Trail Magic Part II

They dropped us off at the grocery store in Chester and Neighbor and Chickety are sitting there hanging out underneath some trees in the corner of the parking lot closest to the street.

We pretty much end up plopping down in that spot for five hours or so going in and out of the grocery store as our hunger gets the best of us.

The hotel rates in town are pretty pricey for a small place like Chester, so we're planning on trying to find a spot in town to camp, maybe a park or some woods out of the way. We had our hearts set on this baseball field, but the bathrooms were locked, gates all chained up and signs posted offering rewards for turning in trespassers. Not such a good option.

Not to mention the local cop on duty drove by about three times, very conspicuously checking out us suspicious hikers making sure we weren't dirtying up his nice little mountain community. Once he saw that we had disappeared from our hangout so suddenly, it would have been all the excuse he needed to go on a townwide manhunt and get his picture in the paper.

Who he should have been watching out for was the dirtbag kid that came over wearing a Hooters t-shirt, drinking a large soda and smoking. It must have been his first week smoking because he was coughing the entire time and hocking up some fierce loogies, and doing it considerately in the grass next to us and the creek running behind us. Real upstanding young gentleman.

He overheard us talking about where we were going to stay and offered us spots next to his trailer in the trailer park across the street. Although the trailer wasn't actually there yet, but would be he assured us when his friend came with it later that day.

Naturally his friend shows up trailerless in a white trash mobile. Not that any of us for a second entertained the idea of taking him up on his offer to rob us in the middle of the night.

Either way, I don't know what exactly we were doing there all day. I checked out one hotel and it ended up being $80 per night which would have worked out to $20 per person. Sweet enough deal, but we never attempted to make the reservations even though the place was right across the street.

We chatted up a guy who actually lived at the trailer park where the dirtbag kid claimed to and he told us the place was in the process of being sold and that if we went to the back along the stream that ran next to it, there was plenty of room and no one would bother us.

Seemed like our best option until a guy in a jeep rolls up. He asks us if we need a ride to the trail in the morning (which we do...score) and Neighbor shoots right back at him. "You know of a lawn we could camp on?" Turns out the guy is the manager of the Best Western down the street, which is somehow affiliated with the motel in the adjoining parking lot. Gives us two rooms in the other motel for $60 per night and we get full use of the Best Western's facilities. Basically for us that meant Internet and ransacking the continental breakfast.

And this Best Western was super nice. Way nicer than I expected, and thankfully the aesthetics also carried over to the continental breakfast. Hardboiled eggs, a waffle maker, the sweetest nectar of tropical and non-tropical fruits, pancakes, all kinds of cereal, english muffins, the works. This thing had it all. Presentation surpassed expectations as well. The whole nine yards with linen table cloths. Didn't think we could do any better until...

The Drakesbad Ranch. Not even a full day's hike away. Basically like taking a 3/4 day after a zero. But let me tell you (and I know how I rave about everything on this trail), this place is the best bang for your buck of any place in the country. Yes, I said it. Not the county, but the country in its entirety. I defy you to find something better (well, it also helps that you get this deal only as a PCT hiker, but still).

We got showers (Clairol soap included), laundry (with loaner clothes so that we could wash everything), use of their hot spring pool, dinner and dessert for the grand total of $10.

Now I know you just went "Psshhh" and did a little flip of the hand to show that you don't find that deal remotely exciting. But that's because you didn't get to taste any of the food. Easily (easily!) one of the best meals I have ever had in my life and worthy (definitelyly more so) of a place on the menu of any restaurant you've ever been to.

The meal changes every night, and we had just missed prime rib and duck earlier that week. We came on turkey night. Turkey has pretty much been a miss for me ever since I was a kid. Always dry, fills you up but is never the best thing on the plate. So pardon my low expectations and wishing that we had gotten there on a different day.

Salad comes out. All good, dark greens. None of that iceberg garbage. Lightly covered in homemade raspberry vinagrette with yellow bell pepper sliced thin. Mmm mmm good.

Main course - turkey with sweet mashed potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce and a vegetable. I hate cranberry sauce and you know my thoughts on turkey. Absolutely loved both. Would have eaten seconds and thirds if I could have. The cranberry sauce was nothing like that trash in the can. Light, sweet and quite cranberry-y. As for the turkey - Best. Bird. Ever. Tender enough you could just cut it with your fork and moist like I never imagined it possible for turkey to be.

Next came bowls of homemade chocolate ice cream and raspberry sorbet. Bellisimo! Rich is the best way to describe it.

Not to mention they had an endless conveyor belt of all kinds of breads coming out to us throughout the whole meal. Couldn't tell you what kind, but they were tasty as hell.