Toe Trouble

Beverly had biscuits for Inspector Gadget and I to eat for breakfast. They were so good heated up with honey and butter on them! Then we headed out, I was dropped off in front of a Big Lots so I could quickly buy a pair of cheap flip flops before going to the urgent care clinic a few stores down. Inspector Gadget was being dropped back off on the trail.

It was so much easier to to sign in and use my health insurance card than it was in Hiawasee. I feel like in Hiawasee they just refuse to call the insurance company to see what I'm covered for. It was about an hour wait before I was seen. Then after the nurse brought me in it was another hour before I saw the doctor. That wait time killed me. I started crying while waiting, I had no idea what they were going to do to me.

As far as my rash goes she thinks it's an allergic reaction that baked in the sun but she essentially told me that there's no way to know for sure. My hands were quite calm when I took these photos. It was so much worse in the sun. I also had it on my ears, chest, and arms, everywhere that the sun hit me. I was given steriods for the rash and told to stay out of the sun for a week until it clears up then to wear long sleeve shirts and cover up better and wear sunscreen. I might buy sun gloves. I was also told the medicine will make me really hungry and really moody.

My pinky toe is still numb, she thinks I messed up the nerves in my toe from walking so much but the feeling will most likely return with time. 

My big toes are infected. I was given antibiotics for them. I'm told to soak my feet with warm soapy water and that the nails will fall off eventually and to keep them trimmed as they work their way off. The black (actually dark purple) is nail polish from when I got my toe nails done last summer. That's how fast my toe nails grow.

I was able to pick up my perscription in the same strip mall then I called Beverly. She was out doing a shuttle run to Fontana Village which was father up on the trail so she would be gone for hours and told me to call Jim. Both Beverly and Jim are in the guide book as shuttle drivers for the area. Jim was out doing a long distance shuttle trip as well. I needed to get my pack from Beverly's house before going to the Haven's Budget Inn with Ben. Ben was already there. I ended up trying to cross the street to go to the walgreens because i needed food and water for the medicine I needed to take. The road didn't have a cross walk and the lights changed depending on cars being present. A car leaving stopped and asked if I needed a ride. I said I was just trying to cross the street to walgreens and he gave me a ride! He would have driven me to the Budget Inn but I really needed to get my pack first.

 I ended up hanging out at walgreens for about 2 hours. I got some food and snacks and took my pills. A thunder storm rolled in and shook all of the things on the shelves with the thunder. Beverly said that she would be coming back for me and I went across the way to the Three Eagles outfitters and spent maybe another two hours there. I picked up a pair of shorts and a pair of dirty girl gators. I've been seeing alot of them on the trail. They help keep the dirt and water out of your shoes.

At the outfitters there were some photos of hikers who completed their hikes and one particularly stood out to me. The girl with 4 dogs.

After Beverly picked me up, we went back and she did a load of laundry for me before driving me over to the Budget Inn. She did so much for me, I can't thank her enough. 

The hotel room was not really a hotel room. The hotel was across the street and looked like hotel rooms. Ours could be described as an old apartment building that was purchased by the hotel across the street then rented out as hotel rooms. Each door has a random number on it and every "room" is completely different. Pete and Dan, who we met at Carter Shelter are in another room in this building and we hung out with them for awhile. Our room is a 1 bedroom apartment with a full kitchen and plush carpet. We even have a couch with a leg rest. The bathroom has a door that leads to a tiny room with a window with nothing in it. Very odd. Overall this is a pretty cool place. My only complaint is the beds which are crazy uncomfortable. I've never been on such an uncomfortable bed. The edges hurt my shins while getting into bed and you can feel each and every spring. I still slept really great because I was so tired. Also, the pillows crinkle.

I got my packages from the office. My new shoes, my food drop, and a box of 24 instant ice packs that my mom sent me on accident. I don't really need them now since nothing hurts currently so I've been sharing.

I decided to go to Sakura, a Japanese restaurant nearby. That was an adventure in itself. I start walking towards where I think it is and see a sign for the 76 Outdoors which is the outfitter on the other side of the hotel so I turn around and walk the other way pretty far then pull out my phone to check if I'm going the right way which had me .6 miles away from the place which seemed wrong. I kept walking and checked again which had me .7 miles away. I'm going the wrong way... I turn around and kinda speed walk back the way I came from. The sign I originally saw was just an advertisement.... it wasn't the actual place. So I keep walking and there's construction over the bridge I needed to cross so I had to walk around the other way. It took forever to get there. The food was great, it was nice to treat myself. I ate way too much and felt really sick afterwards. While looking in my book I saw that the place I bought my gear from earlier today offered a 10% AT hiker discount which I didn't get because the workers changed shifts while I was there and I never told the new girl that I was a hiker. I need to remember to ask places about AT hiker discounts. The restaurant didn't have one but at least I asked. On the way back it started drizzling. I was quite chilled just wearing a thin tank top.

That fatty salmon and eel was so good. My favorites <3

Ben and I were channel flipping on the TV that evening when the direction knob started moving and slowly opened like in some horror movie. I said "hello" a few times and eventually a person appeared from behind the door. This guy was so high, he was lost. He asked if he was at the hostel. The hotel also has a hostel for cheaper but I'm not sure where it's located. We told him no and that this is a hotel room and he left, slowly closing the door. Very awkward. We made sure the door was locked before going to bed.