Wednesday the 5 of us went to Habitat's ReStore and helped out there for the day. The ReStore is similar to a Salvation Army or Goodwill Store - it is run strictly on donations, and almost all of the profits go towards Habitat builds. There is a really, really small full-time staff, and a few part-time workers, but a majority of the people who help out in the ReStore are regular volunteers. They sell almost anything they think will sell, from clothes to furniture, to stuffed animals and books. One man's trash is another man's treasure!
The first thing we did when we got there was to help sort through clothes. There are piles upon piles of clothes in the back of the warehouse that hosts the ReStore - I'm not joking when I say its a mountain. The massive amount of garments goes from floor to ceiling, and precariously tips if you grab a bag too close to the base. Our job was simple; we had to open up bags of clothes and see what we thought would sell and what wouldn't. Proceed to separate them into piles, and continually empty the bin that housed the clothes we didn't think would sell. All of the excess clothes would be sent to another organization which uses them for something else, so nothing goes to waste! The 5 of us were wholly entertained while going through bags because I honestly don't think any of us could have imagined some of the outfits that we came across. Mike put on a BEAUTIFUL girl's shirt, complete with a sparkly butterfly. Faith, Melissa, and I all sported suit jackets over jeans (quite the fashion statement) and Melissa found a full-length blue dress, that was made almost completely out of velvet. Although we decided to toss some of our fashion statements, it was really fun :)
After sorting clothes we went out to the back patio where we proceeded to spend the rest of the day power washing a donated fence. The fence's condition is fine - it was just a little green and dirty from being outside. Power washing was fun not only because you get sprayed with a cool mist (it was REALLY hot out) but you also got to see the immediate difference in the fence. We had a BBQ lunch with Fred, the manager of the ReStore. He talked to us about the ReStore, Habitat, and just the area in general. As I have said before, it's really nice to just connect with people.
After work, we went in search of someplace to go swimming. We had heard about a 'beach' along a small river in the Smoky Mountains and decided it would be a good place to spend a lazy afternoon. We accidentally drove by the 'beach' but continued along the road following the river until there was a pull-off, and got out. It was one of the most tranquil places I have ever been. The river's current was strong so there wasn't anyway that we could pass across, but we all found spots on rocks to lay down and hang out.
We stayed there for a few hours. just enjoying the beautiful weather. We finished off the night by treating ourselves to dinner at the Brewery (1/2 priced burgers YUM) and then playing cards in our room til we all fell asleep. It was a great day :)
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