little "home style cooking" restaurant called The Barn just up the
road. You know, one of those places where the list of "vegetables"
goes something like this..."macaroni and cheese, cottage cheese, cole
slaw, pinto beans, and fried okra".....of course it had an assortment
of various ways to order fried potatoes, onion rings, and an entire
page of meats, including fried bologna(?). I know I am still in the
south and all, but do people really eat that? Being the vegetarian
CRAVING vegetables that I am, I ordered the vegetable plate. I really
have no idea what I actually ordered, but I was presented with a bowl
of beans (complete with chunks of some kind of reddish fatty meat
floating around), fried okra, or I should say some fried batter with
the remnants of something green in it, an iceberg salad with cheese
and bacon, and french fries. Oh, and some corn bread. Well that pretty
much rounds out a healthy meal dontcha think? Since I told the
waitress I was vegetarian, I bet the little piles of bacon bits and
chunks of reddish fatty meat left on my plate came as no surprise.
I am just spending the night here in Atkins, VA at a lovely little
retro 1960's style motel. The trail actually goes right by here and
under I-81. I am getting back on the trail tomorrow morning with a 15
mile hike planned. The weather has been off and on rainy the past
couple of days, with the exception of today because I am indoors of
course. And as usual, it is forcasted to be mostly rainy tomorrow
because all my stuff is now completely dried out and clean. That's
okay. It's just how it works sometimes... or nearly every time. I am
just grateful for the opportunity to be out here at all. What a gift.
It's not every spring that you can spend so much time outside, you
literally can watch the rhododendrons bloom before your very eyes just
after a rain storm. Or go to sleep at night camped right next to a
rushing creek and wake up to a cacophony of what sounds like 100 birds
every morning. It's a gift alright.
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