday and Monday night. The past two dinners we've had have been at Mi Casa Mexican Restaurant across the street and we've been supplementing with some McDonalds and Hardee's!

Yeah so today we took our first zero day. We thought it would rain a lot more today but honestly our bodies needed some rest. Today mostly consisted of sleeping in, sitting around watching movies, resupplying, and gettin' Girl Scout cookies! The owner of the inn is a super southern guy with a big gut and a big beard who took us in a little bus to Walmart and an outfitter to resupply. In a parking lot we saw some Girl Scouts so we told him we wanted some cookies. So he rolled up to them, opens the bus door and yells out to them, "How much dem cookies?" in the thickest accent. He ended up parking the bus and we went out into the rain to buy some of dem cookies. It was awesome!

Sorry for the long update. We uploaded some pictures so check those out. Excited to get some good sleep before heading out tomorrow and hitting up the NOC in two to three days!