* In another instance of good timing, I was able to catch Raina driving back from a weekend home in Williamstown in Dalton, MA and she gave Greenlite and I a ride back to Boston for some quality Raina-time and a chance to hit good old Cohasset, MA for a few days. It was good to hear how she's doing despite her Organic Chem. courses this summer and hear tales of a trip she planned up to Armington Cabin for Boston folks this spring - Armington holds a special place in me heart.
* A 'T' ride later we met up with Papa in Quincy to head back to Cohasset!! This was a particularly special visit, not only because Papa just turned 80 and Mima just hit 39 again, but also because I have never arrived at the Kelley household with such an out-of-control appetite. Being force-fed is a thru-hiker's dream! Cheese & crackers w/salami, cashews, salad, garlic bread, manicotti, pork tenderloin and a brownie sundae later...I think I blacked out. It was wonderful. In the short visit to Cohasset we were able to see a sizeable portion of the Kelley clan - cousins getting so big! Also got to see the ocean and hit the beach for a few, which was huge. In an extreme act of kindness, Papa drove us 3hrs West back out to Dalton, MA (turns out Massachusetts is deceivingly large) on Tuesday morning where we again hit the trail.
* From Dalton we were able to hike to the peak of Mt. Greylock that eve, the highest point in MA. On top there is a monument to all soldiers from Massachusetts with an amazing view as well as Bascom Lodge, a beautiful lodge built by the Civilian Conservation Corps currently undergoing restoration and slated to reopen as a gift shop/cafe/hotel/hiker hostel within a few weeks (pic below). Even more exciting was Fahmah and Ma Fahmah (pic below below) who drove out from Templeton, MA to grill us up an amazing meal in an instance of sweet sweet trail magic. We met Fahmah, who thru-hiked in '07, back in mid-May when he gave Greenlite and I a ride from TN back to where we were on the trail in Virginia after Hardcore. They were full of motivation and tales of what was to come in Vermont, New Hampshire & Maine. Fahmah also brought us over to the lodge to sweettalk the owner into letting us snag one of the bunks for cheap even though they weren't really open to the public yet. Throw the sunset in the mix and it was definitely one of the best nights on the trail yet.
* The next day we hauled into Vermont to meet the Lyyyddiiiaaa!!! outside Bennington to join up and hike for a few days. For the sake of brevity and since she gave such an accurate description in her post below I will say that it was Wonderful to see her and hear about her summer in Israel and Croatia before she starts grad school. I'm mighty pumped we'll be within a few hours of each other this fall.
So Vermont came and went. I hiked into Hanover from South Pomfret yesterday and it was a cool feeling to walk over the West Harford bridge and Rt14, to emerge on Elm St. in Norwich, hit Main St., walk down towards the I91 underpass, over the Ledyard Bridge, up that hill that used to give me such a hard time as an undergrad living on West Wheelock St, and into good old Hanover. It hasn't changed a bit except those kids just keep getting younger and younger. Mike Rosensweig '06, of All My Deals Are Live fame, was awesome to put me up for the night and teach me the ropes of post-grad life in Hanover. Stopped into Canoe Club to say hi to the Jacketed-Chapin-Friend and was able to get dominated by a few '11s in a game of pong at Psi U. So it goes...
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