New Hampshire

After spending two nights at Meg's house, we were a little reluctant to get back on the trail. We had a great time... showers, laundry, a comfortable bed, and good company. We hiked out of town a little too late and got caught in a storm, thus cutting our would be 17 mile day a bit short ( i.e. the first available shelter). It has cleared up, leaving me cold and wet inside my sleeping bag, too tired for a second attempt. Four more days until Jon and I's Anniversary we are hoping to make it to North Woodstock for a relaxing hotel room. After our day off, we plan on beginning our ascent into the white mountains and later, the presidential range. We hope all is well at home, and we love and miss you all.
PS. Don't expect a blog August 4th.

Love,
Stomp and Shuffles

Vermud

Welcome to Vermont! If you don't drown on the trail, we hope you'll come back and visit us again. We've been in Vermont for about 60 miles so far, and the state has been beautiful, but it has rained the entire time. Not a nice sprinkle, not a spring shower, not even a downpour, but a ridiculous deluge. We have stopped in Manchester Center and are drying out, and hopefully the trail will too. I've got to run, but I'll post again from the hotel room tonight.

Massachusetts

After less than a week in Connecticuit, we crossed the border into our eleventh state and passed the 1500 mile mark. The Berkshires are amazingly beautiful, and we are glad to be surrounded by real mountains again. Tonight we dipped off the trail into the town of Great Berrington for a shower, thai food, and several of the Berkshire Brewing Companies finest. The trail is rocky and steep, and when compounded by the lack of tread on my third pair of boots, makes for a slippery day. After tumbling head over hills into the last valley, I'll be visiting the outfitter tomorrow for some shoe shopping. Between the two of us, we usually have mediocre morale, and as long as we don't both share a bad day, we'll be done by the end of August. New York was an excellent excursion, but it made for a difficult return to trail life. The last few nights have been noticably cooler, and subtle variations in the flora and fauna remind us that we are slowly inching towards our destination. As much as hiking every day, all day gets under my skin sometimes, I have to admit that I will miss being utterly free...especially in a year from now when my boss waddles up to my desk on Friday afternoon and asks if I can come in on Saturday. We hope all is well on the home front, and we love and miss you all.

On the road again!

After a longer than anticiated trip to New York City, it is time to hit the trail again. We had a wonderful time staying with our friends Anne and Lamar who showed us the ins and outs of the city. It is strange to be around so many people all the time, but it has been fun as well as frustrating. We were also treated to a night (which stretched into a morning) out on the town in Manhatten's upper east side with Jon's friend, Ben Klier. We are a bit reluctant to get back on the trail after almost a week off, especially since all of our friends on the trail are more than likely very far ahead. We want to wish Keenie Weenie Jelly Beany (as Jon says) a Happy Birthday. Hope all is well with everyone. Take care.
Stomp and Shuffles

fogedaboudit

For all of you that don't speak New Yorker, that's forget about it. We are on a commuter train to the big apple and are excited to visit some friends and be tourists. New York and New Jersey have both been gorgeous, and, similarly to Kentucky, were preceded by undeserved poor reputations. We saw another huge black bear before crossing into New York, and we joined him in feasting on wild blueberries and blackberries. My birthday was simply celebrated by an afternoon pitstop at Irish Kevin's for a burger and beers. Although we were initially dissappointed that the local motel was full, we got to catch a great sunset from a cliff we camped on. We will be spending a couple of days in the city before returning to Bear Mountain, where we will push a couple days to the Conn. border. Spirits are high, now that the weather is cooperating, and we are hitting glacial lakes every day or so for swimming. We hope all is well at home, and we'll keep you posted on this big city nonsense. We haven't been around more than 10 people at a time in weeks, so this could get interesting. In case we don't get service later, happy birthday Mom!