When we staggered out of the Quinault River Trail in the Olympic National Park after a 13-mile, overnight backpacking trip, we were dusty and hungry (and slightly on the grumpy side as a result). It was around 2, and we still had a few miles of drive to the B&B we were to stay for the night, so we decided to find something hot to eat in the little town of Quinault.

Across the street from a quaint-looking, shingle-covered inn on the South Shore Road, we found a promising neon sign for a snack bar. It was a little snack counter tacked in the back of a general store, and the owner had to go find the lady who runs the snack bar part of the business, but we were lucky enough to get our afternoon bite.

Patrick went for a cherry cream soda. Apprehensive, I settled for a boring glass of Diet Pepsi. On a whim, Patrick got small curly fries, on which he sustained himself in his poorer days in Florida, while I went extravagant with $2.95 onion rings (my recent addiction). We both got salmon burgers.

We took our seats in a closed-in porch and waited for the food, studying a world map with about a million pins sticking out to show where customers of the little establishment have come from. It was a pretty impressive array of places of origin: quite a few people had come from Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and of course Europe and the North America. There was a pin or two even on the Madagascar Island, and I was delighted to note some standing (rather crowdedly) on the tiny islands of my home country. Beside the map was an odd "recognition of support" from a troop stationed in Fort Lewis. The framed "recognition" sported two soldiers clad in Japanese samurai armor, with their swords up and ready for a quick attack. Why in the world did they use this image instead of that of an American military figure, I do not know.

The lady kindly brought our food to the table and said we'd be ready for the rest of the day. We nodded and digged into our baskets. The onion rings were on the greasy side, but the salmon burgers were surprisingly good, considering the location and the clientele. When the burgers were gone, we licked our fingers clean, took the last sips form the soda, and headed out. My calves complained when I stood up form the chair, quite understandable after a long hike and a short while of sitting, but my stomach was quite happy with the first "real" meal after more than 24 hours.