More weather delays, but plenty of friends

I got a call from Kasey today, she is doing well, but the weather still isn't cooperating. I also got a short call from her on Wednesday when she was chowing down on Pizza at Neels Gap. She found a library with internet access and sent me the letter below. I will try to hack into her account on our computer at home to find her username and password so she'll be able to post on her own in the future.

Hello my love! I know I only spoke to you the other day, but I made my way into a town for the night since they were calling for thundershowers and possibly snow above 3500 ft. I read the blog and tried to post to it, but it cannot find my account for some reason. I will probably give you a call since I am in a town. "One Thing" + I checked into the Helenbrau Hotel/Inn in Helen, GA for the night. He came down the trail behind me today and told me all the things nearby this inn and made it sound tons better than the shelter in thunderstorms. My knee and feet were killing me, so I said what the heck. This time of year they have shuttles running from the parking lot at Unicoi Gap into either Helen or Hiawassee. We actually had a man and his son from South Carolina take us into town. They had come out here just to do some trail magic and found nobody yesterday, so they checked out of their hotel today and checked the lot for thru hikers. They seemed nice. I was thankful I was not alone and could have taken a shuttle if I so desired. We are in a room next door to "Wookie", "Cold Feet", + another guy whose name is too hard to pronounce. I did receive my trail name today! :) I am Peeps! Those people in my family who caused this trail name should be proud of themselves! I did make a few people happy with my peeps on the trail though! :) Tons of interesting people out here and so many trail angels. If you want to check out "one thing" and "wookie", both have journals at trailjournals.com. One thing is listed as one thing whereas wookie is under Benjamin Ward. I just met wookie today as well as the other two next door to me. One thing I have been playing leap frog with since I started the trail. The hills are not as bad as they were in the beginning. I did have the people at Neels Gap shake down my pack and I sent home probably all the stuff you told me not to take. My pack is a lot lighter now, but the raincover is not keeping things dry! I am going to see about getting a new one in town here, but we will see what happens. What would be nice is if it would just stop raining. We are suppose to see a break in the clouds tomorrow afternoon. Pushing for a 13 mile day tomorrow. I still have not called my father to let him know I am a day behind and may be even further than that. He may not get to hike too much with me or we may not get to do Dollywood. We will see what happens. Coming out today to a city, puts me a little further behind, but I will check out the maps and see what I can do. Helen, GA is a funking little town. It is a tourist trap as one person put it, but cute. It is done in Bavarian style. All the buildings are Bavarian and there are cute little shops. Your parents would enjoy this place, I think!

Well, I am still doing fine although I was ready to come home yesterday when my knee was blazing in the morning during the thunderstorm hike. Luckily, good people help keep me on the trail. I have met some wonderfully interesting people. I am alone hiking during the daytime with passings from other hikers, but at night in the shelters(which I have only stayed in one) there are about 10-20 people! I'm probably going to pass up One Thing here soon! I usually leave early in the morning while he is still drinking his coffee and eating his breakfast, but not far down the trail he has caught me in the past. Today, I had to wait for him to come into Unicoi Gap. He was only 5-10 minutes behind me, but still! He never caught me until then! :)