march 24 - party in knoxville

March 24 was by far the coolest day ive experienced out here on the trail. It was also a day that gave a whole new meaning to southern hospitality. It started off waking up in the hotel room i shared with 6 other people. Ii slept on the floor, and it wasnt a bad sleep compared to sleeping on the trail. I showered and washed some clothing. Then went upstairs to the lobby which is where most of the hikers spend their time .i made breakfast, but oatmeal by itself is kind of unsatisfying. So i tried to find someone to walk with me to the general store to pick up some eggs. Nobody wanted to go, but sarah needed an ace bandage for her foot so she gave me some cash and i walked down to the store. I came back with more eggs and cheese than i knew what to do with. So i sat on the hotel patio and gave scrambled eggs out to all the hikers that walked by. I hung out there for an hour or so. Then we decided we have to leave before it gets too late to catch a ride. I said goodbye to all the friends i had made. I told them ill try to catch up when i get back to the trail. Maybe the rest days will heal me enough that hiking will be easier from now on. Me and dj walked down to the gas station by the main road. it was 2pm. We waited there for about an hour before deciding to just walk the 10 miles or so to the next highway junction. We got about a mile before a couple stopped and picked us up. They were heading to knoxville, and were able to give us a ride all the way there. Which was great, because we were expecting to have to catch multiple rides from place to place to get there. Their names were mike and sherre. They live by fontana dam, and work in knoxville. So on a sunday afternoon they were making their commute. She works in a hospital, so she has odd hours. And hes a truck driver in the coal industry. They were probably the nicest people ive ever met. On the way to knoxville we stopped at the restaurant their son works at, and they treated us to dinner. Then they drove us to the edge of knoxville. We didnt know exactly where were going so we figured wed just walk to wherever we needed to go. We were looking for a hostel that djs uncle had found online. Dj had been calling the number but nobody was answering the phone there. Having no other option, and it being late in the day, about 6pm, we began walking towards the part of the city where we thought the hostel was. It had been raining for a few minutes already at this point, and it was getting harder. While walking, a drifter named shorty started talking to us. He travels around looking for work, often goign to forest gatherings called rainbow gatherings, and hes satisfied just having his needs provided for. And interesting guy, but we didnt want to trust him too much. The conversation ended and we continued walking. We got to downtown knoxville and realized we were kind of lost. We walked into a small restaurant to ask for directions. They were already closed but hadnt yet locked the door. The workers there, jessica and collin, were very helpful. Collin toold us the hostel we were looking for had closed a few years ago, but that he knew of a place on the edge of the city called the groundswell collective. He described it as an anarchist hangout, that might let us stay, or know of a place where we could stay. Jessica told us that a friend of hers was house sitting and would probably let us stay. She said we should call her if we couldnt find anything else. We took a map of downtown knoxville that was in their store, and they gave us the leftover food and coffee that they were going to throw out. We continued walking towards where collin told us to go. It was about a mile away, but we had no idea how to get there. It was beyond the map we had. we quickly got somewhat lost so walked into a bar to ask for directions. Nobody had heard of the place we were looking for but they pointed us in the direction they thought we should go. We eventually found the groundswell collective. It was 8pm at this point. The lights were off and the front door was left open. We figured it was abandoned, and were about to leave, when someone entered the back door and tuurned the lights on. His name was william, he told us he was setting up for a concert that was goign to begin in about 2 hours, but that we can hang out there. And try to find a place to stay when people start showing up. I wanted to stay for the show, but it was safrer and more certain to call jessica and go to austins place. Jessica came to pick us up and we all went to austins place. Turns out he was having a small party. The people he was house sitting for had left alot of alcohol and told him he can do whatever he wanted. There were about 10 people there when we got there. Austin turned on the hot tub, we chilled in there for a while, then came back inside and played poker for a few hours. It didnt take long for me to lose. I couldve bought back in but i didnt wanna lose any more money. I was pretty drunk by this point, and it was 2am. I hung around the game for another hour or so, then went to sleep. Theres some more good news too. Someone at the party had a pump and needle for inflating balls. So i inflated wilson to where hes supposed to be. And on another completely unrelated note, i weighed myself. I thought i had lost 5-10 lbs out here so far. Turns out, if i lost any weight, it was only about a pound.