TRAIL DAY 113
Sun, June 12, 2016 A marvelous day “on the trail.” Breakfast was in the ornate dining room with dark maroon drapes and dark-wood cabinets. My place was nicely arranged with an inviting fruit dish. Salt and pepper, sugar, jelly, butter – all neatly arrayed around my place setting. Margaret offered me a choice as to how I’d like my eggs. I chose and they were quietly served up.
I sat at the table looking into the room. There were stairs to the 2nd floor down the hall to my left by the front door. There were also closer, narrower stairs. The kitchen was a short distance to the right and just inside the kitchen was a door to the left into David and Margaret’s room. But for this one room, virtually the whole house was dedicated to the B&B.
In my room, I organized things to attempt some blogging or to catch up on emails. I also paid life insurance premiums online, displayed the receipts on the screen and took pictures of them with my phone.
Sometime this day a call came in to the B&B for me. David called from downstairs and I came and got the phone. It was Ken Smiley, the owner of my favorite deli in Lancaster. For over 20 years I had called in an order for the same 6″ turkey sub from his deli without varying:
6″ turkey sub; lettuce & tomato; light mayo; light hot peppers; and all the shakers.
I had repeated this order so many times that one day I called and said, “This is Shakers calling.” The response was on the money. “OK. We gotcha.” From that day forward, I could press Memory 25 on my phone for Smiley’s and the order would go like this:
“Smileys.”
“Shakers.”
“Got it.”
I was such a regular that they even assigned a button on each of their cash registers to SHAKERS. We’d known each other for so long that when Ken Smiley learned I was actually going to do the Appalachian Trail, he said, “Let me know when you’ll be at Pine Grove Furnace and I’ll bring you two ‘Shakers,’ chips and soda.”
Tina Martin, Ken’s long-standing head gal behind the counter, was the best at making my sub. She had always wanted to see Pine Grove Furnace State Park (PGFSP) with its new Appalachian Trail Museum so she and Ken would come together. It was wonderful to anticipate their visit.
Pine Grove Furnace was just beyond the midpoint of the trail and a tradition had sprung up there: the half gallon challenge – eat a half gallon of ice cream in one sitting. Granted hikers need the fat – but I had no interest in taking the challenge – give me a Smileys sub any day. Some did take the challenge successfully and others failed face down at the toilet.
Well, since Ken Smiley was one of the 10 recipients of my daily GPS location, he had seen the spot on the map for my night at the B&B and he looked it up and called. I was to let him know when I would be at Pine Grove and I was getting close. Maybe I wasn’t aware at the time just how close. I said I should be there on Thursday and I’d call to confirm as I got closer.
It was Sunday so I couldn’t get much done around town. I wanted to get Theo checked out before heading into the heart of “Rocksylvania, the graveyard of boots and paws.”
I also wanted to get my ears checked out because it seemed as if they were getting blocked with wax. David said he could take me around to the vet and a family doctor Monday morning.
I had lunch at The Waynesburger, a clean, high-ceilinged place on the southwest corner of West Main and South Potomac Street. That night I tried Gus & Ted’s Tavern but they were closed. Frank’s Pizza at West Main and South Church was open. I entered and walked the long aisle between unused tables to the self-order counter at the back. I ordered a salad, pasta and garlic bread. It took me a good while to get through it all.
When finished, I went back to the B&B and took Theo for a walk – then bedtime.
Day #113 Waynesboro PA 0 miles