9/03/01
Mr. Shaw was in the kitchen this morning at 4 a.m. cooking breakfast for all of the guests who had signed up. I could smell pancakes and bacon cooking and it was still dark outside. Bleary eyed, I stared at my watch until I read that it was 4:45 a.m. I rolled over and returned to sleep until the 5:55 a.m. breakfast call. All of the guys rolled out of bed instantly in eager anticipation of the AYCA breakfast. I checked and I was not alone having been awakened by the wafting aroma throughout the large house. Downstairs in the kitchen and dining room the tables were set for 20. Keith and Pat Shaw have been hosting hikers since 1977. Apparently as business grew they expanded their kitchen to handle the crowds (the kitchen has three freezers and three refrigerators and a commercial grill, stove and oven). Mrs. Shaw makes dinner, Mr. Shaw makes breakfast seven days a week, six months a year. This morning's breakfast consisted of pancakes, sausage, bacon, homemade home fries, eggs, toast, orange juice, milk and coffee. Since Priceless had arrived a day earlier than the rest of us and knew the drill, I followed his lead when Mr. Shaw asked me "how many?". I ordered "three", which means three eggs, three pancakes, three servings of home fries, three pieces of bacon, and three sausages. And, he cooked the eggs to order. The plate of food was unbelievable that he brought to me minutes later. By the time I finished it, I was stuffed and couldn't possibly eat another morsel of food. Mr. Shaw told us that he has cooked as many as 56 breakfasts at one time in the house. I believe it!
Two simple rules exist at the table. If you don't clean your plate, you get to wash dishes. And if you go away hungry, it's your own fault. After breakfast I returned upstairs to the bunkroom for some more sleep, but was unsuccessful with cows mooing outside the window and hikers walking in and out. I spent the morning sorting out food, then began laboriously journaling to catch up six days that I was behind. I took a break for lunch and walked with Yolo to a BBQ place down the street for some BBQ chicken right off the cooker. After lunch it was back to journaling for almost the entire afternoon. I took a break to call Paula and Creeper, but otherwise kept the pen moving until I finally developed writer's cramp and had to quit. None of the Fab 5 could take another AYCE Shaw's dinner, so around dinner time we walked to the convenience store in town to order pizza that is fresh made there. We barely made the cut as they ran out of pizza dough with the two large pizzas we ordered, being the last of the Labor Day pizzas. Triumphantly we walked back to Shaw's to eat our dinner. Then it was time to shoot some pool and drink a beer or two until time for bed. Phantom tented to save some money, as did Redneck. Finn and I stayed another night in the bunkhouse, along with Yolo and Smokey, and Priceless slept in house # 2 across the street. The pool action was a lot of fun with some good team competition. Our last zero mile day in the last trail town was over. Tomorrow we enter the 100 mile wilderness! Today's stats; low 47, high 70, sunny.
