Southbound Bubble Saves the Toaster House

This morning I slept until 7am in the toaster. Around that time, people little by little began to wake up. Hikers always seem to wake up relatively early, even when they stay up late. I went down the stairs and left with some people. Then I sat on the porch for a while and hung out there.

Last night I made the decision to take a zero day today. Which I think was the best decision I ever made. At this moment I am very close to the goal. It’s ridiculous. The idea of ​​spending a whole day with all these wonderful people sounds great. I’m really not in any particular hurry. I think it would be crazy to go out today and leave all these adorable humans behind. When instead I could spend the whole day hanging out with them!

All the other hikers seemed completely satisfied with their ability to turn me around once I announced day zero. I spent a lot of time at the house with everyone. Then finally a large group of us decided to head to the meeting place in town for breakfast. There are two main places in town, and both serve cakes. The meeting place also serves a lot of food. And the other bakery in town makes a ton of different types of cakes. So we decided to have lunch and then have some cake.

We had to visit all the places in the city! So after eating at the meeting place, we went to the bakery down the street.

The best part about Pie Town is how much it loves hikers. Everyone in town is ridiculously friendly. The owner and operator of the gathering place cares deeply about hikers and this community. We were there for a long time and had a very good breakfast. He then walked next door to have a cake before returning to the house. The bakery actually had some really cool patches available for CDT hikers. Honestly I’ve never seen anything like it. The patch was a perfect little detail to commemorate the stay in the city. I bought a few pieces of cake at the store and planned to eat them throughout the day. Today is zero and I have nowhere to be!

The really awesome patch I got in Pie Town.

Finally, we all returned to the house. While we were in town, we received a message from some of the hikers at the toaster house. Apparently someone had been on the property and removed all the toasters from the fence. In the house of toasters! That’s this house’s claim to fame and what makes it so special. When we got back to the house, a bit of drama ensued.

This piece of pie was pumpkin cheesecake. And it was adorable.

I didn’t even notice last night, but apparently there are caretakers living in the house. When I was here last year, there was someone who came and went regularly. They have to make sure that the bedding is washed, the towels are washed, and that the house is in good condition. But no one lived there. Apparently this time there is someone living in the house and taking care of it. And at some point during the day, they cut down all the toasters from the toaster fence. The hikers were obviously pretty upset about that. But I think the main problem is that the man who did this was overheard saying he planned to blame the damage on the hikers. Basically framing the hikers for vandalizing the toaster house. Which is crazy!

The hikers rebuilding the toaster house! A truck full of toasters was cut from the fence and had to be replaced.

When we got back to the house, there was a lot going on. The woman who takes care of the property has a kind of friend who stays with her. And he had been making very rude comments to the hikers and apparently even used some insults. I guess some hikers had left the house to avoid the drama and headed to the bakery. And when the town’s locals found out that the toaster house had been vandalized, they all got pretty angry. And it seems that no one in town knew anything about these apparent caretakers staying on the property.

The southbound bubble in the CDT! This lovely group saved the house from the toaster.

The more time passed, the more complicated the plot became. We kept getting little bits of information that started to paint a picture. After a while, we weren’t so sure these people were actually taking care of the property. And later, when the sheriff arrived, things became even more confusing. The sheriff basically said the woman staying there was squatting. He said he did not know of anyone hired by the family as a caregiver. And that if we saw this woman or her friend again, then we should call the police immediately to escort them off the property.

When that happened, all the hikers were very excited. It was like a victory when the sheriff came and said these people weren’t right. He also told us that we should probably put all the toasters back on the fence. We got a little more information as the night progressed. The owner of the meeting place in town came and talked to all of us. He’s a super nice guy and really cares about maintaining a good relationship between this town and the hikers.

The main takeaway from the entire day was how much the hiking community loves Pie Town. Everyone who came and talked to us seemed concerned that the whole incident was going to upset the hikers so much that it would keep them away from the toaster. But really, we were all a little upset that someone was vandalizing a place that has so much importance on the road. When the hikers saw these people cutting the toasters off the fence, they got a little defensive. And apparently rightly so, judging by the reaction of the surrounding community.

The rest of the day was much calmer and more relaxed. The hordes of hikers simply stayed at the house and the caretakers or squatters never returned. It was a great rest of the day, just relaxing around the house, whether on the porch or somewhere inside. And later we ended up heading back into town to get some more food before the restaurant closed for the day. The place that sold cake also sold pizza. So we went there for an early dinner. So I bought a really amazing sandwich to eat there. And I even bought some pizza to take home from the toaster. I think about six of us went out for food together and practically half the group ordered the same sandwich because it looked so good. We then headed back to the house to spend the rest of the night and just relax.

The delicious sandwich I had for dinner.

Today was absolutely perfect. There’s something expensive about spending time like this with other hikers. This whole group is so ridiculously nice. There was never a dull moment. I really enjoyed the opportunity to talk to so many different people. I talked to so many first time hikers who were absolutely wonderful. And many of whom have hiked tons of different trails before and our paths have never crossed. And, as always, it’s a pleasure to reconnect with hikers I’ve met on trails before.

Sprinkle broke his foot a couple of weeks ago and has been walking in a boot. And she’s very good at breaking cans with her boot.

I ended up staying up pretty late. Maybe even a little later than last night. However, it was a much quieter and more relaxed evening. Last night people were a little more lively because of Halloween. Tonight it seemed like a slightly calmer atmosphere. Either way, I had a great time last night and tonight. I stayed up talking for a while with a few different people. Then I finally headed upstairs to call it a night.

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