Sunday, August 08, 2004
Zero Number Eight--Macks Inn Six Washers and No Dryers?
08/08/04
No breakfast to be had within 2 miles, so we hitched 5 miles to a better place, which was OK. Getting a ride back was a little tough, but working the parking lot turned up a couple happy to give us a ride.
I did laundry for the group. I took it over and got a warm and a hot load going. I didn't see any dryers in the building. I thought, "How weird. They have six washers but no dryers."
I've learned that in these backwater places, anything is possible. Some of the plumbing I've seen is not to be believed. I went back to the room and reported the dryer situation. Luckily backpacking clothes are designed to dry quickly, so it wasn't going to be much of an issue. I went back to pick it up and realized that I'd looked at the controls, which were identically placed on the six machines. But, they had different functions. There were three washers and three dryers. I felt a little stupid, especially when I realized that I had no money with me since I didn't expect to throw the clothes in the dryer. So I walked back to the room, back to the laundry place, then back to the room. This is what zero days are all about: walking lots of extra walking. A lady watching my coming and goings was friendly, but reserved.
We did a four-hand massage exchange, something we had been talking about for a while. I had some sore spots I didn't know about.
We moved across the street to a room on the river, which was much larger and nicer than the room last night. We also found out that the restaurant associated with Mack's Inn was closed today and every Sunday. Ugh.
Spur wasn't feeling well, so Apple Pie and I hitched to a restaurant 2 miles away. It was a disaster from a management point of view. The food was unremarkable.
During dinner, the woman from the laundry and her husband sat down close to us.
They'd passed us while we were hitching, but soon apologized for that and offered us a ride back to the hotel. They were very nice. He was ex-military and reminded me a bit of Robert Duval's character in Apocalypse Now.
On our way back, we saw what almost certainly a thru-hiker walking against traffic toward Mack's Inn.
Back in our riverside room, I kept an eye out for the headlamp of a lone hiker, but it never materialized. I figure he slept just outside of town in the trees.
