[at-l] Campground Hours -- RSC

[hikers99@yahoo.com (Marielle & Paul)]

Hi

Hey it is great to hear from you. I do not know if you recall us but likely
not because of the crowd when we were there and because of the many people
who stop by. I will find a picture and send it by separate email.

I must say you are one tough skinned lady. Well you confirmed that the chili
is not canned, and yes it was great.

BTW I was not blaming you for the weather or the power outages, and the
other little inconveniences were not a big problem, I was just trying to
make things more exciting for the crowd back home reading the journal.  The
location of your campground is very convenient because of the weather that
time of year, and there was a pair of foolhardy hikers who arrived late the
evening we were there, who should count their lucky stars that you were
there and that Buddy got up from bed and made them a pizza.

We are thinking of thru hiking again in 2003 (I can't explain why) and will
be sure to drop in.

One final thing. I believe it was your anniversary the morning we left RSC
on March 27, and I think you two make a good team.

Pa

----- Original Message -----
From: Jensine <rainbowsprings@dnet.net>
To: Marielle & Paul <hikers99@yahoo.com>
Cc: <at-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Monday, May 28, 2001 6:13 PM
Subject: Re: [at-l] Campground Hours -- RSC


> Sorry, Buddy does not make the chili.  Trust me.   LOL   I make it from
> ground sirloin, fresh green peppers, etc.  Buddy does dish it up when I'm
at
> the register.  No in 17 yrs. we are not offended
> by dirty hikers.  Fortunately they all look and smell alike.  In 2000, we
> put eggshell mattresses
> over  other mattresses, with washable covers.   Sorry if I seemed abrupt,
> but when a snowstorm
> hits, it has always been our fault, as we have changed the  hikers
> intineraries. Yes, I do have to watc
> over the store, no, it's not from my realm, but with 8-10 hikers on "TABS"
I
> try to make it easy
> on the hiker and let them check out all at one time.  And yes, I do have
to
> watch., as it is only
> the two of us,  we are not like Walmart etc. who have surveillance cameras
> and security guards
> through out the store, thank goodness.   We are sorry the power was out.
> Thanks for staying with us, wish could have made your stay more pleasant.
> This is not to sound gruff, it is sincere.  And yes,
> Buddy and I do work well together.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Marielle & Paul" <hikers99@yahoo.com>
> To: <at-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
> Sent: Monday, May 28, 2001 4:31 PM
> Subject: [at-l] Campground Hours -- RSC
>
>
> I was very interested in the current discussion about RSC.  We had read
> about it in Bryson's book and had planned to avoid stopping there during
our
> 1999 thru hike. Wouldn' t you know that a snow storm would start early in
> the morning when we were getting ready to leave Rock Gap and we had to
> reluctantly decide to head for RSC. We decided before arriving to try to
> have a friendly attitude right from the beginning and we had no problem
with
> Jesnine and Buddy, but we could see by their manner why others would have
> problems. Jesnine could sometimes be gruff which could turn some people
off.
>
> I found RSC to be a significant enough part of our trip to devote an
entire
> chapter of our journal to our stay there. I just re-read that chapter and
> also tried to remember other details and I would like to offer the
> following, some is positive and some negative.
>
> The owners tried to be friendly and helpful but they left a definite
> impression of mistrust of thru hikers.
> Jesnine took my credit card impression and let me run up a tab while we
were
> there, which was very convenient as we made many small purchases.
> The chili was very good. Bryson did not like it and some of our bunk mates
> said it was canned, but It seemed to me that Buddy made it from scratch
and
> kept it warm in a crockpot. It was also very inexpensive and there was
lots
> of it. A serving consisted of a milk shake sized container. While we were
> there, TINMAN ate 4 and half of them (finished someone elses).
> Some of our bunk mates were a little critical of them and others loved
them.
> The grocery prices were what would be expected from a small store. The
> prices for the camping equipment, and backpacking supplies was very
> reasonable.
> I guess $12 was not too bad for the bunk house but we were 2 and it came
to
> $24 in a region where we could get a motel room in town for $29.(but of
> course we couldn't get to town )
> The only heat for the bunk house is a wood stove, which can only keep the
> place warm in cold weather if the power is on to make the fan work.
> The mattresses come in many sizes, some too large for the bunks, and many
> are full of holes.
> >From my bunk. I could see outside through spaces in the slats in the
walls.
> It is a long walk through the snow at night to the washroom  and showers.
> **************
> The following is an excerpt from our journal
>
>
> At the store we ordered chili.  "Put it on my tab." I said. Jesnine was in
> charge of the money, but Buddy was the waiter.  He turned slowly around
and
> got two extra large foam cups. He then slowly dipped a ladle into a slow
> cooker and slowly filled both cups. He slowly placed the cups on a little
> tray,  with a roll and slowly brought it to us.  It was really good chili:
> spicy with lots of meat, and there was lots of it. As we ate, we watched
> Buddy start making a new batch.  Many people we met later in our trip
> claimed that it was canned chili, however, it did not appear so to us. We
> checked out the store and found they had a good selection of hiker food
and
> some hiker equipment at a fair price.
>
>
> It is likely that many hikers prejudged Jesnine and Buddy because of
> Bryson's book and it is also likely that the two of them were leery of
> hikers since the book was published. However, Jesnine's gruff manner did
not
> help her. Jesnine sat in her corner, surveying her realm, taking in
> everything and seeming to be very nosy. From her spot she could see all
that
> was going on inside and out. It seemed that they could not relate to the
> hiker community and found them dirty (which was true).  Many said that
they
> would say things about certain hikers after they left. We later found out
> that, that very morning, SUNDOG and BADGER had shown up and had an
encounter
> with Jesnine and they had quickly left. Ma and I did not have any problems
> with them.
>
>
> PA (MA and PA 99)
>
> hike your own hike
> http://www.hikers99.homestead.com
>
>
> --- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts ---
> multipart/alternative
>   text/plain (text body -- kept)
>   text/html
> ---
> _______________________________________________
> AT-L mailing list
> AT-L@mailman.backcountry.net
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/at-l
>